Montreal

August 25, 2011

*Note: due to extremely limited internet time, I won’t be able to post any pictures. Sorry!

               

Montreal! What a beautiful city. As far as I can tell, it has all of the advantages of a Western European City without many of the pitfalls. For one thing, almost everyone is attractive. I find this important as a tourist because it means that when I get bored of looking at architecture, I still have plenty to sight see. There are beautiful cobblestone roads, no one seems to be in a hurry, and the food is delicious. The French language bounces joyfully through the air in every direction but this isn’t France, it’s Canada, so if I were to choke on a peanut or say be allergic to gluten (god forbid!) everyone can speak nearly flawless English and come to my rescue. The language is a fun mixture. When I walked into the coffee shop this morning I was greeted by a smiling barista with a peppy “bonjour-hi”. I keep on wanting to speak French and realizing that the only other language I can speak is Spanish. I’m now constantly restraining myself from talking in Spanish. This is new to me because my Spanish is terrible. Unlike France, the roads are actually wide enough for two lanes. This doesn’t really make a difference though because we have already seen a car parked half in the bike lane and half in the road. There happened to be a very nice and real parking space right next to it. The people here have been friendly for the most part, though they are slightly more aloof than the people of Boulder. I am just pleased that everyone is aloof but no one is a loofah because I would feel uncomfortable talking to a shower scrubbing accessory for too long.

               

The family and family to be (aka Chelsea) drove up from Vermont yesterday afternoon after saying goodbye to our wonderful relatives. We checked into our hotel around 3:30pm and decided to go for a walk around old Montreal. This may not have been the best idea because all of us had the “I’m hungry and tired” grumpies. No one handles this well. Little kids cry until they get what they want and adults try to ignore it while bickering with anyone close to them and generally hating everything. We finally all agreed to get lunch at a place with a cute courtyard. There were vines crawling up the walls and cast iron lizards randomly placed everywhere. There was also the wafting smell of dumpster and a bird shat on my dad’s menu…this was terrible before lunch and trivial after. We finally all cheered up with full bellies and were ready to do some touristy shopping things. We walked passed the port our ship will leave from tomorrow. It wasn’t there yet, but it will get here sometime today. My parents get to see the boat before I do because they have a reception and tour on it tonight. I’m anxious to see it but I guess tomorrow morning will get here soon enough and then I will be stuck on it for four months.

Today we had planned on biking around the city but it is currently pouring rain outside. Chels and I are currently sitting in a coffee shop and people watching. We have concluded this:  If you are a woman and risk getting caught in a downpour, either bring an umbrella or wear a very padded bra.  Our plans have shifted from biking to museuming of some sort. A bunch of fellow students who will be on the ship with me are meeting at an Irish pub tonight. Someone arranged for us to have a VIP room so I can’t wait to get there and start making friends in style! There’s also a Burlesque show later, so after the pub I’m going out with Eric and Chelsea. Then tomorrow morning I’ll be waking up, packing, saying goodbye to the family and getting on the ship…wooohoooo!