It’s hard to know where to begin describing the two and a half weeks I spent in Montreal. As anyone who’s done it knows, staying with locals is really good way to see a new place. When they also happen to be a couple of great friends, there’s nothing better! And so it was with Stef and Jo who put me up in the city they now call home, Montreal. There’s way too much to step through day-by-day. Instead I’m going to tackle this in three themes.
Getting active in Montreal
From the very beginning, my time in Montreal was active and we made the most the the summer warmth still being felt right across the north east. As I’ve written about already, I competed in two triathlons in Montreal, the ITU Triathlon and the Esprit Triathlon. But even before that, Jo had me out on the bike exploring the St Lawrence river and Stef rode with me into the Old Port for brunch the day before the race. The day after the ITU race, we rode our bikes to Mont-Royal for a “recovery run” up the mountain. There must have been some logic in Jo’s madness because we spotted the professional athletes from Norway doing the same thing. I joined a Wednesday morning session of Montreal’s November Project – somewhere between a PT session and a cult. ‘Lucky’ for me, it was on ‘personal record day’ starting with 20 minutes of core strength followed by as many repeat sets of stairs as possible in 30 minutes at the university football stadium. Two days later I was in a world of hurt. I also joined in with the NDG Run Right Athletics Club for an evening run on what was probably my quickest 10km run in quite some time, despite the considerable elevation. I also snuck in a Parkrun on the weekend between the triathlons. My first Parkrun in North America and my first one where the course includes warning signs about coyotes. On top of all that, we pretty much rode bikes to get everywhere while I was there. Suffice to say I left Montreal fitter than I’d arrived.
Getting touristy in Montreal
Of course, with two and half weeks in Montreal, I also got around to some serious tourist-ing. The Old Port area was a great spot for people watching and taking photos. Pointe-a-Calliere Museum was a great look at Montreal’s history while also being on the the site of a recent archeological dig that uncovered the foundations of previous significant buildings and infrastructure on in that location. I did the Museum of Modern Art (where I’m apparently still young enough to get in for free, woohoo!) and a walking tour – because it’s always one of my favourite things to do in a new city. Jo and I took a trip out to Montreal’s Olympic Park, the site of the 1976 Olympics. Jo pointed out that on the first day we weren’t riding bikes or racing in a triathlon, we picked a sporting venue to go to. It’s in the blood I guess. The final thing I want to mention is the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. Wow. An absolutely stunning building and I managed to time a return to it so I could enjoy hearing Pierre Grandmaison, organist at the Basilica since 1973, playing a mix of classical and modern songs on the church’s 7000+ pipe organ.
Getting local in Montreal
And finally, the experiences that really made this a trip to remember, ‘doing as the locals do’ in Stef and Jo’s neighbourhood as well as some others through Montreal. On my second night in Montreal we went to the a short film festival where all the films had a connection to NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grace, the very cool neighbourhood that recently inherited a couple of ex-Brisbanites). We also checked out two of the biggest fresh produce markets, tried out bagels from the two stores famously competing for the title of the best bagels in Montreal, took a ride (and quick drink but just for QA purposes) through ‘Little Italy’, checked out some of the many murals on buildings, spotted squirrels and generally explored the area. As I said to Stef and Jo, it’s a pretty great life they’ve got going on there and I consider myself incredbile lucky to have got a glimpse into it while I was there. Thanks again!
