Victoria Janssen

Wednesday was devoted to the Biodome and a trip up to the top of the Olympic Stadium via funicular.

Alas, at the Biodome I did not catch a glimpse of the sloths, and also missed the otters. But I saw at the golden tamarins and a baby monkey with its mother, a lynx, many lovely tortoises, enormous fish, ducks, the back of a beaver, and penguins penguins penguins. After all that, we were too tired to go see the Botanical Gardens, so we’re doing that today.

We took the subway back to the neighborhood of McGill University, and ate dinner at Cafe Holt, a really excellent lunch/afternoon restaurant inside of a famous department store. I had a really excellent open-faced sandwich–goat cheese, sweet chunks of beet, toasted hazelnuts, greens, and a slightly salty dressing. We walked back to our hotel from there, quite a trek, and spent the evening mostly lying around the hotel room, watching tv and reading.

I picked up my registration packet for Worldcon this morning, and shortly we’re heading out to see the Botanical Gardens, the second largest in the world (after Kew Gardens), and possibly the Insectarium if we aren’t too tired. Tomorrow is my busiest day at the con, so I probably won’t get to do much so far as tourism goes. It might seem like a nice rest!

Yesterday was our trip to Pointe-à-Callière, the archaeology museum I’d really looking forward to seeing. It’s built on the foundations of the old customs house, and down in the basement you can see various foundations and the results of excavations in the area, which had centuries worth of human occupation. There’s also a nice observatory, and a temporary exhibit on pirates (way too crowded, mostly stuff I knew about already, in more detail). We got there around 10 am, when it opened, and didn’t end up leaving until around 3 pm. The restaurant in the museum was amazing, not at all what you’d expect. I had a prix fixe of zucchini cream soup, ceasar salad with crispy bacon, and an artsy raspberry tart. All of it was beautifully prepared and flavorful. The only flaw in the meal was a fire alarm, which meant I had to carry my dessert down several flights of stairs and eat it outside. (A kid had pulled the alarm.)

After that, we walked through a nice little park that had been created from an old industrial canal along the river, ultimately arriving at a pier where one could book boat tours. We snagged flyers for all the different tours and ducked into a restaurant on the quai to peruse them, only to discover the restaurant had circus performances several nights a week. While I drank my cafe au lait (primo! the coffee’s all been excellent), I watched an acrobat working on choreography for an act involving two long strips of fabric hung from the very high ceiling. Sometimes, she would be hanging upside down by her feet while she conversed with her companion, who stood on the stage and dealt with various props.

We took a quick walk along a touristy plaza with live music, balloon artist, sketch artist, souvenir shops, etc. while we waited for our boat to leave. The boat was actually enclosed; I would have preferred to feel the wind, but the view wasn’t much good from up top. The boat also did supper cruises, so we could have had drinks and snacks if so inclined. I spent most of the cruise taking pictures. There were a couple of really cool rollercoasters visible from our boat, bridges, kayakers, and the Biosphere.

We visited some drool-worthy shops afterwards, on our way to dinner–all stuff by local designers, including some seriously tempting handbags and scarves and ornamental items. We both resisted (so far). Then dinner at a club/restaurant that C. had heard about, at a place that specialized in fish and game. I had elk (wapiti), and I loved it better than steak; it was served with quinoa and lightly cooked nectarine slices. I also really liked their lightly cooked, marinated beets and a puree of carrots and sweet potatoes, garnished with a smoky, spicy oil. C. picked the wine, which was delicious, though I have never put anything so expensive into my mouth before.

Today’s plan is to visit the Biodome/Botanical Gardens/Olympic Stadium area.

Made it to Montreal only two hours late (plane had mechanical problems at previous origin point).

Our hotel has goldfish! In a giant pond with little bridges you can walk on!

C. and I looked at lots of architecture then spent a really long time at the Basilica of Notre Dame wandering around and admiring it while listening to a rehearsal of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. It’s full of dark, carved and painted wood, richly colored stained glass, and lit candles in rainbow colors. I took lots and lots of pictures; I found the WWI memorial tablet. We also spent a while in the chapel, which after a 1978 fire was redone as a mix of the remaining woodwork and modern sculpture. It was all light woods, and full of light.

After an afternoon snack of tea and tarte au citron for me, coffee and a tiramisu-like thing for C., we tramped back to our hotel and soaked for a while in the whirlpool. We’re about to go get dinner, after C. finishes reading all the recommendations. We’d also like to at least have a drink at the Hotel Place D’Armes, because it has a rooftop bar. It’s next to the oldest skyscraper in Montreal, which is made of brownstone and looks a little like The Bourse in Philadelphia, except it has a cool clock. Next to that is a building whose name I’ve temporarily forgotten, but it’s Art Deco and looks scarily like the Empire State Building except much, much shorter.