MONTREAL: Catching up with friends

I have to keep up with my research – if for no other reason than to see Jo Wick every 2-3 years at JSM.

JSM in Denver

JSM in Washington

She was Havin' a baby, yo!

JSM in Miami

JSM in Montreal

Leila Denka.  

 I love her to bits and pieces, and I love that my children love her so much too!  We had some time to chat at the mixer, we shook our groove thangs at the dance party, and she even came to the hotel our last night to watch the kids so that Christopher and I could go out to dinner.

MONTREAL: Old Montreal

Everett’s a traditional man, who loves a routine.  As such, he continued to wake up at 6am, ready to rock and roll, every single morning of our vacation.  So on Sunday, when he woke after being asleep in our swanky suite for approx. 5.5 hours, I grabbed my camera, wallet, and the stroller and we headed out to see what we could see.

I have always, always loved exploring cities while they sleep.  During my Keele year, I explored London, Barcelona, Madrid, and Venice – all in the early mornings when most of the city is still sleeping.  Sunday mornings are the best time for quiet exploring, and Everett and I enjoyed our time with the bread deliverers and the sidewalk washers for about 2.5 hours.

Our hotel, Le Saint-Sulpice, is right in the heart of Old Montreal and sits directly behind the Notre Dame Basilica.  The streets are all cobblestone, and I was an expert at guiding the stroller by the time we left.  (A 45 degree angle is the key!)

TORONTO: The city in 21 hours

Our stay in Toronto was quick and fabulous, which turns out to be the perfect contrast to the actual drive to Toronto…

We got a great room here, and did a little unpacking while we watched the sunset.  

Both kids napped late in the car, so we set out to explore the downtown area for a bit.  A torrential downpour hit us while we were at the CN Tower, so we ended up order takeout from Boston Pizza instead of at any of the local establishments.  (Bummer, but the pizza was great and new to us anyway!)

Saturday morning, Chris took our early riser for a walk (this was a major theme for the vacation) and Caro and I met them at Tim Horton’s for breakfast a few hours later.  Say what you will,  but I love Tim Hortons.  The donuts are yummy and come in smaller portions, the breakfast “burrito” has REAL meat and comes on a whole wheat tortilla, and you can order your coffee flavored, but unsweetened.  Yay!

After breakfast we walked to the harbor, watched the kayakers and sailboats set out on their day’s challenge and walked around the outdoor train museum.  Everett was happy to dig his chubby little fingers in the cobblestone walkway and Caroline danced around the park. There's video, but even I'm not brave enough to post it here.  

We checked out the Rogers Centre and the Chinese Railworkers Memorial (where Caroline spend 15 minutes reassembling the memorials).

Just before we made it back to the hotel, we stumbled upon the Mountain Equipment Co-op.   Heaven help me, I’m so glad we don’t have one of these in Indy.

We decided to take Caro to Chinatown before we left, and that was the MOST fun! We were starving, and wandered into a Chinese bakery.  (Still not sure how authentic these are, but goodness gracious everything was delicious.)  We filled our bag with steamed buns with pork, pineapple cakes, egg tarts, and BBQ buns – plenty for lunch AND dinner on the road to Montreal.