wandering montreal
A week in Montreal and I must admit: it's a beautiful city. I was beyond reluctant to come here, since I want to blame all of Canada for the brutal seal hunt (even though most Canadians are oblivious to it), but business has called us here, and I guess it doesn't hurt to know your enemy. (Though I did leave my "Canada Still Kills" t-shirt and "Club Sandwiches Not Seal" sweatshirt at home.)
We've spent most of our days here wandering between downtown, the waterfront and old Montreal, which reminds me of Copenhagen. Our colleagues here prepped us with weather reports about the terrible rain to expect this week, but Montreal meteorologists must need to refresh their skills as it's been crazy hot and humid instead. The people have been mostly friendly, overall. What is most striking is the lack of child-friendly services. I have yet to see a single restroom with a changing table available, and elevators to get around with a stroller are non-existent. I keep wondering what mainstream Montreal mums do to get around and am wondering if all the Canadian babywearing mothers I've seen online live in Montreal. :-) I guess I thought that Canada would be more baby-friendly than the U.S., but Montreal doesn't seem so.
On the flipside, the food here is so yummy. I had my first beaver tail a few days ago: a funnel cake-like confection of a wide, flat piece of fried dough covered with everything from fruit and powdered sugar to Nutella and nuts. We had lunch on day at an adorable little cafe called Olive + Gourmando, where Spice and I had an awesome crab salad. But my favorite meal here has by far been our late lunch yesterday at Cluny. The restaurant was set in a loft-like warehouse, the furnishing urban schoolhouse chic and the food just amazing. The staff was fun, sweet & helpful and overall has been my best experience here in Montreal. I have yet to try poutine, but will try to score some today.
Tomorrow we have an early morning flight back to L.A. Then, for me, it's wash everything and repack for Malaysia next week. :-)
