Montreal road trip: part II

Sat morning we met up with Tornwordo (Serge had school) and walked to the Old Port.  It is easily recognizable as the oldest part of the city and distinctively different with its beautiful old architecture, narrow cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and romantic feeling.

We had a late breakfast/early lunch at olive + gourmando, a cute and popular spot.  The menu is creative and I couldn't resist the Viva Las Vegan.

I normally don't eat tofu because of its texture, but this combination of ingredients made me go for it.  It was delicious!  Next we walked around Old Port and took in the sites, including the Notre-Dame basilica, St Lawrence riverfront, and the Jacque-Cartier bridge.

Notre-Dame basilica

Spouse in the Old Port

Time for a selfie!

St Lawrence riverfront with Jacque-Cartier bridge in the distance

I managed to pick up an adorable Chihuahua Christmas tree ornament as a souvenir of our trip.  I can't wait to hang it on our tree this year.

Next week took the transit bus to Marche Jean-Talon, a large indoor/outdoor farmers market.

Spouse at Marche Jean-Talon

Beautifully colored cauliflower

Then we took the subway to the Olympic Village, home of the 1976 Olympic games where Bruce Jenner and Greg Louganis both won gold medals.  We visited the stadium/pool, planetarium, and Biodome.

Olympic stadium

Another view of the stadium

Enormous pool

Then the 3 of us met Serge at Tornwordo & Serge's house to relax and visit a bit.  Then we went for happy hour at Le Lab, a 1920s-looking speakeasy.

Enjoying unusual cocktails at Le Lab

Next we were off to experience the best poutine in Montreal at La Banquise.  Traditional poutine is french fries with soft white cheddar cheese curd and gravy which I ordered.

Delicious traditional poutine

Spouse's poutine with a sliced corn dog on top!

There are many, many possible toppings for poutine and La Banquise had a dizzying menu of options.  I can understand why its so popular - its delicious!  Then we headed back to the gay village for a drink at Stock Bar and at L'Aigle Noir (Black Eagle).

Me & Spouse at the Black Eagle

One of the bartenders checking his phone on his break

We said goodnight to Tornwordo & Serge who headed home, but Spouse & I were in the mood for some delicious cake from 1000 Grammes so we picked up a slice to go.  We  walked back to our little studio and ate the cake while watching 'Grace & Frankie'.

Just because

Montreal Road trip: part I

Spouse & I packed up the ML 350 and were on the road by 8:15am on Thurs.  We made 1 brief stop in upper DE to get coffee, another brief stop in NJ for lunch, and another brief stop in NY for gas.  We encountered no traffic delays (even at the border) and really enjoyed seeing the beautiful fall foliage.  I didn't take any photos of the foliage since I was driving.  The GPS worked great, and we talked a lot of the way but also listened to some music.

We arrived at Tornwordo & Serge's house in Montreal shortly after 7pm, so it took us a total of 10 hours.  We visited with them and Georgie, and enjoyed a lovely snack with sparkling wine to toast our arrival which was very thoughtful of them.

The 4 of us made our way across town, brought our luggage inside our apartment, and then had delicious pizza at La Piazetta, then stopped in for a drink at Campus.  

Tornwordo & Serge

The open kitchen at La Piazetta

Tornwordo & Serge helped us get our bearings by providing us with a map and several nice tips.  Montreal is in the province of Quebec which is French-speaking.  Many people in Montreal can speak some English which is good since my French is quite limited.  Even when I am able to string together a coherent sentence in French, when the person replies in French I am over my head.

A neat thing about downtown Montreal is that the City has a lot of free wifi.  Most of the time I was able to find free wifi connections which enabled me to use my iPhone to post photos to Facebook.

Tornwordo & Serge took our car back to their house where it could be parked on the street for free and we settled into our little apartment.  It was a studio in a building I would estimate to have been built in the late 60s or early 70s.  We found it on AirBnB.com and selected it for its ultra convenient location and the fact that it had a balcony.  

The studio was located less than a block from a metro station and just 1 block to Ste Catherine St which is the main street of Le Village (the gay village) where many of the gay bars, restaurants, and clubs are located.  The studio was on the 6th floor of the building and the balcony offered a great view of Mont Royal, the tallest spot in the city.

Fri morning Spouse & I headed over to Ste Catherine St to have breakfast at Chez Cora.  Spouse had a traditional breakfast while I had a lovely French crepe filled with Nutella, apples, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, and melon.  C'est magnifique!

Then we got on the Hop On/Hop Off bus for a narrated tour of the city.  One of the stops was the Oratory of St Joseph on Mont Royal.

I also liked the building across the street from it which is the College du Notre-Dame de Montreal.

The bus also stopped for photos from a hillside vantage point which offered great views of the city.

The St Laurence river on the right and the Olympic Stadium in the center

The Olympic Stadium on the right and the city on the left

After the bus tour we continued exploring on foot, stopping into stores and peeking at menus of restaurants.  In the late afternoon we returned to the apartment to rest up a little and change clothes, then we met Serge for happy hour at Sky Complex, then a 2nd drink at Lounge L'Un et L'Autre where Tornwordo met up with us.

Spouse

Serge

Next the 4 of us went to dinner Le Saloon, a chic bistro with very cool black and white wallpaper.

Serge & Tornwordo - check out the wallpaper!

Spouse & me

The food was great and the atmosphere was noisy and fun!  After dinner we bid adieu to our friends and Spouse & I went in search of something sweet to end our night.  Just down Ste Catherine St we found 1000 grammes where we shared an amazing slice of cake called 'Explosion Chocolate Praline'.  It was probably 1 of the most delicious cakes I've even eaten!  We walked back to the studio and watched a little TV before going to bed.

 

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

We had a great time in Montreal!!  Although we didn't expect to have Tornwordo as our tour guide every day, he generously spent time with us during each day of our visit and we saw lots of great sites and had a ball.  

Photos and descriptions will be coming in next week's posts.

Tomorrow night is Halloween.  My crazy friend Liz texted me this:

Our longtime friends Ron & James and Mike & Clark are coming today for for their annual weekend visit.  We used to hang out a lot when we lived in VA, and they would come visit our beach house with us every year beginning in 2003.  So this weekend is our 13th annual weekend together.  We don't tend to 'do' a lot when they're here (ie: site seeing).  Since we only see them once a year we usually spend it talking, drinking, laughing, eating, and catching up on the goings on in each others lives.  

Can I see a show of hands of who was surprised that Tim Gunn used his 'Tim Gunn Save' to bring Edmond back?  Anyone?  Anyone??

Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend!!

Beardy boy

Justin

Just because

Happy

Beardy boy

Montreal bound!

This morning we left on our road trip to Montreal!  (Yes, I wrote this yesterday and set it to post today.)

I'm excited for several reasons:

1. Neither of us have been to Montreal before and I've heard it is reminiscent of Paris
2. We will get to spend time with our friend Tornwordo and his husband who live nearby.  They've offered to be our personal tour guides during part of our visit
3. I enjoy road trips because Spouse & I often have good conversations, listen to lots of good music, and on this particular road trip we'll get to see lots of colorful fall foliage
4. Our studio apartment is right in the heart of the gay village, offering us walking access to many ethnic food restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, entertainment, and the metro which will take us nearly anywhere
5. Spouse will get to use some of his 'use it or lose it' leave from work
6. We're going in Spouse's ML 350 which has built in navigation, although I'm bringing printed directions just to be on the safe side
7. Since we're not flying we won't have to squeeze into seats designed to fit purging super-models, we won't get infected by sick travelers, and we'll have the ability to stop if we see something interesting along the way
8. Driving gives us the freedom to bring as much stuff as we want.  Rather than picking just 1 jacket and hoping its sufficient for the weather we encounter, I can bring more than 1 since we'll have plenty of room in the car
   

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is 1 of my all-time favorite films.  The premise is that a time-traveling car can transport people back to the past and into the future.  However, everything that happens during these visits has the potential to change things in the present.

The film came out in 1985 and the leading man Marty McFly (played by Michael J Fox) is transported back 30 years into the past to Nov 12, 1955.  Then in 1989 Back to the Future II came out.  In this sequel Marty is transported 30 years into the future, arriving on Oct 21, 2015.

That's today.

Do you feel as old as I do??

Just because

Thanks to Kevin at The Lisp for this handsome man.

Anne Marie & more, part 2

 I think I've finally recovered from my 'big weekend'.

To recap, I worked on Fri from 9am til 4:30pm, then went directly to Dos Locos without going home 1st.  I met up with dear Anne Marie and her husband Todd and we got a chance to chat a little before the others arrived.  Eventually the rest of the gang trickled in:  Steven & Thad, Joe P, Derwin & Carolyn, and finally Spouse.  (He was late because he had to let the dogs out and feed them.)

Anne Marie & Todd started off with a pitcher of passion fruit sangria. 

Anne Marie

 

Todd

Next came the chips with salsa, guacamole, and queso.  I could have made a meal of those!  Everyone ordered and our food came out quickly - one of the perks of going to dinner early.

Carolyn, Thad, Derwin

Joe P had a classic margarita which looks to be about the same size as his head.

Joe P

Shortly after finishing my quesadilla I had to run to the Blue Moon to prepare for my show, but the rest of the gang stayed behind and celebrated Todd's birthday.  The staff placed a giant sombrero on his head, sung 'happy birthday' and gave him a complimentary dessert.

Spouse on the left of birthday boy Todd

Then it was show time!  I performed my Elton John medley and was joined by Pamala Stanley who sang 2 duets with me.  It was a lot of fun!!

Me in my Elton John costume

Then shortly after 10pm we started the 2nd show, in which I performed as Neil Sedaka.

The crowd was very responsive to my Legends in both shows, and I was asked to pose with patrons for photos.  It was lots of fun!!  I got home at 12:30am, which made for a very long day.

Sat I did it all over again, minus the dinner with Anner Marie & Todd.  The show on Sat was reversed, so I did Neil Sedaka 1st at the 7pm show and Elton John at the 10pm show.  Again, the shows went great and were well-received.  I got home at 12:15am, completely exhausted.

Sun morning Spouse & I met Steven for breakfast at the Crystal restaurant.  Afterward we stopped at the grocery store for a few items, then went home where I relaxed with my doggies and Spouse made an apple crumb pie.

Homemade apple crumb pie

I literally didn't do anything productive all day - just rested from my big weekend.  That evening we had dinner at Steven & Thad's and took the pie as dessert.  We came home, watched "The Leftovers" and went to bed at 10pm.