Today was a great day. I met up with Laura, her sister Ester from Toronto, and Arianna, whom I met two days ago. Since Esther was in town, Laura and Arianna were already planning on showing her some of the sights in the Old Montreal/Chinatown area and so they invited me along to go sightseeing with them.
It was wonderful. We started off with dim sum at a place in Chinatown which was fun. It was my first experience with dim sum and at this place waiters brought around different foods for you to try (such as wontons, squid, shrimp balls—things like that) and then you select what you want to eat. Judging their reactions when we passed on things such as squid, we all agreed that they must have thought we were missing out on the true delicacies. To top it off all of the tables were covered in layers upon layers of plastic (much like a white trash bag really) and at the end of your meal they would clear the table by literally picking up the dishes by grabbing the sides of the plastic and pulling it all together in a sort of bag. Very efficient and clean, I guess!
We then headed over to the Old Montreal district and walked around a bit near the Notre Dame Cathedral (where, apparently, Celine Dion got married among other important things) and saw the old part of Montreal near the port. Luckily the day was just beautiful (unlike the rain that we have had for the past two days that I have been here) so it was hot and sunny as we strolled along.
We basically made our way to different parts of town from there—up through a main square area and past the City Hall where several coaches and fancy cars were awaiting wedding parties. We then walked through some really nice areas of Montreal, which I probably would have missed being on my own, and eventually made it to a fabulous ice-cream place where even the smallest ice cream lets you have three choices of flavors.
I then said goodbye to the girls and headed back to the hotel to do a little work before meeting up with Andrea. The funny thing was that when I met up with Andrea, we headed out to a party and guess who was showed up! Arianna, Esther and Laura—small world!
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
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Friday, August 13, 2004
Montreal, Quebec—Day 195
Today I headed back to the Granby zoo, after of course, dragging myself out of bed after a crazy night. I headed out in my black Matrix struggling not only with a hangover but with driving in the rain through construction zones. I made it just fine to the zoo though and spent a long time waiting for Kiboko, who was lying in the water quite sleepily, to move. I spent quite a good deal of time waiting for him in the rain, setting up my umbrella trying to minimize getting wet but it seemed that no matter what I could do, my trousers were getting completely soaked. I took a break from waiting to get a salt encrusted pretzel and to check out the reptile room where I found reptiles and another equally scary sight in the restroom with a woman doing her business with the door open. I won’t go into details.
Anyways, I headed back outside to get some fresh air (ahem) and waited some more for Kiboko to move. I started to get a little antsy because I knew that my time was running out with the rental car. I didn’t mind waiting, or perhaps having to pay for another day’s worth on the rental car, but the rain was also getting to me a little bit.
Finally Kiboko got up and walked out of his pond to spread his love (ahem again) o the trees nearby and then wandered over across the enclosure to find some grass to eat. Click click click. I looked at my watch and sure enough, it was just coming on 2 o’clock which is when the keeper yesterday said Kiboko and the other two would be switched. Kiboko ate some grass for a while before walking up to the door where he stood for a few minutes before the door opened automatically, Kiboko grunted, and was let in.
I packed up my stuff and headed back out to the car and drove back to Montreal. The rain didn’t cease the entire drive back and I only stopped once to get some gas. As I pulled up to the gas station, of course everything was in French. I was like great, I’m probably going to get the wrong type of gas, like diesel or something. But I checked and double checked to make sure that I was at the right pump (and checked to see what other cars were pumping) and finally chose one, turned off the engine and started pumping.
I got back in the car, turned on the car, and….got it right. Thank goodness. Now I just had to make it back to Montreal. I set off and miraculously made it back to the rental car place without really needing to look at my map. After a second attempt in finding the entrance to the parking garage to return the car, I checked my watch. So what if I was a half an hour late? I just smiled sweetly at the guy who checked out the car to see if I had any dents (nope!) and I walked away from the rental place without paying anything more than I had to.
Phew!
I then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Montreal, checking out McGill University, eating lunch at a great café called (when translated), the Stranger Café, which just seemed perfect for me. I then walked back to the hotel where I did work before heading back out on the metro to meet Andrea for a few drinks.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
Anyways, I headed back outside to get some fresh air (ahem) and waited some more for Kiboko to move. I started to get a little antsy because I knew that my time was running out with the rental car. I didn’t mind waiting, or perhaps having to pay for another day’s worth on the rental car, but the rain was also getting to me a little bit.
Finally Kiboko got up and walked out of his pond to spread his love (ahem again) o the trees nearby and then wandered over across the enclosure to find some grass to eat. Click click click. I looked at my watch and sure enough, it was just coming on 2 o’clock which is when the keeper yesterday said Kiboko and the other two would be switched. Kiboko ate some grass for a while before walking up to the door where he stood for a few minutes before the door opened automatically, Kiboko grunted, and was let in.
I packed up my stuff and headed back out to the car and drove back to Montreal. The rain didn’t cease the entire drive back and I only stopped once to get some gas. As I pulled up to the gas station, of course everything was in French. I was like great, I’m probably going to get the wrong type of gas, like diesel or something. But I checked and double checked to make sure that I was at the right pump (and checked to see what other cars were pumping) and finally chose one, turned off the engine and started pumping.
I got back in the car, turned on the car, and….got it right. Thank goodness. Now I just had to make it back to Montreal. I set off and miraculously made it back to the rental car place without really needing to look at my map. After a second attempt in finding the entrance to the parking garage to return the car, I checked my watch. So what if I was a half an hour late? I just smiled sweetly at the guy who checked out the car to see if I had any dents (nope!) and I walked away from the rental place without paying anything more than I had to.
Phew!
I then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Montreal, checking out McGill University, eating lunch at a great café called (when translated), the Stranger Café, which just seemed perfect for me. I then walked back to the hotel where I did work before heading back out on the metro to meet Andrea for a few drinks.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
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