Toron'o

"Pardon"

Although I felt my French didn't let me down too much in Montreal (I could at least order beer and basic food. My pointing was also top-notch!) it was nice to be able to talk freely without accidentally slipping into an awful french accent, like Thierry Henry on that Renault Clio add...Va Va Voom.

We got another ride-share from Montreal - Toronto with a driver who must have thought he was driving on an arcade game. Did get us there pretty quick though.

Due to a later than expected arrival, we spent the first night in a Downtown Hostel. This luckily meant we could meet up with the Danes we met in Montreal for some drinking, an activity the Danes regard not as a past-time, but a full blown commitment to their National pride. We got on well with the Danes!
We met them at their hostel, a much nicer one than ours I might add, and joined them on an organised hostel outing to a club. The club was impressive, the music not so and the drinks prices even less. Met some cool people though including Dave, a fellow Welshman who had packed everything in and was traveling the world for 2 years. Crackin'.

Ball(s) game.

The following day we caught the Toronto Bluejays baseball game. The tickets had been given to us by a couple of guys in Montreal who were meant to go but lost their car keys and so had to remain in Montreal for the weekend. Denied.

Spot the ball.

The game itself was immensely dull with 3 runs being scored in 12 innings. If these number mean anything to you, you'll appreciate the tedium. We did get to see a home run...after 4 hours. We left.

The Uxbridge Experience.

After the first day, we traveled an hour North to a small suburb called Uxbridge to stay with some family of Richards. Rick and Kim were both very welcoming and it's a shame the area itself wasn't quite so.

A pictoral represnation of the beauty of Uxbridge

We stayed there for a few days and were treated to pool, beer and BBQ steaks the size of the average American. A nice relaxing few days.

The Royal City.

A grander sounding name than the town itself I feel. Guelph is a University town where everyone we met seems to work in a bar and knows everyone else that also works in a bar which incidently, is everyone. We stayed with a distant cousin of Richards who was great to hang out with and show us the bar in which she and everyone else she knew worked.

A band we heard on the first night dedicated a song to us, I think it was a Beatles number...obviously.

The not-so Beatles.

We were given a tour of the university and were amazed by it having 2 ice-rinks. They take Ice Hockey seriously here. They also had a crazy art garden full of crazy art things...

Crazy artists.

The Chinese Cell.

For the last night in Toronto, we went back into Downtown and stayed at the Chinatown Hostel (this was the cheapest one going!).
A couple of picture to show what we [didn't] pay for:

Cell Block H

You may like to see what delightful picture they have put up for decoration:

Click to Enlarge.

And that pretty much concludes our Toronto visit. I'm not sure it ranks among my favourite cities. Things are too far apart and it doesn't feel as comfortable as previous big cities. I think if I were to ever go back, i'd stay in Guelph and get to know everyone, that is, everyone who works in a bar.

Our next destination was Chicago, with a short stay in Buffalo to sample their wings and visit the falls.

The French side of things.

I've sat in this 'cawfee' house for 10 minutes looking blankly at this screen wondering how best to start. Seems like the best way I came up with is to tell you how difficult I'm finding it. Meh, it's a start and hopefully I'll think of a more interesting way to begin as I continue writing (although if you're reading this, I've either failed to conjure up a better one or forgotten that I had left a really boring opening!)

So we left the last chapter of our tale with Richard playing the honky tonk piano in Boston (in actual truth, as my blogs are rarely written in chronological order, this wasn't how we ended our stay in Boston but for the purpose of continuity, it will do)

Next in line on our journey was Montreal. We were able to find a ride share on 'Craigs List' from Boston to Montreal with Phillipe, who apparentyly makes the Boston - Montreal run every fortnight so was an accustomed ride sharer (offerer?!). Passing through customs was smoother than anticipated, a few questions to ensure we weren't smuggling/comspiring/emmigrating/going to enjoy ourselves etc. and we were in.

Hostel Alexandrie


By FAR the best hostel experience yet. Upon arrival, Hernan aka 'H', the hostelier began by introducing us to all the other guests and explaining the area (mostly best pubs) and inviting us to a pub crawl he had arranged to get everyone friendly. It worked. (For those who have seen the photos on Facebook, you may recognise H as the guy who looks like Hurley from Lost). He also began introducing me as Frodo to all new arrivals.

The Hostel itself wasn't the cleanest of places we've stayed at, and we had to move rooms several times as we kept extending our stay but the socialness of the place was incredible. Many 'nights' out would end as late as 6/7am as parties continued in the Hostels basement. It did mean most of the day time was written off to sleep/recovery for the first few days. Good times and lots of great people met.
We also discovered the Hostel used to be a Morgue which inspired great confidence late at night! In one of the bathrooms, there remained one of the old lifts they used to carry bodies between floors. Lovely.

Old Montreal

Downtown Montreal is what most people know as Old Montreal. Beautiful streets lined with magnificant buildings ofwhich the French/European influence is prominent.
A few piccies to highlight my point.

Notre-Dame Basilica
To avoid having to pay to look inside, I attended Easter Mass (In French..I had no idea what was going on!) Morally wrong? Maybe, but worth it...
Not a great picture I'm afraid as I got told off for taking this one and was too scared to take another!

Mount Royal
A few miles North of Old Montreal, Mount Royal dominates the skyline. An hour walk to the summit provides an awesome view of the city...
And just for the purpose of cool photographs -

Viewing Highlights
A few photos taken around Montreal.

The old 1967 World Fair Biospehere. Mostly burnt down in '76, this is what remains.
Crazy accommodation. Designed by a 21 year old. Show off.
Stade olympique. Looks like a UFO. Nuff said.

Poutine
The 'delicacy' in Montreal is a dish called 'Poutine'. Roughly translated to English means chips, cheese and gravy. To sample this delight, I went to Montreal's most (in)famous Poutine establishments, serving no fewer than 60 different types of Poutine. For a completely unbiased (and cheapest) option, I went for the standard sampling. My review:
The cheese used is actually cheese curds that tasted and felt like eating rubber. The gravy was scarce and bland whilst the chips served only as a stodgey medium in which to transport the dissappointing toppings to an even more dissappointed recipient. (I don't think being a food critic is my thing!)

Shit.

Overall, I loved Montreal. A fantastic city rich in culture and architecture, but by far the best thing for me was the social element. We met some great people (some of which we managed to meet up with in Toronto..see next chapter) and had some fantastic nights out, which I believe photos on facebook have illistrated.

On the next FGW...
We meet up with the Danes in Toronto, students in Guelph and family in Uxbridge.