Calgary to Montreal [Day 30, 31 & 32]

Day 30 can be summed up in 1 word: packing! We had just started to get ourselves comfortable and we had to pack up again... What a mission! Still trying to reduce our bags down a bit. Things are getting better.

Day 31 - Got up early to be at the airport for our flight to Montreal. We departed on time at about 11. The flight was 4 hours long, so just before 3 we started descending into Montreal. About 5 minutes before landing there was a huge snow dump on the airport, and we were routed to Quebec city. About a half hour flight there, then we sat in the plane for about an hour. We couldn't get a gate to refuel as there were so many planes at the airport, so just had to sit there. Finally we got away and headed back to Montreal, where we landed at about 8pm (10pm Montreal time). We were so buggered we just wanted to shower and sleep! But we did end up going out to visit my brother in his Hotel, which is about 6 blocks away.

Day 32 - We tried our best to get up early - but after such a big day and the 2 hour time difference, we didn't get up until 9:30. First we headed down to old Montreal - the oldest area in the city. Most of the buildings date back to the 1600's. Our hotel is right in the Old Montreal area, so it was just a short walk down the road. It was snowing a lot but not too cold, so was perfect. The buildings are awesome! So huge and amazingly detailed. We also saw the pier where these huge ships were frozen in.


We then headed into Notre-Dame Basilica - Montreal's oldest Catholic church, built in 1656. This thing is HUGE! I couldn't get a pic of the whole thing because I would have had to walk back about 100m. And inside - the detail is just insane. You have to check out these pics...


Next we headed to Olympic Park via the subway. The subway was an experience in itself! Instead of a train on tracks, it runs on tires. It is also extremely fast! The people who ride it are also very 'interesting'.

At the Olympic Park we first checked out the bio-dome. The building was originally built for the 1976 Olympic Games as a velodrome. It has now been transformed into replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas. We also saw the La tour de Montréal, which is the tower incorporated into the base of the stadium. It is the tallest inclined tower in the world at 175 metres. You can take a cable car to the top and it has really good views of the city - but the weather was crap so we didn't bother. We also checked out the swimming facility.


We decided to head to the "underground city" - a huge underground mall in downtown Montreal. This was when we struck our first problem with the language barrier. We could not work out which subway station we needed to go to, and couldn't find anyone that spoke English to ask! After about 15 mins we finally found someone and were on our way. The mall certainly lived up to its name - it is enormous! Buuuut it is just a mall, and we are trying to get rid of stuff - not get more (much to Rochelles dismay!).

From there we headed back to the hotel. We chilled out for a bit, then Daniel came around. We went out to get some kai, then he took off to the airport to head back to Calgary. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in at the supermarket to pick up a few things. That is where we found this...

A 1 liter can of 10.1% beer. I just had to have it... and I did!

I am still working my way through it. I don't think I will make it to the end. It is pretty rank!

Plans for tomorrow are pick up the rental car and head up to Mount Royal if the weather is good. Has awesome views of the city. Then we are off to Toronto. The main draw is to see the Niagara Falls. I just hope the weather is good!

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