Friday Sept 3 - Montreal

One more hot/humid day in Montreal- weather to break this evening. As you can see below, I was accepting my late Olympic medal for the triathalon at the site of the former Montreal Olympic Stadium.

Fly away little one, fly away--

We spent a few hours here at the Botanical Gardens- quite impressive.

They had a Chinese Pavilion with lots of figures in the lakes that light up at night.

Teaching him how to pose I guess

Took tons of pics-only showing a few

Petting zoo?

Moose sighting in the woods

BIG bee on this flower!

Mali, the sheepdog made entirely out of weeping brown sedge, an ornamental grass

Inside the greenhouse

Greenhouse

Went to Chinatown later

Dim sum lunch at La Maison Kam Fung

After a little rest, went out to the "Village" on St Catherine Street which was pedestrian only this summer. Had dinner outside at this Vietnamese restaurant then to a club for a little show afterwords. Clemente's ticket he got with his first drink was called s he went on stage (nothing new), spun the wheel and won us a bottle of champagne which we gladly accepted and downed during the show.

Thursday Sept 2- Montreal

Today we spent in Old Montreal- a former walled city area from 1600's. Below is a fountain at the City Hall.

Below is the Notre Dame Cathedral- very beautiful inside- they charge $5 to everyone entering unless it is mass. First Church I've seen do this.

Geneva- below is for you as promised. Hope it helps :)

This blue coloring is amazing

Another shot of the altar

Behind the main altar is this smaller chapel (the air conditioned one). The gold color is like nothing you've ever seen. It was done about 30 years ago after the last one burned.

Gold adornment everywhere

Yes, we found the Xmas store! Of course everything we wanted was pricier than we were willing to pay.

I kept telling him the ATM was around the corner but he insisted on personal service at this Bank of Montreal Museum.

Thought I'd forget the Moose of the Day? Not!

Statue seemed a little out of place but we liked it, so there!

Outdoor Lunch at Montreal Poutine.

Street entertainment

Street view

In front of the Archaelogical Museum- Where Montreal was founded- well worth the entry fee! The footings, cemetery, etc that were dug out are under this building and square as part of the museum

Inside the museum below

Wednesday Sept 1- Montreal

Well, this morning we decided to change our plans slightly due to the weather-it was to be the hottest/most humid day so we decided to go to the Montreal Casino during the daytime rather than a short evening trip. We walked 2 blocks from hotel to Tourist Info Center where the free casino bus picks you up and drops you off.

Wandering through the park below waiting for the bus to the Den of Iniquity, aka casino. We had fun- didn't win, but didn't do badly. It had about 7 levels and small rooms all over - a very confusing configuration. We also had their lunch buffet which as quite different than Vegas-not as big but very sufficient.

Today, we spotted a herd of moose-(and a black bear I think)- don't you love our bravery in our wilderness tracking in Canada? (Wait, is it a herd....or a gaggle...a pack....?)

After the casino and back downtown, we walked about 10 blocks, stopping in the occasional store or so on the way to the Contemporary Art Museum. Now, if you know me- contemporary is not my style--but it was free on Wed night :) Below is someone's idea of a horse- not sure why they couldn't have used a real horse- but that is "art"

Out in front of the museum after a quick visit. The museum complex also houses the Montreal International Film Festival, and is located within the sprawling campus of McGill University.

Museum complex. We then walked around a bit- went to grocery store to pick up some fresh cheeses, meat, bread, greens, etc and went back to the hotel to have our own picnic dinner- one of the best meals we've had- Why don't we do this at home?

Tuesday Aug 31- Toronto to Montreal

Enjoyed our last breakfast in Toronto at the Courtyard by Marriott-wonderful hotel- would definitely stay here again. We took a taxi down to train station and got on our 930am train to Montreal- very nice 5 hour ride. We paid a little extra for Bsns Class- assigned seating, use of lounge in station, preboarding, meal, drinks, newspapers,internet, etc. Below is our car we were in.

Great meal- below is just the appetizer before the tilapia came

Oh, before I forget, here is today's "mousse" sighting

We arrived in Montreal and unbelivably- it felt even hotter and muggier here than Toronto- over 90 again and humidex over 100. We walked 4 blocks to hotel- Residence Inn by Marriott- totally soaked from humidity. Our lobby is below.

Below is our room

Had sofabed too

Along with full kitchen and walkin closet

Our room is on 20th floor but we went to outdoor terrace on 23rd floor for pics

Went out for a couple hours to check out the area

Amazing what you find at Dollarama-

Walked through the underground city- multiple levels of malls/food that goes for blocks! I thought it was great for winter- found out summer too!

Monda Aug 30 - Toronto

Well. today was shorter than others. Who knew the temperature was going to be 90 degrees and terribly humid- reminds us somewhat of Hong Kong. Below is on our walk downtown- in front of the City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square

Below is the old City Hall

We stopped at Union Station to pick up our train tix for tomorrow and then on to the CN Tower. We went to the Skypod- about 130 floors up!

View from atop the tower below

Another moose sighting-

Atop the tower- too bad you can't see out at this angle