After the Ladona cruise, we flew in a tiny plane, weather just permitting, from Rockland to Boston,and then on to Montréal. Several challenges were overcome. We found our AirBnB in a pleasant area near Plateau Mont-Royal. Clean fast Metro to take us quickly to wherever we wanted to go.
We have often found that a good way to explore a city on water is to take a ferry ride.
Seven knot tidal current on the St Lawrence River
River ferry captain
View of Montréal from the Mont Royal Park
Albino squirrel
Cormorants
Floating toys on the canal
Enjoying the last of the sunlight in La Fontaine Park
Lots of buskers
The locals were friendly. We detected no resistance by francophones to speaking english to us. This is François, a writer of children's books, with whom we had a long discussion.
Montréal is famous for the number of events it has: we stumbled into the World Press Photo. Here are a few sample photos. Winners here.
Sugri Zenabu, a mangazia (female community leader) of the Gambaga “witch camp”, sits encircled by residents in Gambaga, Ghana. Zenabu shows some signs of confusion and memory loss associated with dementia.
Samira (16) looks out onto Qolodo camp near Gode in the Somali Region, Ethiopia. Her family owned 45 goats and 10 camels, all of which died during recent droughts.
Jellyfish from a very deep part of the ocean
Lots of floral displays, trees, and flowers in the streets.
French Canadians, like the French in France, do beautiful markets. This is the Atwater Market.
We had been given a hot tip on a Syrian restaurant, 'Damas'. The tasting menu was pretty special.
Four of the twelve dishes.
We went to a jazz club restaurant called 'Upstairs', which featured a good meal and a fantastic group 'The Sugar Darlings'.
Miche Love
On the Saturday we did a guided tour of Montreal which was excellent.
Gabriela, our guide, and the 'Lipstick forest'
A dashing looking Englishman, holding his pug, gives a superior stare at Notre-Dame Basilica, symbol of the religious influence on French Canadians. Feet away to the northern corner of the building, a woman in Chanel style suit, poodle against her, shoots an offended look to the Bank of Montreal’s head office, built in 1845-1847 and symbol of English power. With their masters oblivious to each other, the two dogs on the alert already sniffed out the opportunity to unite.
The Notre Dame cathedral
Montréal has a rule that 1% of the cost of a new development must be spent on public art. Much of this goes on murals, of which there are many.
Leonard Cohen
Graffiti Granny
Leonard on a postbox
Montréal Olympic Stadium from 1976
Gold medal winners!
The Chinese garden in the Montréal Botanical Garden
Bonsai tree
Giant Lily Pad
Chipmunk who lives under a statue's skirts
Heron
Lover's Bench
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