French Canada! - Blogabond

That's right buddy - John has made it to Canadialand! The first thing I must point out, to those of you who were unaware, Montreal is in Quebec - the French speaking province of Canada. They speak English too, although I got the feeling that they just didn't like to!

As soon as I was checked into my room I went to check out Montreal's micro brewery, with a French Guy (Mo) that I had met in the hostel minutes after arriving. The ale was surprisingly good! A couple of quiet drinks resulted in waking up on some Canadian girl's couch (called Amy)...the theme for my week had been set :-)

On my first full day I went to Montreal Mountain, which is a national park situated in the North of the city. The climb was worth it as some of the views were amazing (especially at this time of year!).

That evening I went to my first Hockey game, to watch the Montreal Canadiens vs the Detroit Red Wings.

It was a preseason fixture, so less passionate - meaning less fights than a league game (still got a few though!) The match was end to end, although tied 1-1...even after a fourth period. Therefore, we were treated to a shoot out! (can you spot the puck??)

The Canadiens won 3-1. More beers were consumed that night with people I met at the game. There are LOTS of cool bars in Montreal...& I saw quite a few of them during my stay ;-)

My Montreal visit could not have been better timed. I happened to coincide my visit with the city's annual "Pop Festival." This "festival" was from Weds - Sun in venues all across the city. Each night there were over 20 bands to choose from - although most were American/Canadian bands. However, I managed to get a ticket for HOT CHIP (SO good live) on the Weds night

I met some students (above) at the gig & ended up back at their halls of residence - who knows why I booked a hostel at all, eh?? The next day I swam in the Montreal Olympic Pool (for free), which was lovely. I miss swimming!

Saturday was time for the Black Kids (above)! I went with the Montreal students I met at Hot Chip. The Black Kids were excellent & lots of alcohol was consumed (before, during & after). I did make it back to my Hostel that night, eventually.

On my last day in Montreal it was time to check out a random band..."The Brazilian Girls." (above) They were very good, although very difficult to describe (so I won't - just download some of their stuff!). Yet again we hit the bars aftewards & ended up discussing music into the early hours of the morning. I stayed at the student res' again & got very little sleep - meaning the journey to Ottawa the following day was going to be interesting!

Montreal doesn't really have much to offer in terms of sightseeing, but it more than makes up for that with its nightlife offering! I left Montreal a lot poorer & with a battered liver...but you're only young once, right?? ;-)

written by

johnnoble on October 8, 2008 from Montreal, Canada

from the travel blog: John's year off...

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