Montreal

Victoria Day long weekend,after school Friday, we set off for Montreal, a 4 1/2 hr drive from Barry's Bay. We stayed in a hotel in the downtown area amongst the hustle and bustle of the lively city and within walking distance to some nice restaurants.

Saturday we spent wandering around the old town- a picturesque, 300 year old area of cobblestone streets, old buildings and statues.This area was quite touristy and there were street performancers, horse drawn carriage rides and lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. Also had a stroll along the port area of the St.Lawrence River and a climb up the Clock Tower- a 197 step summit with a nice view of the area. After a bit of a rest we went to see St.Joseph's Oratory, perched on Mount Royal. A spectacular sight as this church was huge! A lot more stairs here, although we did use the elevator at one stage! There was also a formal garden, meant for prayer and quiet reflection and a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle, that was transformed for a short period whilst our noisy kids passed through.

This is where the lovely sunny day turned cold and wet so we canned the visit to some parks and headed back to the hotel.

Sunday we got a bit of a shock when we went outside to hop in the car only to find it wasn't there!! Fortunately(?) we worked out it had been towed rather than stolen so were able to recover it fairly quickly and undamaged. We were reimbursed the fee by the hotel fortunately, after being given wrong information about where to park. After that hiccup, we set off to the Montreal Olympic Park. Had a ride up the 127m Furnicular for a birds eye view of the city and also visited the Biodome, an indoor walk through a variety of ecosystems of the Americas complete with real animals, birds, fish and vegetation. We also had a bit of a look around the Olympic complex- the kids were taken with the swimming pool area. Think they're missing the water.

Then we had a stroll through the Mount Royal Park, which was designed by the same guy who designed Central Park in New York, and which is similar to Centennial Park in Sydney. There were lots of people enjoying the fine weather and long weekend with picnics and other recreational activities. Even saw an Indian family having a game of cricket!

Our plans for a night horse-drawn carriage ride were foiled once again by rain, so had a meal in Chinatown and went back to the hotel instead.

Monday was wet and miserable so we changed our plans yet again (sorry kids- no amusement park or horse carriage ride this trip) and decided to tackle the 30 kms of underground shops. Didn't spend too much time there but managed to have our first good cappuccino in Canada and enjoy a bit of big city retail therapy before heading home.

Montreal had a fun atmosphere and a young population, having a large university (McGill University) in the city. However, we have never seen so many homeless and begging people on street corners, along the sidewalks and on trains, especially in the downtown area. Very confronting. Must be unbearable in the winter for them. Some were offering goods and services that you won't find in a Canadian Tyre store!