Monday 22nd September 2003 - Day 9/273 - Montreal, Quebec
The sunrose at about 6.30 and it struck me that I'd been travelling for nearly 6 hours and I still in chuffing America. I mean I'd only been in 3 different States as well. I still had another 2 hours to go aswell.
We got to the border at 7.00 and everyone had to go through the rigmoral of disembarking, collecting there luggage and clearing customs. Behind the desk were 2 canadian women/Ogres. They were obviously delightes to be working on a Monday morning and were equally delighted to let us into they're beautiful country.
"Where you from?"
"Where are you going?"
"Why are you going?"
"How long are you going to be here?"
It was the same treatment for everyone. These 2 girls were seriously lacking in personalities. It wasn't the best introduction to Canada. As the Canadian bloke behind me said of them, "No Manners, No Need".
They let me in the country so at least I could get back on the bus to get some more sleep. For some reason though we were held up for an hour as a couple of passengers were obviously not in the good books.
Montreal is set on a an Island in the St. Lawrence Sea and it's skyline is visible from miles away. It's very similar from what we've already seen from a distance. The biggest difference is the outskirts which show no scarring from gang warfare. In fact the surroundings show little sign of habitation. Not sure about all the road signs being in French. That doesn't bode well.
I called the hostel from the terminal and caught a cab as advised.
As we rolled up to 1854 Rue Saint Catherine West. Mx's faced turned sour and uttered a loud 'ugg'. We met the owner and he directed us up some shabby stairs. What we found wasn't a hostel full of weary (smelly) travellers, but 3 rooms he'd converted into a hotel. There's no reception and he only turns up if someone is checking in to tidy up and collect the cash.
In fairness the room is far nicer than the one in Boston and it proves that first impressions can be deceptive. It only costing $CAN 150 for 2 people for 2 nights so I'm certainly not complaining. Mx Likes it too, but I think that's because we have an en suite bathroom with shower in. It amazes me how long women spend in bathrooms. Lord knows what they get up to.
It's fair to say that the accomodation was nothing like I expected and it serves as a warning when you book online. I used www.kasbah.com . No complaints though.
We had a quick wash and headed out to explore Montreal. There's a bit of tension between Mx and I today. I think it's mainly down to tiredness, but we're disagreeing on our way to Toronto. Do we stop over in Ottawa? How many nights do we stay? Do we travel overnight? She's a girl so she thinks she's right, whereas I'm a bloke so I know I'm right. We compromised.
Mx was feeling pretty tired so we went for an hour long pony and trap ride around Old Montreal $CAN60. Getting abit tired of looking at sculptures and looking at fascinating buildings. They're all beginning to look the same and it's confusing as to which building is which. Also the story about how the city was founded by people arriving on boat is getting a bit boring too. Maybe we're just suffering from overkill and tiredness.
On the Montreal is dirtier than both New York and Boston and the French thing really bugs me. Maybe those 2 facts go hand in hand. There are a number of different sections to the City, there's the Old City (with all the boutiques, Art Galleries and musuems), there an underground shopping centre with 4400 shops (to keep the little lady happy), there's also clubs, restaurants and plenty of other things going on to cater for all sorts. On the whole we like Montreal, it's very vibrant and it has a good feel.
