Canadia - eh?

It seems like we went on this vacation ages ago, but it has only been 3 weeks since we got back. I guess you could say that we are 3 weeks overdue on reporting on our trip to Montreal. First off, for those who don't know Montreal is an island; there are a couple of bridges, but only 1 road will take you there. Driving in Montreal is an adventure all on its own. Although they do drive on the same side of the road as the United States, they have plenty other crazy driving techniques to make up for it. Not only are most of the roads one way streets, their lanes are extremely tiny and end with almost no warning whatsoever. The right hand lane is a driving lane, unless some people need a place to park - it then becomes a parking lane. Thus you can be driving in the right hand lane hoping to turn right when you happen upon parked cars in your way and a sign indicating you can only turn left. As I mentioned before, to get out of Montreal, there is 1 main bridge, and believe it or not only 1 very confusing way to get there. We figured this out when we took an evening temple trip that is on the other side of the river. As we followed the signs to the Pont Jacques Cartier, we ended up going in a complete circle, and we were half way across the bridge when we realized - Hey!, We finally made it on the bridge. We also realized that down town Montreal is really no place for a car in that parking (unless you want to pay an arm and a leg) is really hard to come by. Montrealians drive pretty much wherever they feel like, and all Canadian cars must not come equipped with a turn signal.




Needless to say, we stayed in a brand new hotel (it had been open for a month), and were treated like royalty. (We paid for it all in the end as well - thank goodness the University is footing most of the bill). With valet parking and a tremendous view of both rivers from our room on the 19th floor, we enjoyed our stay. The hotel was right in the middle of downtown, where we were within walking distance of a truely multicultural city. We ate a variety of foods from a variety of countries. Never once did we settle for something "American." Most food in America, even when meant to be foreign, has an Americanized taste. That is not true in Canada. All foreign food is authentic in that I have never tasted anything like it. Despite my love for French and Italian food, what surprised me the most is how much I really loved Lebanese food. They eat some chicken, some beef, but mostly lamb. The variety of vegetables and spices made a dish I couldn't dream of recreating. We didn't eat anything strange unless you count an eggplant, artichoke, and Pepper sandwich strange. Above is a picture of Bruce in the entrance to a quaint and authentic French restaurant in Vieux (old) Montreal. The food didn't disappoint us, the price did, but I don't think we were near as disappointed as the waiter when we told him we only wanted ice water to drink not the plethora of fancy imported wines.

When the conference ended, we wanted to stay another day in Montreal. We could no longer afford to stay at Le Westin (especially if the University wasn't going to pay for this one), so we stayed at our first bed and breakfast in another area of Montreal. We punched a number pad on the outside of the door, and went up 2 flights of stairs to our cute little bedroom. Breakfast in the morning was tremendous - 3 courses. 1)Chocolate Bread Pudding - tasty, but way too much chocolate in my opinion. 2) Eggs Benedict, toast with 6 choices of jams (has anyone ever had watermelon jam before? - We have now!), and all the orange juice we could drink. 3) French toast with a thick strawberry sauce rather than syrup. Tres Delicious!

We took a ride on the metro which reminded Bruce so much of his mission, that he became home sick. I told him that if he were still on his mission, he wouldn't know me. So to make up for it, he took this silly picture of me riding the metro. (Funny note, I ended up sitting in the section reserved for elderly people and pregnant women because it was the only seat open. No one had to know that I didn't really qualify to sit there. I'm just glad that no one who really qualified actually got on the metro - that could have been awkward.)

We spent an entire afternoon in the Le Jardin Botanique de Montreal. (Botanical Gardens). It was there I decided that I want to have multiple Bonsai trees in my house. Perhaps someday I will learn the art of Bonsai. Although it originated in Japan, Bonsai is not a Japanese tree as I originally thought it was. Wikipedia's definition of Bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees, or of developing woody or semi-woody plants shaped as trees, by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and re-potting in various styles of containers. Here is a picture of Bruce poking his head through a Red wood Bonsai tree. The tree looks pretty big, but considering it's relatives in California, this one is minuscule.





. I loved walking through the botanical garden, and Bruce didn't think that it was half bad either. I decided that I want to live in a cute cottage house with a white picket fence surrounded by hundreds of flowers (all kinds), with a pond and waterfall, and orchard in the back yard. Dream on right? I was impressed with how many foreign flower arrangements they had. It truely was remarkable.

I can't forget to mention the insectarium we visited. They had an entire room dedicated to butterflies, one to bees, and one to ants and termites. I am proud to announce that I weigh the same as 1,250,000 ants. (They had a scale that gave you your weight in ants.) They had a display of a termite hill that was the exact mirror image of Goudi's Sagrada Familia.




We made one more stop to the Olympic park and monument which they built when the Olympics were held in Montreal. The monument looks like a huge spaceship. I'm sure there's a reason why, but we didn't have enough time to go inside and take a tour. So we got some pictures from the outside. As we were leaving Montreal, we had to stop and take a picture of this gigantic ball. It was built as a monument for the World's Fair, but is now used as a biosphere.


I don't think I did too much damage in Montreal. They let me in okay, and it took longer to let us out. We had a great time becoming more "cultured", and will soon relate the rest of our trip and other happenings since then.

Thanks for sticking this long post out. You get a gold star on your forehead! :)