Away Where? To Canada!

[Samurai Waki]

So, The Fiancee and I decided that we needed to get out of Dodge for a bit, so we're jumping the first non-stop flight to Montreal at 7pm tomorrow. If Anyone can give us some advice as good places to go, or eat, etc. that'd be Awesome I've booked us to stay 6 days at the Intercontinental Montreal Hotel w00t.

[Beirut]

Ma man! That's my city.



Most of what you want to see is here.


First off - Shwartz's (Shwartz's Hebrew Deli) on St-Laurent. (Pink X) Always a line up, but the best smoked meat on the planet.

If you are rich, the Queu du Cheval right beside the Sheraton Center on Rene Levesque Blvd. Top restaurant in the city.

An early morning stride through Old Montreal. (Red X) Some of the most gorgeous architecture in North America. Lots of coffee shop.

A trip to |The Lookout" on Mount Royal. (Yellow X) Not too far from downtown and the best view in the city. Veeeeery romantic.

Ste-Catherine Street (Black box, actually, the right hand line of it) is the main downtown avenue. Everything you want is close. Book stores, restaurants, movies, music.

I'm off for breakfast, but I'll try to think of more later. Let me know if there's anything specific you want to see.

[Beirut]

Oh, and sorry to rain on your parade but the weather is lousy. It's been cold and rainy and cloudy for the past three weeks and it looks to drag on most of the week.

Dress warm!

Actually, it's snowing as we speak, turning to heavy rain later. Groan...

[Beirut]

Just remembered!

The Old Dublin Pub. Right in the middle of downtown. Small place, friendly, often has live music, excellent beers on tap and insane choice of scotch (be careful with the scotch, shots can be $30+ if you order the old stuff). The food is great but the curry is five-star! We always order it with fries, great stuff. But on Sundays the kitchen is closed.

You really have to go.

Yellow is Ste-Catherine. Red line is University. Arrow points to Old Dublin, the entrance is at the back of the parking lot. University Street is near the top of the black box in my first post.

[Beirut]

(And on and on and on...)

Waki,

There's also the Biodome. I've never been, but it's a major tourist site.

Biodôme de Montreal
4777 Pierre-de-Coubertin Ave, (Near Viau)
Telephone: 514 868 3000
Hours: Call for seasonal hours
This attraction offers four distinct ecosystems, including a Tropical Forest, the Laurentian Forest (a temperate climate), the St Lawrence Marine Ecosystem and the Polar Worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic. After your self-guided tour, The Environment Place amphitheatre entertains you with films, performances and lectures, focused on conservation and environmental protection. .

**********

The Olympic Stadium is right nearby but there's no point in trying to go inside. It has all the atmosphere of a 500' long toilet bowl. And a dirty one at that. It's absolutely the most hated building in the city. Looks cool from outside though.

**********

This is another cool place;

Montréal Insectarium

Science Museum

4581 Sherbrooke Street East
Montréal
(Québec)
H1X 2B2
Canada

INFORMATION

(514) 872-1400 (Telephone)
(514) 872-4917 (Fax)

www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/insectarium
insectarium@ville.montreal.qc.ca

GETTING THERE

Pie-IX

BUSINESS HOURS

May 15 to October 31: daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closes at 4 p.m. on June 24). November 1 to May 14: Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on December 24, 25 and January 1. Special schedule during the Christmas holidays. During the summer season, a free shuttle service operates between the Insectarium, Olympic Park and Biodôme.

Located on the site of the Montréal Botanical Garden, the Montréal Insectarium was founded in 1990 by the famous entomologist Georges Brossard. This Montréal nature museum invites you to discover the fascinating world of insects which houses a prestigious collection of several thousand living and preserved insects from every corner of the earth. The Montréal Insectarium is considered the largest of its kind in North America.

PRICES (CANADIAN $)

$0.00 to 6.50 Children
$7.25 to 9.50 Students
$9.75 to 12.75 Adults
$7.25 to 9.50 Senior Citizens
Group rates available


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If you have the time, either drive or take the train to Quebec City. (Montreal bottom left - Quebec City top right.) It's about 140 miles from Montreal. it has some of the oldest architecture on the continent, is rich is history, and is gorgeous beyond words. Personally, I would take the train, spend the day, and be back in your hotel room in Montreal for a nightcap.


A close up of the the Chateau Frontenac and surrounding area in Quebec City (Left hand side). Possibly one of the most beautiful places in North America.

[Ice]

You came to the right place.

[Samurai Waki]

Okay, I landed at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport at about 3:30AM (would've been 4:30 but forgot about going back to Standard Time). I didn't realize how bloody cold it is here, just a wink above freezing, but thankfully I can endure with my tough Montanan Skin, and only needed to wear a wool jacket, after we got checked into the Motel(which is right in the heart of downtown and overlooks the harbour), and slept until 12:00, we went to the Cavendish Mall to pick her up a good Parka and some winter clothing (Californian's aren't as thick skinned it seems )

So after we strode around the mall for a bit, we hopped a Taxi too take us to various locals throughout downtown Montreal, absolutely beautiful architecture, and she just about went teary eyed after seeing all the little shoppes we can go shopping at in a day or two.

After running around downtown until about 6:00, we ate at the Le Tandoor, which had excellent Lobster Bisque(sp?)...my french is very poor, but at least I'm making an attempt to learn as much as I can in such a short time.

I was a bit disappointed to find out that our Motel didn't have any place to hook up to the net (to see if there was any response to this post), so I asked the Front Desk Supervisor if he knew of any good internet cafe's and suggested Bcee's Cafe where I'm at now.

I would just like to thank you Beirut, Montreal is great so far, even if it is crummy outside (not like I was expecting it to be very warm, I kept telling Amy we're not going to Hawaii). The Places you suggested sound fun, and I will definantly take us to lunch at the Old Dublin Pub tomorrow.

Anyways, I've jotted down all the places you've suggested. And I think the rest of this week will be fantastic. I'd better get back to the Motel though, I don't want the fiancee to get too worried. Goodnight All. And Thanks Beirut!

[Beirut]

...we went to the Cavendish Mall to pick her up a good Parka and some winter clothing (Californian's aren't as thick skinned it seems )

Good lord man, I used to hang out there with my buddies when we were about 15. Small world.

Glad you're enjoying yourself. Monday is going to be nice and sunny it seems but the rest of the week still looks miserable. Hope you're enjoying the storm.

Dont forget about Old Montreal. A cup of coffee there will certainly brighten the day. Wish I could think of more places for you to see but I haven't lived there for twenty years and when I do go I always hit the same spots.

But please, if at all possible, go to Shwartz's for the smoked meat. Shwartz's is to Montreal what the Empire State Building is to New York. Just avoid going near 6PM, you might never get in. Middle afternoon might be best.

Enjoy!

[Fragony]

Have fun there, I would love to visit Canada one day. Watch out for bears, they are big.

[Andres]

Watch out for bears, they are big.

Not to mention the axes, they are very sharp...

Have fun!

[Ianofsmeg16]

only been to canada once...and that was Toronto...but I thought it was an awsesome place! Have fun Waki mate!

[Samurai Waki]

Got back home in...relatively sunny, compared to Montreal...California. I have major jet lag though

We did some great things over there, visiting Old Montreal on Tuesday morning, and drinking a warm espresso at the Al-Karak Cafe', I don't know if I can drink coffee anymore without comparing it to that stuff. Had Lunch at the Old Dublin Pub (what a Hassle to find though ), but fantastic curry, I never ate curry previous to that, so now I'm addicted. I did buy a bottle of 15 year old Aberlour Scotch, that cost me about 1100$ (Canadian), and had it shipped to our address in California, (I wasn't sure about customs dept. taking it if I took it with me so I just sent it via mail.) After that we Headed back to Downtown Montreal to do a bit of window shopping before heading back to the Hotel (She was starting to get pretty tired) So we hung out in the spa for a bit and had a massage before ordering room service from their 4 Star Restraunt.

On Wednesday I kept suggesting to my fiancee that we visit the insectarium, but she is deathly afraid of bugs, so instead we went to the Botanical Gardens, where we spent the better part of six hours, absolutely fantastic place, and I think I would hang out there A LOT if I lived there, especially during the winters. For Lunch, we headed to Shwartz's Hebrew Deli, where I had perhaps the finest Veal Sandwhich known to man *drools*, and she had a small plate of smoked meat. That night we headed out to Mount Royal for a very romantic evening..ooo-la-la

On Thursday we made a trip to Quebec City via the train, which was rather exciting as neither one of us has ever been on a train before. We explored as much of the city as we could in 12 hours (didn't seem like enough time), and then headed back to Montreal, and had dinner at the Queu du Cheval, which was first, a hell of a journey to get a seat reserved for us, I had to book it 26 hours in advance... and the food was pricey but overall excellent, especially the escargout(sp?).

On Friday our little vacation abruptly ended when she got violently ill, for no known reason (I feared the worst...the twins...) at that point, so we had to go to the hospital, turned out everything was okay but we cut our vacation a day short because of this, and got the first flight back to LAX, after 7 hours of flying I'm just a little bit tired.

Oh yes, one more point to make, I shall return to the City of Quebec another time, preferrably in the summer, with two little helions following us around. And if you ever get the chance to visit... for god's sake, Take It! You won't miss out, we were there for almost 6 days, and felt like we didn't even scratch the surface of what we could've done.

[Beirut]

Very sorry your wife was ill. Hope you didn't have to wait 18 hours in emegency to see a doctor the way we so often do. Which hospital did you go to?

Also sorry it was difficult to find the Old Dublin Pub. I'll try harder with the directions next time. Glad you enjoyed it. As for the Queu du Cheval, well, I haven't even been there yet. (Still waiting for my boss to buy me and my woman dinner there like he promised.) Very, very happy you went to Shwatz's. Isn't that a killer smoket meat? I should have mentioned to order a Cherry Cott drink with your sandwich, it'sthe law around here.

And you took the train to Quebec City. Excellent!

To hell with expedia.com, for all your vacation needs visit totalwar.org and ask for The Frontroom.

[GoreBag]

Damn, I can't believe I missed this thread. Oh well, Beirut knows more about the city than I do. It sounds like it was good time, minus the illness and all that.

[UglyandHasty]

Darn i also missed that thread. Glad you enjoy your trip ! If you come back to Qc city, especially in the summer, i insist in inviting you and your family for a meal. Nothing fancy, but would be nice to met an fellow Orgah and TWer. Good luck with the twins btw :)

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

neither one of us has ever been on a train before.

Wha?! Do Americans not really do trains, or do you just have an aversion to them?

[Samurai Waki]

It's not really that... it's just that the tracks on the West Coast are almost solely used for Freight. And while there are large passenger lines, like the one that goes from LA to Seattle, or follows the US-Canadian Border, I just find it easier to travel by Car or Plane. I think Passenger trains are used more on the East Coast Rather than the west.

But I have to say, I did enjoy myself.

[Byzantine Prince]

Come to the west coast! Screw the east coast!


And yes, we don't do trains here.