Trip to Montreal

This weekend was completely crazy! I was at happy hour at the Pub on Friday when the decision was made between a couple of friends and me to make a quick trip to Montreal. We came up with that at 6 PM, and then were on the road at around 8 PM. Everyone knows that I like to have a plan, so that left me two hours to make a hotel reservation and figure out the details of our trip. I got a good deal on a room at the Hyatt which turned out to be well located downtown.

We walked around a bit looking for excitement, perhaps initially in the wrong places (but a couple of nice prostitutes pointed out that we were headed into the gay district, but quickly added “…that’s ok too”). We found some good live entertainment at a local bar, and grabbed some food on the way back (pizza for Josh, Laura and I, and some Burger King for John, Evette, and Diane). The next morning after coffee with Laura (my first real coffee beverage ever!) we spent some time wandering the mall attached to the hotel with the best food court I’ve ever seen (what kind of food court offers shwermas and pumpkin pie in the same area???).

I have to say that I really loved Montreal, even though I was there for less than a day. It was just like being in a European city, but a city where just about everyone we encountered spoke English. The only thing that bothered me a bit was driving, but that was mostly because everything was in French and I wasn’t really familiar with the local laws. For example, the little red sign on the back of city buses that says “priorite” and has a picture of them changing lanes to the left really means that when the bus wants to get over, he turns on the turn signal and starts moving left despite the fact there may be cars in that lane!

I really wish I had more of an opportunity to tour around the city, and a chance to read through a travel book or have a really good guide. If it were warmer, I’d definitely consider living there just because it’s so much like Europe! The temperatures were about the same as they are here in Albany, but I can imagine that during warmer weather the city is beautiful. I definitely want to go back when the weather improves.