A Day in Montreal

So Sunday after my god awful early conference call, we got our butts on the road and headed off to Montreal for the day. Turned out to be a perfect day. The best part was we met Adam of Cocky & Rude and Mr. Sombrero who are in Montreal having a little French Canadian vacation. It was wonderful to meet Mr. S in person and see Adam again. We had a nice vegan/vegetarian lunch and then went to a little park with some giant chess pieces and hung around for a bit until the kid and I left for the museum.

Am I a midget? What's up with that?

My kid making her move with the white knight.

We couldn't take pics at the museum exhibit. It was a special Indiana Jones exhibit. There were props from the movies and it was an audio exhibit so there were mini-lectures about some of the fact vs fiction in the movies which was interesting. It was a fun exhibit and my kid is a big Indy fan so she really enjoyed it. VERY expensive though for the size. Oh well. It's not everyday you get to see the actual ark they used in the movie.

The museum is right out on one of the piers and it was a gorgeous sunny day, so we were looking across the river and we love this apartment complex. Every time we see it we say we would want to live there. It looks like it's made out of stacked blocks. I'd want to have one of the apartments that is right over a hole, so it would be like being suspended. 

 

After the museum we headed off to the Botanical Gardens for the lantern festival. Again, perfect day, sunny, around 22C, just perfect. We walked all around the gardens and Kristen took some pictures of the roses and lilies that are still in bloom. We were disappointed however that they now longer seem to have the little shuttle train which used to go all around the gardens. It's HUGE and it was probably a good 30 min. ride just to get around. It probably takes 40-50 min. (more if strolling) just to get from one end of the gardens to the other. Oh well, budget cuts right? Sigh. 

 

So as the day wound down, we had an ice-cream and went to the Chinese garden. They have hundreds of full-size silk lanterns. You can see the size, they are more or less life-size. 

Same size as the kid.

 

We think they were lions

There is a small pagoda on the hill across from the large one and for the festival they sell little souvenir type things inside. It's lit up after dark and has lanterns around it as well.

This is the main pagoda and the large lake in front of it where most of the lanterns are set up. Inside this year they had a calligraphy exhibit and behind it there are other gardens with bonsai trees and more lanterns and lots of interesting Chinese features. Each year they have a theme representing a story or event in history. This time it was some procession of an emperor, I forget the details but he was riding in the chariot with all of his minions around him.

The blue dragon in the daylight and then as it's getting dark. It wasn't even completely dark when we left but it was in a tree sheltered area where you could see how the dragon lit up.

A large dragon in the forest.

A turtle who was looking up at the tiger below.

The warriors on the water.

A pheasant (?) at the entrance to the exhibit.

So after we left the gardens we went and grabbed some dinner nearby and then left for home around 8:30. We made it back at 10:30. Not without a bit of excitement. I was paying by credit card and my daughter said something about "don't leave your card" because I've done that TWICE at the same restaurant near my house. And I said "I'm NOT going to forget it." So we pay and leave and the parking is behind the restaurant and as I'm pulling up near the door, there is our waitress waving us down. Yep, sure as hell, I left my credit card. Sheesh. I shouldn't be allowed out alone it seems.

But we had a good trip home, no police. ;-) However today I am uber-grumpy because I'm tired. LOL I should go to bed early tonight but ... Anyway, if you ever get the chance to go to Montreal there is some amazing things to see and do. Living so close we can make it a day trip is something I really appreciate about living here.

Have a great week everyone.