Montreal almost feels like home. The weather...the plants and trees...and the products you see in the grocery store and fresh market are all very familiar, which is nice and in some ways comforting. Although French is the city's official language, it is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with the majority of people able to speak both French and English.
Did you know that Montreal is the second most populous municipality in Canada? It definitely has an International vibe to it, with people living here from all over the world. We also see restaurants here serving food that we have seen in many of the countries we have visited during this past year and a half.
The fresh fruit and vegetable market, the largest in Canada, is located near our home, and reminds us of the wonderful markets we loved visiting in Europe.
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| Fruits and vegetables beautifully displayed in the market |
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| Every time we go to the market it is fun to see the new crops being featured as the seasons progress. |
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| Our hosts provided us with a cart which we enjoy using for going to the market. We see these kinds of carts being used all over Europe. |
Below is picture of our apartment in Montreal. We live in the top apartment and our AirBnB hosts live in the bottom. In our neighborhood most of the homes have stairs on the outside of the building...which seems to a unique feature of many of the homes in Montreal.
Of course there are other interesting homes that can be found here. Here are just a few we have seen as we explore the city.
We live in an area called Little Italy. Our first weekend here we attended an Italian Festival, that was held near our neighborhood. It had two stages for music and all kinds of tasty Italian food.
A few days later we saw the Gay Pride parade that took place downtown.
We've also seen many interesting churches and historic buildings and monuments in the area.
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| Montreal Clock Tower in the old port of the city |
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| Many churches here, like the one above, have been turned into condos or apartments. |
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| Monument to Sir George-Etienne Cartier |
Lance and I love a park where we can walk. Near our home we have a nice sized park...but unfortunately it offers very little shade from the sun.
There is an even smaller park at the end of our street that has a wading pool for children and Bingo for the Senior citizens in the neighborhood.
Flowers can be found every where here...in the parks, in front of businesses and on the median strips.
On Sunday we decided to take the Metro to one of the biggest parks in the city...Mount Royal. It is located immediately west of downtown Montreal. The park is huge with numerous hiking trails, stairs and a paved pedestrian road that leads to the top of the small volcanic mountain. Most importantly, it offers plenty of shade and beautiful scenery for jogging, biking, or hiking.
At the top of the park there is a Chalet with a cafe located inside. A lookout point that shows the skyline of Montreal can be found in front of the Chalet.
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| Mount Royal Chalet |
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| A view of the ceiling inside the Chalet |
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| The lookout point in front of the Chalet |
Another section of the park has a grassy area with sculptures...and a lake with a picnic area and another large cafe.
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| A small museum and cafe located near the parking lot of the park |
On our way back from the park we strolled down Mount Royal Avenue where a street fair was taking place. It's always fun to run into something unexpectedly. There were tents offering food, merchandise, art and street performers.
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| Do you see the A & W? We couldn't resist a frosty mug after all this time. |
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| A team of artists creating a painting. They are removing strips of tape to reveal what is underneath. |
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| Look closely at the young man flipping over the top of three people. |
We also see lots of urban art on our strolls around the city.
Like all big urban areas, Montreal has its fair share of problems. There are many people here that seem to be homeless and hoping for a handout, some dilapidated buildings, and the ever persistent problem with graffiti and garbage. There also is lots of construction taking place all over the city.
However, the longer we stay here, the more opportunity we have to discover what makes this city a great place to live.
