Have Job Will Travel

Hi all,

sorry about the huge delays in actually posting something on to the blog. But it is not that much fun talking about nothing.

However, for those who don't know - I have finally got a job! Once I get my security check, I will be a Business Analyst for a large bank in Toronto. Hopefully I will start on Thursday. So it just means Craig needs to get a job and we are all set.

So we decided to go to Montreal last week to make the most of some time off. We decided to go to Montreal as it was reasonably near by (6 plus hours drive) and it was this side of the border. Anywhere in the United States would be way out of our budget right now.

So we hired our car and unfortunately got stuck on the highway for three hours!! A truck and a car had an accident at 2.30am and someone died so everything was shut for the day. So that put us on the back foot and we couldn't go to the wildlife park as planned.

Montreal is a great city - I describe it as a foreign language city for beginners. All the signs are in French (which aren't actually that hard to figure out as there is usually an easily recognizable English equivalent), but if you don't understand what people are saying, you can always revert to English.

Through Priceline we were able to get a three star hotel (Radisson) for US$50 a night which is about $75CDN a night. As private rooms in hostels are around $65CDN plus a night, I thought this was a bargain! It was very luxurious compared to what we have been living and staying in.

The next morning we tried to get up early (but by the time we got to town it was 12pm - no change there). There was not a cloud in the sky, but we definitely noticed the difference in temperature. Very autumnal.

Craig and I hired a bike each ($40 for both for four hours) and proceeded to cycle around the city to see the sights. This is really recommended - Montreal has kilometers of cycle tracks around the city - and all the locals either bike or rollerblade to work in the summer months. The second stop we had was in Old Montreal - where the architecture and cobbled paths are all original (well I think) - but it is very touristy. Try not to buy food and stuff there.

The cycle track takes you around onto a couple of the islands in the river. For those who don't know, Montreal itself is actually on an island in the river - much like Manhattan. We rode around to the Formula One track where you are able to ride, rollerblade or drive on it. Many people like this because the asphalt was perfect and flat.

So after 5 hours (the guy hiring us bikes let us have an extra hour) we were fairly exhausted but at least we found the best way to see the city.

The next day involved a trip up to the Laurentian Mountains in the morning. As we were staying north of Montreal, the resorts started only about 1/2 hour away from where we were staying. It is quite weird, rocking along, thinking that you are not very high up in elevation, and then you see chairlifts for skiing off the side of the road. These are everywhere. Although these mountains/hills do not have the tall majestic craggy peaks beside you, like the Rockies, they definitely have a charm. Many of the resort towns are European in flavour and I could imagine that the colours of autumn would be fantastic here (there are many Maple trees in this neck of the woods and this is the prime area where maple syrup is produced in spring). Apparently, the further back you go in the mountains, eg Mt Tremblant, the better and tougher the skiing is. Some guides says that it rivals some resorts in the Rockies.

Craig and I then went back into Montreal for the afternoon as we actually wanted to go IN to some the buildings rather than looking at them from the outside. We headed back to Old Montreal where we went into Eglise de Notre Dame de Bonsecours which is also known as the Sailors Church.

I have actually just this minute discovered that this was not the church we were supposed to go to - and that one was Basilica Notre Dame so here is a Link! Doh!! (Well all I can say that from the outside they all looked like a bunch of old churches).

Craig and I also went to the .Contemporary Art Gallery (or Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal). Although I have a degree in Art History, I am not one for art galleries, particularly given the state of my leg. This museum surprised me and it was really quite enjoyable. No photos here of course!

The following day was our day to leave and go home -so we decided to go to the Wildlife Park (Parc Omega) which we tried to get to on the way up. Only problem is that is about 1.5 hours out of the way and we had a car to get back to Toronto by 6pm.

The parc was great though - it had all sorts of animals native to Canada which you just drove through and saw. The only animals I didn't see were beavers, bison and racoons - so dammit, I will have to go to Manitoba where the Beavers are fairly common in the big lakes there.

Boar piglets, playing

Two wolves

At certain points you could get out and have a walk

Can you see it?

Bald Eagle named Hercules (apparently the females are twice the size!)

Well we had to rush after our visit as we had a long way to drive. I rang the rental car agency to see if someone was going to be there 20 minutes late. NO was the answer. We reckon they get this all the time and this is how they make their money.

We also discovered that the No Parking between 12.01am and 7.01am unless you have a permit in ALL the streets around us is actually monitored by the traffic wardens. $20 ticket for us. No wonder I see people complaining on the travel forums that Toronto is an unfriendly place for visitors to drive through.

Neh mind, we had a fun time anyway - hopefully we can get back there.