In My Life

Wednesday
From our studio-sized unit we can see both the mountain top and the tops of the city skyscrapers – as advertised. You could barely swing a cat in here, but it will be OK. And it’s only $34 per night. Why? They say the guy who owns this place is ‘human’.
Just a few doors away is the #1 cafe in Montreal according to Yelp (a very helpful search site). It gives directions, make suggestions, and compares places.
Little by little, I am getting the hang of using Glenys’s iPad and there is wi-fi at places all over this area. It’s helpful. We didn’t go to the country today because of rain, but tomorrow’s forecast is for sun (4-15C). We’ll be taking a picnic lunch. Today has been a quiet catchup day – settling into the new place, getting the washing done, resting our feet after some very intense days of walking. As a result of that I’m finally getting my bearings and learning what direction to take. It’s been good to be in one place for a while. Originally we were meant to be in Boston until today, this rearranged schedule has given us more time with Hannah.

Thursday night
The trip into the mountains to see the autumn colours was even more spectacular than I could ever have imagined. There is a whole mountain range turning to every colour between yellow and burgundy. Justin took us to a place called Tremblant which looks like a town in the French Alps or Switzerland – truly beautiful. We climbed half way up a grassy ski slope and discovered a waterfall and rock formations amidst the autumn trees. Would have loved a five minute swim in the lake down below.
For our picnic we had oven fresh bread, salami, sliced turkey, three cheeses, hummus, rocket, tomatoes, and olives; with grapes, dark chocolate, and cashews for dessert. All very nice. Had a lot of fun in the car – an old Cadillac. It has a thief-proof device that stops the car from starting if a robber tries to start it. Trouble is you must wait 10 minutes after it is tampered with before it will restart. Guess what? It can trigger itself at random and it did when we stopped for petrol. We waited 11 minutes just in case it was set off again. Luckily no other motorists were held up waiting for us to take off.
When we got back to Montreal we thought we’d get a bus to the Architecture Academy; but you must have coins and the exact amount. So we walked for over an hour and found that the advertised exhibition doesn’t open till next week. Anyway, we saw parts of the city we didn’t know existed.
So we’ve just got back from eating Indian food, Glenys has showered and is in bed. I must finish up.

Monday
Caught the wrong bus this afternoon but we saw sights of Montreal we otherwise would not have known existed; very rich houses, a Jewish hospital, and Jewish schoolboys dressed in black with forelocks and tall hats. There is an etiquette on the buses we don’t see in Brisbane: drivers letting on passengers when there’s a red light, and most stops being near intersections – avoiding dual stops. We got on board not knowing you had to have a prepaid ticket. The driver asked if we were tourists and printed two all-day passes for us. I asked, “Are they free for visitors?”. No, she replied.
Downtown is all in French and the people certainly look French. We bought a panini to share and were asked if we wanted salad or soup. Not knowing either was included in the price we got very confused when they kept insisting we had to choose.

Tuesday
Walked downtown from our hotel and then along never-ending Ave St Catherine looking for a non-franchise coffee shop; we didn’t find one. Once Montreal must have been very religious for there are elaborate churches and cathedrals everywhere and all the streets seem to be named after saints. It’s a busy city. We walked past the Apple store and were surprised to see a fenced off area outside where customers had to queue and wait their turn to enter.
Hannah met us mid-afternoon and took us to the art gallery. Napoleon was the subject of one of the exhibitions. Later I got to ride Hannah’s bike part of the way back to her place. Quite a hair-raising experience because pedestrians and cyclists share the same path and there seems to be no set side to use. Often I looked up to see driverless cars heading straight for me. Of course they were just sitting on the LHS and invisible behind the smoky windscreens. We have walked heaps today and my feet are not yet adjusted to these new shoes.
Last night Hannah made pizzas with ingredients bought from the untidiest and most congested supermarket you’ll ever see; but great prices and produce from all over the world. We loved it last time we were here and it’s not changed. Tomorrow we are supposed to move to our airbnb unit which is just around the corner from Hannah’s, and go for that drive into the country with Justin and Hannah’s business partner, Shayl.

We arrived here on Saturday night to spicy nachos at Hannah’s. We are staying at a nearby hotel because we don’t want to disrupt her share mates. By accident, what we call providence, it’s located very close to Hannah’s and alongside the beautiful plateau gardens.
Yesterday morning we were able to find a church about 20 minutes away but it took us 40 minutes to find it because we were walking in the wrong direction. It was an old-fashioned service but the preaching was sound and it was evident the pastor has a burning passion to reach out to others – especially Armenians. There was an Aussie from Sydney there too, he’s married to a girl from Quebec.
Later we lined up in the longest queue I’ve ever seen for coffee and the two guys making and selling it were phenomenal serving four or more all at once. It was worth it and was the reason why so many were willing to wait.
It was a mainly sunny day but with a chilling wind coming from the NW. The streets were full of people for the marathon and for the annual fix-your-bicycle-for-free day. On closed off streets there were guys helping each to repair bikes.
We’ve been here before but my first impression this time is “so many trees and bikes” and the green of the grass in contrast to the shade is stunning.
Late in the afternoon we got to meet Justin, Hannah’s boyfriend. It’s easy to understand why she likes him; and they both have the same sense of humour. There was no uneasiness, and Glenys was quick to raise the ‘M’ word. Hannah was away from the table at that stage but Justin was unflummoxed.
He has offered to drive us into the country one day this week. I’m looking forward to seeing what Canada has to match the wonders of America. The extraordinary forests of the Adirondacks suddenly disappear once you cross into Canada to endless colourless plains.
Montreal we’ve learned is the second biggest French-speaking city in the world and the largest inland port. It will be good to be here to see more of Hannah, to explore, and to take a rest from travelling for more than a week.

You pronounce that funny name: add-a-ron-dack. It’s the name of this train and this region in NW New York state. It’s very scenic – on every side there is so much to marvel at. What Australia lacks is what this part of America has lots of: water – rivers and lakes as far as you can see. Along the edges are houses – some poor and run-down, others very grande. When there is cultivated land it’s Irish green. Apparently the last hurricane poured out its load over this region after passing by New Orleans.
Right now we’re watching a most spectacular sunset that looks like the horizon is on fire or some distant city is burning. This is Canada at long last. The border patrol took ages to go through all the carriages and check us all out. Hannah and I have been texting each other for the last half hour – we’ll be eating dinner at her place tonight.
Last night we stayed at an Ecolodge Motel owned and operated by a friendly Indian couple – not Native American Indians; Indian Indians. He helped us with the laundry and directed us to a nearby Chinese restaurant. We both slept right through the night – a first for both of us. She drove us to the station this morning.
I’ve finished my book – Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It is heart-wrenchingly brilliant and I got so much more out of it this time because I’ve read Home – the sequel. You must read them. They are set in a fictitious town in one of the regions we passed through. In a nutshell they are both about forgiveness and missed opportunities.

This train is called that because it skirts along the southern shores of the Great Lakes. We didn’t get to Europe but we’ve been to Syracuse and Rome – towns on this route. Both are noted for traditional Italian food. You learn so much when you’re in a train and you have guide books at hand. We’ve now been to these states: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and now we’re in the train in the state of New York heading for the capital Albany.  We have to stop here overnight to wait for the Adirondack – the train that us takes to Montreal. 

While in Chicago we attended an Apple workshop on iCloud so now we’ve been looking at a sideshow on PhotoStream of all the photos taken so far on this trip. Great for reminding us of what we’ve seen and done.

The lady at the on-board cafe is the best one we’ve had so far -unflappable, very well organized, and ambidextrous. The previous one was hopelessly tired after a six day shift and struggling to handle customers at her disheveled counter. The restrooms are upstairs instead of down which is good. I guess this is an older carriage.

We’re looking forward to seeing Hannah tomorrow night.