Montreal
Well, Chicago the musical was excellent, with a very unusual set design of a large tiered platform for the orchestra taking up most of the stage, which meant the dancers were really at the front of the stage so we could see extremely well. We had coffee and New York Cheesecake opposite the theatre and the man who played the lawyer in Chicago had his dinner at the next table. It was fun.
We got a car to the airport the next morning and arrived in plenty of time, and our flight was delayed by an hour or so (did I say already that I don't like airports ...grrrr..).
Miri and Robi were waiting for us at Montreal airport, and it was so good to finally meet. The relationship is that Miri's father was the older brother of my grandmother, making my mother and Miri first cousins - but whatever the relationship is called, the four of us have had such a wonderful time together, it has been fantastic.
Robi drove us to their home on the 5th floor of a very lovely apartment block and took us on a tour of the very green lawns and gardens around. They have a large plastic owl that keeps (very poor) guard over the balcony to stop the pigeons coming, just like my mother had plastic snakes that were equally ineffective!
We chatted in the evening, and it was like we knew each other forever really. Miri is an amazing cook, and the chicken soup, chicken paprika and cakes we had for dinner brought back so many gastronomic memories for me. I guess real Hungarian food doesn't change over time and over good cooks!
On Tuesday, Eva and I started the day on the treadmill in the gym here and then Miri made us a lovely breakfast of "real Montreal bagels" (that Robi said should be eaten with lox and cream cheese which I couldn't face so early in the day) and fruit, coffee and more! Robi drove us into downtown Montreal, and Miri, Eva and I went to the Museum to see a very fine display of Italian Design (you would have loved it Ben) that covered such a long and detailed Italian history, will quite full explanations (in French then English). There was everything from furniture, crockery, motor scooters, ceramics, artworks and much much more. We were pretty "museum'ed out" by the time we finished, so we had a quick tour of the huge underground shopping and Metro complex that serves downtown Montreal well especially in the winter. Miri went home and we went to explore the huge Notre Dame church with it's magnificent opulence (or is it opulent magnificence?) and its very modern small and light chapel at the back. The chapel at the back looked quite good. We overheard a tour guide who said it was rebuilt after a fire, saying it is called "the wedding chapel" as no-one wants to get married in the big area out front, and weddings are booked ahead here for ages. I thought...hmmm...good business - but then I am a cynical person, right?
We explored the waterfront area with its parks and pools and redeveloped piers, as well as the backstreets of the old town with its tourist shops, restaurants and bars. It started to rain, so we called in to a pub and watched the Italy-Germany World Cup semi, with Italy winning 2-0. I want Italy to win overall, as they put Australia out, and if they win it will be like us coming second!
We caught the train back (it is a very good metro) and Miri made my favorite Vienna Schnitzel, complete with fried parsley. Wonderful! We went through some old photos and I found it very hard to keep all the names and faces in my head, but Miri wrote out a tree structure of everyone, and I think I have most of it straight now.
On Wednesday we got up a little later, probably a reflection of how relaxed we were feeling and we were picked up at around 10:30 by Miri's friend Agi, who would take us all (not Robi) to the Laurentian mountains to her holiday cottage by a lovely cozy Lac Solar. We had a great time chatting all the way, and Agi took us to some ski-fields (St. Sauveur) and other parts further in the Laurentians so we could appreciate the beauty of the lovely rolling green hills and the variety of foliage and forests along the way. It was a wonderful drive, and I'm not surprised that people from Montreal (Montreallians???) like to head for the mountains in summer and winter.
We arrived at Agi's beautiful cedar cottage that looked out through a large variety of trees to a lovely lake, and decided that we should look after our stomachs having lunch on the big deck out front before going on a walk in the area. Agi put out a feeder of sweet water and we saw a humming bird come to investigate. Their wings must beat faster than light, because I swear I could see no movement as it hovered darting its head about.
We went for a walk around some lakes and ate wild strawberries and wild raspberries - with such strong flavour it was like a fruit explosion in the mouth. They were small, but there were many of them. I just followed Agi's lead and was very surprised when we were back at the house as I hadn't realised we had gone in any sort of loop. There were few people about and it was nice just wandering along the road, talking, looking at the bush and houses as well as the lakes along the way. We decided to go for a swim in the tea-tree coloured fresh, clean water, and it was quite warm. I was expecting it to be icy, but it was not. Miri stayed on shore to take photos, but we 3 swam out quite a way.
We had afternoon tea and afternoon beer, and then went for another walk before heading back home. It was a wonderful day - we certainly like cities, but I think prefer the quiet, openness and fresh air of the countryside!
We went out to dinner at the nearby Greek/Italian restaurant, and we met Robi's sister Vera who lives in the same block of units. After dinner, as it was "only" 9:30, Robi and Miri persuaded Eva and I to go into town to attend some free sessions of the Montreal Jazz festival, which is an annual event here. Robi drove us in, and we saw there were several free outdoor stages. We saw a group called New Cool Collective, which was like Cat Empire with Dizzy Gillespie overtones and quite a range of music, as well as a Cuban group called Ska Cubano that had 11 members in the band. Both were excellent and we sang and danced to their music, catching a taxi home at around midnight. There were thousands of people there, and we had a great time!
On Thursday we managed to talk with Miri's brother Ron, in Israel using Skype and see him via webcam. It was good to see Ron after hearing about him from Miri. I feel like I have just discovered a part of my family that of course was always there - and I have.
Robi drove us to the "so-called" mountain in Montreal, Mont Royal. This was named by the person who "discovered Canada" (so the plaque said) and he named it Mont Royal, and that is where the name Montreal comes from. We looked at the view, and then Miri, Eva and I wandered through the pathways looking at sculpture, lakes, forests along the tracks through the reserve, till we walked down to downtown. Along the way we saw squirrels, chipmunks and even a beaver who looked to be living in a drain!
After a nice lunch in town, we separated at the Metro, and Eva and I headed to the Olympic Centre, built for the 1976 Olympics and Robi says is now a white elephant, as it is not used for any sporting (or other) events. It was quite a building though, with a large arm from which wires extend over the circular dome that is meant to be able to be raised and lowered.
Nearby there was the Botanical Gardens, which is the most extensive and amazing Botanical Gardens I have ever seen anywhere! There were a number of buildings housing special things, and they alone, would be amazing. The tropical section had floor to ceiling flowers and leaves of the most amazing sizes, colours, shapes and density that I have ever seen. AND it seemed to go on forever! There was a Japanese gardens area that had Bonzai trees nearly 3 hundred years old, zen garden, teahouse, waterfalls, lakes, bridges, grassed areas and more. AND this was such a small part of the overall gardens! We were there for 3 hours but did not manage to explore many of the areas, that had plants from all over the world.
We did manage to go to the bio-dome, where there were 5 (I think) climates represented from the tropical, through temperate to the Antarctic. There were plants, animals, birds, fish, crocodiles there. We saw tree frogs, small orange and small brown monkeys (each with babies), a sloth, otter, many many birds - including Eva finally seeing a puffin!And guess what? It wasn't puffin! Really I could go on and on about that place (OK, I won't then).
We were late getting back home, and called by Dan and Karine's place to see if they wanted to come out to dinner with us, but they were not home (Dan is Robi and Miri's son, and Karine is his wife), so we headed to a lovely fish restaurant and we each had lovely salmon and Fatoush salad - Eve, can you send me the recepie?
On the way home we called by Agi's place and managed to see her and say goodbye (and she kindly gave us yummy cookies to take).
It was a great few days in Montreal, meeting people and getting to know each other. It has been such a rewarding time, and as I write this, everyone is asleep (after all it is 1am). We will be sorry to leave tomorrow, as we must go around 9:15am to get our flight to San Francisco and the next phase of our adventure.
As always....more later. Sorry about the lack of photos, I will put some up when we get back home.
We got a car to the airport the next morning and arrived in plenty of time, and our flight was delayed by an hour or so (did I say already that I don't like airports ...grrrr..).
Miri and Robi were waiting for us at Montreal airport, and it was so good to finally meet. The relationship is that Miri's father was the older brother of my grandmother, making my mother and Miri first cousins - but whatever the relationship is called, the four of us have had such a wonderful time together, it has been fantastic.
Robi drove us to their home on the 5th floor of a very lovely apartment block and took us on a tour of the very green lawns and gardens around. They have a large plastic owl that keeps (very poor) guard over the balcony to stop the pigeons coming, just like my mother had plastic snakes that were equally ineffective!
We chatted in the evening, and it was like we knew each other forever really. Miri is an amazing cook, and the chicken soup, chicken paprika and cakes we had for dinner brought back so many gastronomic memories for me. I guess real Hungarian food doesn't change over time and over good cooks!
On Tuesday, Eva and I started the day on the treadmill in the gym here and then Miri made us a lovely breakfast of "real Montreal bagels" (that Robi said should be eaten with lox and cream cheese which I couldn't face so early in the day) and fruit, coffee and more! Robi drove us into downtown Montreal, and Miri, Eva and I went to the Museum to see a very fine display of Italian Design (you would have loved it Ben) that covered such a long and detailed Italian history, will quite full explanations (in French then English). There was everything from furniture, crockery, motor scooters, ceramics, artworks and much much more. We were pretty "museum'ed out" by the time we finished, so we had a quick tour of the huge underground shopping and Metro complex that serves downtown Montreal well especially in the winter. Miri went home and we went to explore the huge Notre Dame church with it's magnificent opulence (or is it opulent magnificence?) and its very modern small and light chapel at the back. The chapel at the back looked quite good. We overheard a tour guide who said it was rebuilt after a fire, saying it is called "the wedding chapel" as no-one wants to get married in the big area out front, and weddings are booked ahead here for ages. I thought...hmmm...good business - but then I am a cynical person, right?
We explored the waterfront area with its parks and pools and redeveloped piers, as well as the backstreets of the old town with its tourist shops, restaurants and bars. It started to rain, so we called in to a pub and watched the Italy-Germany World Cup semi, with Italy winning 2-0. I want Italy to win overall, as they put Australia out, and if they win it will be like us coming second!
We caught the train back (it is a very good metro) and Miri made my favorite Vienna Schnitzel, complete with fried parsley. Wonderful! We went through some old photos and I found it very hard to keep all the names and faces in my head, but Miri wrote out a tree structure of everyone, and I think I have most of it straight now.
On Wednesday we got up a little later, probably a reflection of how relaxed we were feeling and we were picked up at around 10:30 by Miri's friend Agi, who would take us all (not Robi) to the Laurentian mountains to her holiday cottage by a lovely cozy Lac Solar. We had a great time chatting all the way, and Agi took us to some ski-fields (St. Sauveur) and other parts further in the Laurentians so we could appreciate the beauty of the lovely rolling green hills and the variety of foliage and forests along the way. It was a wonderful drive, and I'm not surprised that people from Montreal (Montreallians???) like to head for the mountains in summer and winter.
We arrived at Agi's beautiful cedar cottage that looked out through a large variety of trees to a lovely lake, and decided that we should look after our stomachs having lunch on the big deck out front before going on a walk in the area. Agi put out a feeder of sweet water and we saw a humming bird come to investigate. Their wings must beat faster than light, because I swear I could see no movement as it hovered darting its head about.
We went for a walk around some lakes and ate wild strawberries and wild raspberries - with such strong flavour it was like a fruit explosion in the mouth. They were small, but there were many of them. I just followed Agi's lead and was very surprised when we were back at the house as I hadn't realised we had gone in any sort of loop. There were few people about and it was nice just wandering along the road, talking, looking at the bush and houses as well as the lakes along the way. We decided to go for a swim in the tea-tree coloured fresh, clean water, and it was quite warm. I was expecting it to be icy, but it was not. Miri stayed on shore to take photos, but we 3 swam out quite a way.
We had afternoon tea and afternoon beer, and then went for another walk before heading back home. It was a wonderful day - we certainly like cities, but I think prefer the quiet, openness and fresh air of the countryside!
We went out to dinner at the nearby Greek/Italian restaurant, and we met Robi's sister Vera who lives in the same block of units. After dinner, as it was "only" 9:30, Robi and Miri persuaded Eva and I to go into town to attend some free sessions of the Montreal Jazz festival, which is an annual event here. Robi drove us in, and we saw there were several free outdoor stages. We saw a group called New Cool Collective, which was like Cat Empire with Dizzy Gillespie overtones and quite a range of music, as well as a Cuban group called Ska Cubano that had 11 members in the band. Both were excellent and we sang and danced to their music, catching a taxi home at around midnight. There were thousands of people there, and we had a great time!
On Thursday we managed to talk with Miri's brother Ron, in Israel using Skype and see him via webcam. It was good to see Ron after hearing about him from Miri. I feel like I have just discovered a part of my family that of course was always there - and I have.
Robi drove us to the "so-called" mountain in Montreal, Mont Royal. This was named by the person who "discovered Canada" (so the plaque said) and he named it Mont Royal, and that is where the name Montreal comes from. We looked at the view, and then Miri, Eva and I wandered through the pathways looking at sculpture, lakes, forests along the tracks through the reserve, till we walked down to downtown. Along the way we saw squirrels, chipmunks and even a beaver who looked to be living in a drain!
After a nice lunch in town, we separated at the Metro, and Eva and I headed to the Olympic Centre, built for the 1976 Olympics and Robi says is now a white elephant, as it is not used for any sporting (or other) events. It was quite a building though, with a large arm from which wires extend over the circular dome that is meant to be able to be raised and lowered.
Nearby there was the Botanical Gardens, which is the most extensive and amazing Botanical Gardens I have ever seen anywhere! There were a number of buildings housing special things, and they alone, would be amazing. The tropical section had floor to ceiling flowers and leaves of the most amazing sizes, colours, shapes and density that I have ever seen. AND it seemed to go on forever! There was a Japanese gardens area that had Bonzai trees nearly 3 hundred years old, zen garden, teahouse, waterfalls, lakes, bridges, grassed areas and more. AND this was such a small part of the overall gardens! We were there for 3 hours but did not manage to explore many of the areas, that had plants from all over the world.
We did manage to go to the bio-dome, where there were 5 (I think) climates represented from the tropical, through temperate to the Antarctic. There were plants, animals, birds, fish, crocodiles there. We saw tree frogs, small orange and small brown monkeys (each with babies), a sloth, otter, many many birds - including Eva finally seeing a puffin!And guess what? It wasn't puffin! Really I could go on and on about that place (OK, I won't then).
We were late getting back home, and called by Dan and Karine's place to see if they wanted to come out to dinner with us, but they were not home (Dan is Robi and Miri's son, and Karine is his wife), so we headed to a lovely fish restaurant and we each had lovely salmon and Fatoush salad - Eve, can you send me the recepie?
On the way home we called by Agi's place and managed to see her and say goodbye (and she kindly gave us yummy cookies to take).
It was a great few days in Montreal, meeting people and getting to know each other. It has been such a rewarding time, and as I write this, everyone is asleep (after all it is 1am). We will be sorry to leave tomorrow, as we must go around 9:15am to get our flight to San Francisco and the next phase of our adventure.
As always....more later. Sorry about the lack of photos, I will put some up when we get back home.
Comments
earesed it.We had a good time with you and I hope you will repeat the visit to Montreal.
Thre is lots more to see and do.
Continue to have a good vacation .
love Miri
love
ben