Canada!

On Friday night, before leaving town on our trip to Montreal, we ate at the Bluebird Tavern. Delicious! The restaurant is part of the Vermont Fresh Network, which promotes partnerships between restaurants and local farms. The menu changes daily depending on what is available from local farms in the area! We stayed after dinner to hear the Starline Rhythm Boys. For our Jackson friends, this band reminds me of one that would have felt right at home playing at the Virg...maybe Bob Stevens would have opened for them.

Saturday we headed north to Montreal! Willow couldn't make the trip with us so she spent the night here:



Montreal is an amazing city! It's a little wild to spend less than 2 hours in the car and step out into a city that feels like it should be somewhere in Europe! On the way up we had to wait for a while at the border. The Canadians really question you on why you want to enter Canada.



Note: I told someone that I wouldn't be able to use my cell phone "Once we left the country." Matt informed me that it isn't "cool" to refer to traveling to Canada like that so from now on I have to use the terminology that we are "crossing the border."

Once we crossed the border, everything was in French. Distances and speed limits are measured using the metric system and all the signs, menus, etc are written in French. Everyone speaks English but only offers it when necessary.



We had only a little trouble finding our hotel. We stayed at a cute boutique hotel in Old Montreal.





The hotel was right in the middle of things; here is a view from our window.



Old Montreal is very cool and historic. The streets are cobblestone and all the shops, restaurants, etc lining them are very charming.





Saturday afternoon we spent some time exploring the town.











We went into the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal and we are both glad we did. It is amazing! Every square inch of the inside is intricately painted. The altar, confessionals, pulpit, all of it! is very ornate. The stained glass is beautiful as well. We were allowed to take pictures but of course they didn't come out well in the dim lighting. If you want to see the inside as it really looks go to the website.



Here are a few of my photos...









Saturday night we went out for drinks at a bar named Vauvert and then a big birthday dinner. Delicious! It seems like our trips revolve around meals - especially on the weekends - but trying out new restaurants is fun right?





Here are some images of the restaurant where we had dinner.





Sunday (Matt's birthday!) I managed to talk Matt into going to a museum to learn more about Montreal's history (I'm a history major and he's not quite as entertained by museums as I am). We visited the Chateau Ramezay museum, built in 1705 as the home of the Governor of Montreal Claude de Ramezay. We learned about the history of Montreal from the French settlement in the 1500s through today. Very exciting.



On the way home I pushed my luck and tried to convince Matt to stop at one of the awesome looking antique stores on the side of the road. For some reason he wasn't interested. It was his birthday after all so I gave up easily. I'll have to go back sometime with my mom and Meg and stop! Little Willow was excited to see us when we picked her up. She was exhausted from playing all day for 2 days - it was great! I'm excited about a week off of school (Spring Break), starting my new job on Friday, and a visit from my cousin! I hope you all have a great week and a happy Monday :)