Old Montreal

I had a very pleasant day exploring the historic part of Montreal today. As you can see above, Montreal is really a mix of new and historic. I believe this is the Church of St. George with a skyscraper behind it. Microsoft Copilot told me that I was about 15 minutes away from the old part of the city, but it has consistently given me bad information about how long it takes to get places. It takes about half an hour to walk from my hotel down to the river. There is a lot of construction work going on in Montreal right now, but fortunately, the maps app in my phone gave me good walking directions.

I walked down to the St. Lawrence River first and got a few pictures. The science center and some other attractions aimed at families are down there. There were bus loads of small children going to something. Then, I walked up a few blocks to an area filled with small shops and restaurants. The architecture is very pretty and very European in style, and it was fun to wander around. There are a bunch of interesting art galleries and lots of other shops mostly aimed at tourists. I found one that sold art designed by First Nation people that I liked. I bought a hard cover notebook that I can use to take notes in meetings at school. I might go back to get a cup if I have time and I don’t find one at the Biodome tomorrow. I ate lunch at a crepe shop before I headed back to my hotel around 2pm.

There are lots of parks here and people seem to take advantage of them. All along the river there is a park and bike path. Lots of people were out walking dogs and bike riding is a significant mode of transportation here. I found this giant bird statue in front of a very modern building. I have no idea what it is or why it’s there.

I took a break in my hotel room after lunch and looked for a chocolate shop near my hotel. Copilot found one that seemed promising and told me I could get there in 2 or 3 minutes. When I put it into Maps, it said the shop was 1.6 miles away but I could get there in 11 minutes. I don’t know how many of you track how fast you can do a mile, but it takes me about 15 minutes to do a mile walking at a fairly quick pace on the treadmill. You would have to be a good jogger in a place with no crosswalks/traffic to make it 1.6 miles in 11 minutes. 2-3 minutes is completely unrealistic! It took me 30 minutes to walk to/find the shop. They had fairly limited and expensive options, and everything had to be refrigerated. Fortunately, there was a taxi stand nearby, so I had a taxi take me back to the hotel. It’s downhill on the way there but uphill on the way back and I was getting tired. The deserts I got were delicious! So, overall, it was worth the effort to go get them.

I ate supper at an Irish Pub. The food was fine but nothing special. It’s a place where people seem to go regularly and everyone knows each other. It was mostly English speakers. It’s close to my hotel and I wasn’t up for another trek across Montreal to find something more exciting. My deserts after supper were delicious! I also found a water boiler and bags of tea in my room so I could happily stay here indefinitely. I tried to swim after supper, but the pool is always filled with children. I was hoping that since I’m here so late in the season families would have finished their vacations, but apparently not. The hot tub on the roof is nice though and the kids aren’t usually in it.

Brandon and Heather are coming tomorrow and we will go to the Biodome. I found a bagel shop down the street, so I’m planning to go there for breakfast while I wait for them to come. It should be a fun day!