It was some last minute planning and since we only had about 2.5 to 3 days, we wanted to plan this so that we could at least know where we want to be and where to stay to be near these places. We were taking the Greyhound, and got a pretty good deal, although I think that we can find even cheaper tickets, from some random bus company. Our tickets costs us $90 return :)
We stayed at a YWCA hostel right in the heart of Montreal right by rue St. Catherine's (aka shopping heaven!) The first night we went, we just dropped off our stuff, freshened up and then went off for dinner at a highly recommended Mexican place - 3 Amigos. They had some really quesadila's and the daiqueries looked so tempting, but we wanted to hit up a jazz club that night. The jazz club was interesting - in more ways than one. I think I need a couple lessons in flirting back and such... lol... Besides, that I think that the jazz would have been more enjoyable if it was over dinner, and we weren't sitting right by the band. I think we were all pretty tired after that. I think I just passed out when my head hit the pillow.
The next day, we went to some touristy attractions - the biodome, the insectarium and the botanical gardens. It was enjoyable, although nothing too extra ordinary. I'm not sure what it is, I think when I was younger when I went, everything seemed so much "extra ordinary" ... Anyway, later that night, we head out to a local Italian place that was packed for dinner. It was a pretty good choice with great food and big proportions at a pretty reasonably price. We were going to head out to a club, although it was probably going o be pretty dead on a Wednesday night. However, it was pouring, and being the wimps that we were, we decided to just stay in and have a night of cards and some drinks. We had an "interesting" experience opening the Corona's... lol... involving some step by step instructions on how to open the untwistable tops (refer to the picture below).
On our last night, we take advantage of our prime hostel location and shop til we almost drop. I got a fall jacket / sweater for $30, a work skirt at Mexx for $25, 3 tops at Tristan & America
for $5 each. We head to a local deli for some authentic Reuben Sandwiches, and they were huge - waayyy too much meat for my liking, but you gotta have a Reuben sandwich when you go to Montreal! Of course, we also had poutine :) After lunch, we headed over to Old Montreal to see the Basilica of Notre Dame. It was gorgeous, probably one of the most beautiful churches I've ever been in. We ended the night with the diaqueries from 3 Amigos and make our way to BeriUQAM to head back on the Greyhound to home sweet home Toronto.
Night buses are never too fun. You never get much sleep in the awkward sitting position, and they always arrive early. So we were stuck in Toronto at 5 am, and we wait for the Subway to start running to take us back to Brampton. What a journey....
On a side note, the people you travel with are very important. I can definitely see potential friction arising from different expectations, and opinions. Glad this one worked out! Now I have more confidence to plan another trip. A longer time frame would definitely be a plus.
For now, I'm just going enjoy this term in Toronto. Definitely going to be more active, signed up for a bunch of activities. The traveling and eating out is catching up to me. :P Not to mention all the great food in Toronto that I can enjoy guilt free with a healthy exercise schedule.
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