Day 2, 3 & 4

Day 2

I woke up at 930am, had coffee on the second floor of the hotel. It was just a small room with one table, three chairs, a coffee machine, some grocery store pastries and fruits. There was a couple from Toronto who sat with me. My shoes were still wet from my Day 1 adventure so I wore my flip flops, and head to Old Montreal.

Montreal is from the name Mont Real (which translates to “Mount Royal”). Old Montreal is the part of the city where some French guy landed some 400 years ago and stayed. It’s the prettiest part of the city. Beautiful classic architecture.

I also visited the Museum of history and archeologist (or something like that). It displays the foundation of the original building, and stuff that museums display. They also have a temporary display of artefacts from the Easter Island. I like!

Then I had Kafta Kebab for lunch in this nice little Mediteranean (?) bistro near the metro station. I must say I like the public transport system in Montreal. Then I headed to the biodome where they have the museum of natural history, an insectarium, and all those touristy thing, but the biodome is closed. So sad. Some sort of labour dispute so who knows when they will open again.

By then, my feet were sore from the flip flops. Bad idea. When travelling, always wear sport shoes. I saw a cinema on my way to the metro station, and I thought I’ll just watch a movie but all their movies are in French. The only English movie they have is for 10pm that night. Boo~

So I went to the road famous for shopping – St Catherine. It reminds of Oxford in London. I only bought a pair of grey ballet shoes, which immediately made my feet feel better. Then I had a cup of grande passion fruit iced tea, coz it’s hot!! Then while I was sipping my drink in Starbucks, it suddenly rained. How crazy! I stayed until the rain slowed, and changed back to my flip flops, coz grey ballet shoes are not waterproof.

I then went to another cinema and watched the last airbender, which is remarkably boring. It has the potential to be awesome. I love the trailer but most of the movie just felt like a teenage fantasy. How disappointing coz I love the trailer.

I then went to the same grocery store as the day before and bought sushi and apples. I usually ate dinner in the hotel room. And I really dislike that most of the tv channels is in French.

Oh btw, since there’s no elevators in the hotel, I counted 31 stairs to the floor my room is on. Room 8, with the pretty red cabinet and white flowery side lamp.




Day 3

I woke up at 7am because today was my day trip tour to Quebec City. I arrive at Leichester Square to get on the tour bus. They gave us orange juice, apple, croissant and a granola bar.

Montreal to Quebec City is a 3 hours drive. I slept in the bus. When we arrived, I was enchanted. That’s the only word I can think of to describe the beauty of Quebec City. It reminds me of Durham, England. And this is why I love travelling so much.

Quebec City is officially my second favourite city now. The first is still beautiful Durham. The tour guide walked with us around petit champlain, which I looooooove. Then we were on a river cruise for 1.5 hours, which was super boring.

Then we sat in the tour bus, and the tour guide talked about the history of Quebec City, the French-English battle, together with some interesting trivia. Did you know that the shoes crocs were invented in Quebec City?

After that, we get to walk around town on our own for a few hours. It’s lovely. Lots of painters, souvenirs shops, restaurants, some cathedrals and museums. I sent a postcard to my parents from a post office there too. I also had tiramisu ice cream.

And there was some sort of festival going on too. Most of the locals are dressed in old costumes while walking around town. It was lovely! And we were supposed to go back to Montreal and two Chinese girls didn’t turn up after 20 minutes wait so we left without them. That day I had McD for both lunch and dinner. Hehe.

It was another hot and sweaty day but at least it didn’t rain until I come back to Montreal.

I also learnt a few French words. If the word on the door starts with T, it means pull. If it starts with P, it means push. “Sortie” is exit.

“Solde” means Sale. It does not mean sold. I overheard a father teasing his son saying, “Why do you think they still put it here when it’s sold?”
“Ouvert” = open. “Ferme” = close. Important to know if a shop is open or close.

“Poulet” = chicken, while “poisson” = fish, not poison.
“Juillet” = July, not Juliet. And “Aout” = August,.


Day 4

I woke up at 11am, coz I was exhausted from the Quebec City trip. I then went to bank to get USD, and had sushi for lunch. I’m on a sushi craze right now. It was a colder day, with no rain, which I love.

I then went back to the hotel to put away the USD, and went to the Jean-Talon market. It was lovely with lots of fresh and cheap fruits, vege, flowers and street food. I tried the fried calamari, fried scallops, duck sausage, and lamb sausage. Yummy!! I love the duck sausage. I also bought some grapes.

I then went to the “Underground city”, which is sort of like a shopping complex that interconnects a number of metro stations. I bought 2 blouses. I also sent a postcard to my parents from a post office there. I then went back to the hotel to switch my purse for my backpack, coz I’m going to hike Mount Royal.

It was a number of blocks from the metro station to the foot of Mount Royal, so I took a bixi. A bixi is a bicycle you can rent using your credit card. $5 for 24-hour. There’s a bixi station every few blocks, so you can rent it and return it any number of times, and there’s a bicycles-only pathway next to most of the roads too. I think it is an awesome idea, but I was so exhausted halfway there that I returned the bixi and walked the rest of the way.

I always thought walking is more tiring than cycling Wrong. Cycling is harder, especially when it’s uphill. I hiked to the top of the hill, which is a few km of relatively straight path and a few hundreds steps of stairs. At the top, I was so exhausted I just sat there and took some pictures. There was a group of kids pretending to be statues.

I walked downhill, took a bixi at the foot of the hill back to the metro station, It is way easier this time around. I barely pedalled!

Sushi for dinner again. As usual.