Montreal

Okay, the Montreal photos have been edited, but the FO pictures I managed to delete off the camera before downloading. Drat. The FOs were the gneiss socks (which I can reshoot) but the second pair of blue spruce mittens have gone on to their new home. Of course they look a lot like the first pair, but I'd have liked a picture of the decreases, as they were much neater than in the original pair!

However, that does shorten the post considerably! So, Montreal. Two weeks ago we drove up to do some sightseeing and catch some of the World Science Fiction Convention, which was in town for the weekend. On the way up we were amused to note that immediately after crossing the border, the mountains disappeared and the terrain became very flat and covered with farms, more like the Midwest than anything we see in New England. I'd forgotten that from my prior visit. My husband drove, so I got to knit all the way- I was halfway through the cast-off of the second sock when we pulled up to the hotel.

We spent the first day walking around the city, and climbed to the top of Mont Royale- not a terribly strenuous climb (it's more of a hill than a 'mont') but a terrific view of the city.


On our way up to the top, we walked through the McGill University campus. I was much taken with this lion, especially when I realized that he was on the school of dentistry- doesn't he look like he has a toothache?


We greatly admired the Point-a-Calliere Museum of Archeology and History. They've excavated one of the oldest parts of the city, including the site of the old customs house, and then built a museum on top of it. You can walk through the excavated area, viewing exhibits, and in some places see computer recreations of what it looked like in various times, with spotlights highlighting the parts of the ruins relevant to each era.

Another day we rented bikes, and rode out along the Lachine Canal. Montreal sits on the river above the Lachine Rapids, which prevent ships from sailing any further upstream. The canal was the 1800s answer to the problem. Nowadays big ships go upriver via the St. Lawrence Seaway, but the canal locks are still used by pleasure boats.


We cycled back along the St. Lawrence and stopped at the Rapids Park to get a look at this obstacle to navigation. It was quite impressively rough, though there were thrill seekers in boats, and even surfboards out in it.


Rapids Park was quite lovely- despite the focus being on the views over the water, they had beautiful gardens.


To a large extent, we felt that despite the signs in French, outside of the old port area, Montreal didn't feel especially foreign. However they did have some excellent signage designed to cross language barriers:


Can't get much more explicit than that!

Coming back we stopped in Montpelier for dinner, which proved to have a very nice Mexican restaurant, and a lovely New England downtown.

To see all Montreal photos, check out the slideshow.

And next up- FO pictures (this time for sure!), and new projects.