Bonjour, Montreal

The day David, Pam and I drove to Montreal, Canada last week, it was raining. It was raining buckets, the kind that plants prayed for after weeks of scorching heat. It is summer in the Americas. But we, eager travelers, persisted. David and Pam, formerly Mrs. Rodrigues (no relation), took turns driving the car.

It was one of David and Pam's spur-of-the-moment vacation decisions. It was the same as last time they decided to go to New York City on a Friday evening after discussing the possibility to visit the Big Apple while eating lunch at a local restaurant. The trip to New York City happened during early spring, just as the snows were melting and plants were waking up from a deep winter’s slumber. The trip to Montreal was not a first choice. Because it is summer and a 10-hour trip to Washington, DC, their first choice, proved to be to far away, they agreed to connect with Montreal instead. After all, my Canadian visa expires this August, so the trip was worth it. David and I had just been to Toronto where we greatly enjoyed the African Lion Safari, found fear and fun in the rides at Canada’s Wonderland and witnessed the Toronto Pride Parade. Two of the pictures I took of the safari - the elephants doing their tricks and the pink flamingos - were published earlier in this paper. The caption, however, indicated that the safari was in Australia. The safari is in Vaughn, Ontario, Canada. I didn’t make the caption nor was I aware that the pictures were to be published.

We left Rochester at about 7 in the morning. At about noon we arrived at Alexandria Bay, New York hoping to catch a boat ride to visit the Thousand Islands. However, the rain hindered our plans. Disappointed, we decided to traverse the boundary. We left America with a heavy heart, praying that the weather would be better on the Canadian side. It wasn't. It poured like a baby crying to be fed.

We stopped at a tourist information center to secure maps and ask for directions. We were thankful that the information officers were cordial enough to show us directions because Canada is a pretty big place. We also learned that you can make hotel reservations through the information center agents. They give you discounts too.

Before heading for Montreal we visited several lovely places, mainly Gananoque (where we tasted some fine Canadian pastries) and Kingston where a horrifying thing happened to David (I’ll tell you about it next time).

One thing you need to take note of before heading to Montreal, Canada – learn how to speak some elementary French. You’d never feel left out and disoriented when somebody greets you “Bonjour, Monsieur!” and talks to you in French. Good thing David, my sponsor, speaks French, while Pam speaks Italian. Me? I just happen to like French and Italian dressings. Most of the street names, directions, literatures are in French. Hello, if I’d known that we were to visit the place I would have enrolled in a class where KC Concepcion took her French language lessons. I’m just kidding guys.

Montreal is where David should leave his heart because of the old buildings and architecture, especially churches. While David likes old buildings, Pam likes aged wines. We also did hotel hopping. Later we ended up in a nice hotel at the heart of Montreal’s Chinatown. Yes, after being mistaken as Chinese, we settled at a Chinatown hotel complete with the Chinese architecture and ornaments. I made a little Kris Aquino investigation – you know, locating the ba gua mirror. The hotel has a Chinese-inspired pond in the lobby, aligned according to Feng Shui. Good thing, Pam wasn’t able to bring her fishing poles or she would have fished out the carps (you have to pay CND$40 for a fishing license in Canada). However, the place proved to be the place to enjoy as it is close to the convention center, city hall, Old Montreal, malls, port, museums, and train and bus terminal.

Aside from admiring the magnificence of Notre-Dame Basilica and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral-Basilica, we fell in love with the splendor of Old Montreal. Good thing the next three days while we were in Montreal the sun showed up. It wasn’t fun going from one basilica to another under the rain. The visit to Montreal Casino was a learning experience for me, too. The casino-hotel provides free shuttle to visitors and coffee to those who aren’t afraid to stay awake for three days pushing the buttons of the slot machines. There was an old man who stood beside a slot machine and pushed the slot machine’s button as if he is tired of life. I told Pam that the man might have been sitting for a week in front of the machine and he needed some exercise. Think of it guys, the casino is open 24 hours, the coffee is free, you just use your credit card… all you need is to use your index finger. You have to give credit to the old man. I wonder how much money he spent on those slot machines?

Sunday morning we took a boat cruise to see some of the areas in Montreal. It was, however, not as magnificent as the boat cruise we took when we where in Bangkok, Thailand two years ago. Even so, the brunch was good. We also witnessed Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival. It has been going on for 25 years. We were lucky enough to witness the highlights which were performed in the evening. The parade was special in that it highlighted entertainers
who have made people laugh through the ages.

After Montreal we went on tour around the Thousand Islands in Alexandria bay. The tour guide was fabulous in narrating the stories about each island we passed, cracking jokes along the way. If you want to take the tour, never forget to visit the Boldt Castle. There is a wonderful but sad story behind the building of the castle.

Two weeks from now we are off to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch magician, Lance Burton, perform and see Mystere (Cirque de Soliel) performers. I am sure there will be other exciting things to reveal to you soon about our trip to Las Vegas.

[published in Sun.Star Bacolod, August 3, 2007]