To Montreal and Back!

  Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, May 29, 2009

It's been a crazy couple of days!

Friday being my last day at work, I took a long break before moving out of my Richmond apartment Saturday when my mom, dad, and exceedingly kind and helpful brother Travis rolled into town. With the help of Sam and his parents, I was moved out in only a couple of hours and we were on the road to Philadelphia (with only one "whoops I forgot my passport lets drive all the way back" moment from me).

On Sunday, we rested in Philadelphia, but by Monday we were back on the road-the destination: my sister Laura's place in Montreal!

Alex rolled into town Monday morning for the drive up to Montreal.

Alex, driver of the joy bus

We were working off the supposition that if you drive north far enough you'll hit Canada, and there are only like one or two cities up there so it should be easy to find Montreal, so we drove more or less randomly north. Surprisingly, this turned out to be true! Although we crossed the border west of Montreal, we made it there by evening after a day of good music and cruising through pretty countryside. Evening found us unpacked, situated, and eating delicious vegetarian cuisine with my sister and her lovely friend. However, it also marked our discovery of the fact that it is impossible to eat in Montreal for under $20 a person (yes, and that's US money not that fake Canadian stuff).

Arrival!

We arrive!

Waking up by ten the next morning (or not) we were delighted to discover that Montreal in late May has delightfully cool and spring-like weather. So, while Laura went to her class, Alex Trav and I decided to climb Mont Royal to see what all the fuss was about!

What all the fuss was about:

Alex is enthusiastic- Travis is more sceptica

Alex and a large monument. Confused at no longer being in Philly, Alex decided to enact a memorable scene from "Rocky". Trav decided to sit. I decide to sit with some feet.

My and some toes

    

ta da!

We hike through a pretty darn nice mountain-shaped park in the middle of the city. It was remarkably big and clean and covered with trees and not full of homeless people and beer cans.  Stupid Canadians- having nicer cities than us is not fair!

Trav viewing the view

After much uphill hiking and many so called "short cuts" (which later get us lost in the city), we make it to the top! Travis veiws the view- trying to find Laura sleeping in class!

Alex viewing the view

Ahh, Montreal is pretty!

We made it!

Trav reads from a big metal French book

We all also pretend to speak and understand French- especially when listening to "Canadio" (Canadian radio). The French Canadians are not amused by our attempts.

After all that climbing (and for Laura, all that studying) we were pretty tired out so we closed out the night with a marathon of TV watching and general chilling.

The next day, we suddenly realized that we'd have to leave soon. How did it happen? So Laura decided to maybe not so much with the class, and we all decided that the thing to do on a drizzly day was to hop over to the Atwater Market, and buy provisions for a vegan feast that evening.

Shopping at Atwater!

Trav chilling with some liliacs

We failed at our goal of spending less then $20 a person on food, but did provision ourselves with delicious veggies for cooking, flowers, fresh cheeses, and the like.

Then, in a burst of spontaneity (inspired by us being locked out of the parking garage at Laura's place) we decided to try to see what life outside the city was like. So we drove roughly West, following the infallible rule that Left is right and Right is wrong. After about an hour of crazy random driving, we arrived at a random body of water, a park, a library, a dog park, and an airstrip. Much hilarity ensued!

Oh, the hilarity:
Whenever the rain stopped, we'd find a good place to explore. Here, at a feild by an airstrip and a little garden near a library, we cavort and frolic around.

Making a wish

Frogs?

Laura and Alex demonstrate sillyness!

Dance-harassing Alex

I don't know what's going on in this picture, except that it's funny and appears to be bothering Alex.

Indie rock photo

RAHHHHH

Oh no!

My butt

Trav-lion

We also discovered a random body of water (bay? lake?) by a very ritzy Montreal suburb and hopefully lowered the property values a bit.... by playing on the sculpture, for example

The least photogenic person IN THE WORLD

Now you can't make fun of me

And then, after many many photos, I am finally cajoled into a picture, only to be mocked for how startlingly unphotogenic I am. No more pictures of me...

Cooking a feast

Then back to Montreal where we all (led by Laura and Alex) made a delicious vegan meal- a ratatouille made with fresh eggplant, zuccini, and onion as well as a stirfry of bok choi, fiddlehead fern, and brussel sprout. And for desert, a berry crumble with fresh strawberries, rasberries, blackberries and rubarb. Delicious! Don't come between a vegan and his food.
Sadly, the next morning we have to say goodbye. But I was so glad I got to see Laura before I left and we had a great time!

the squeezing!

the hugging!

I love my siblings! We say goodbye for now, but we'll be back again! Laura had just better keep in touch with me while I'm gone or I'll hunt her down!
 

I'll clobber ya

Then some coffee before we go in a classy French Canadian coffee shop. But  you'd better not steal my coffee!

Vermont

And then, a long drive home through the country. One short stop in Boston and then home, to Philadelphia.