The Last Day in Quebec
Since we had to check out by 10 Friday morning, we actually got a good start on the day. We loaded up the car and headed for Montreal. The first stop was a cafe, where Nate and Shannon would hang out for most of the morning.
Ryan, Masato and I went wandering around Old Montreal. This part of the city was reminiscent of old European cities, with a smattering of modernity. Curious about the McDonalds of Canada, we stopped in to one and had some McPoutine. Nothing to write home about, but poutine no less. We walked to the Place d'Armes, where the Basilique Notre Dame stood, but didn't go into the cathedral because Good Friday services were in session. We wandered for about an hour in the Old City before heading to the very posh urban part of town.
While wandering, we decided it would be a good idea to start hitting up the Canadian bars, something we had yet to do, despite the fact that it was maybe 3 in the afternoon. The first in this tour was a branch of Les Trois Brasseurs, a Quebecois chain of brewpubs. They had a variety of "beer cocktails" but we opted to go with a pitcher of their amber beer, which was pretty tasty. The next stop was an Irish pub. Even though every city in the world seems to have at least one Irish pub, we had a jonesing for something Irish. We enjoyed some glasses of Kilkenny while chatting with the bartender, who himself was Canadian, but sounded Irish to my ears. He recommended a good place to go for a beer when we asked for a recommendation. He told us to go to Sherbrooke street and look for a place there. We did, and randomly picked a place with the word "bar" written on the outside. The place we went into turned out to be pretty great. It was a microbrewery that felt generic yet somehow totally unique. They had on tap whatever they happened to have brewed and had chalkboards as menu signs. The tapas looked particularly good, but we only had time for a drink. The hefeweizen we ordered hit the spot.
We hurried to meet Nate and Shannon, who were waiting for us at St. Laurent station. From there we went to our dinner destination, a sushi restaurant. This place, like many in Montreal, it seemed, had all-you-can eat sushi for a very reasonable price. Again we were the first to arrive, and AIESECers, this time from UQAM, the first LC we met, got there shortly afterward. We gorged ourselves on all sorts of sushi and other random Japanese goodies for a good two and a half hours. A fantastic last meal of the trip.
Our last activity in Quebec took place at the famous Altitude 737, a club in the penthouse of one of (if not THE) highest buildings in Montreal. AIESECers from UQAM had arranged to get us (and some of them) on the guest list. The idea of the club was pretty awesome, although it could have executed better. It didn't feel very elite or exclusive or anything, but had a great view. We enjoyed some highly expensive drinks and partied it up for a couple of hours before we decided to get on the road. Rather than find a place to stay for the night, we took off for the border around 2 AM.
The drive itself was fairly uneventful, aside from a stop at the great Martin's supermarket in Maryland and another stop at a Cook Out fast food restaurant in North Carolina and 26 hours later, I was home, safe and sound, in Atlanta. In retrospect, it was a pretty bitchin' Spring Break. It definitely stands up to the adventures had in Wales a year ago and two years ago in Iceland. I owe a lot of the great times to Shannon, who shared with us her awesome lodging and resort, to the AIESECers of UQAM and HEC, for their local hospitality, and to my AIESEC GT travel companions. This trip probably wouldn't have been possible without them and surely wouldn't have been the same.
Ryan, Masato and I went wandering around Old Montreal. This part of the city was reminiscent of old European cities, with a smattering of modernity. Curious about the McDonalds of Canada, we stopped in to one and had some McPoutine. Nothing to write home about, but poutine no less. We walked to the Place d'Armes, where the Basilique Notre Dame stood, but didn't go into the cathedral because Good Friday services were in session. We wandered for about an hour in the Old City before heading to the very posh urban part of town.
While wandering, we decided it would be a good idea to start hitting up the Canadian bars, something we had yet to do, despite the fact that it was maybe 3 in the afternoon. The first in this tour was a branch of Les Trois Brasseurs, a Quebecois chain of brewpubs. They had a variety of "beer cocktails" but we opted to go with a pitcher of their amber beer, which was pretty tasty. The next stop was an Irish pub. Even though every city in the world seems to have at least one Irish pub, we had a jonesing for something Irish. We enjoyed some glasses of Kilkenny while chatting with the bartender, who himself was Canadian, but sounded Irish to my ears. He recommended a good place to go for a beer when we asked for a recommendation. He told us to go to Sherbrooke street and look for a place there. We did, and randomly picked a place with the word "bar" written on the outside. The place we went into turned out to be pretty great. It was a microbrewery that felt generic yet somehow totally unique. They had on tap whatever they happened to have brewed and had chalkboards as menu signs. The tapas looked particularly good, but we only had time for a drink. The hefeweizen we ordered hit the spot.
We hurried to meet Nate and Shannon, who were waiting for us at St. Laurent station. From there we went to our dinner destination, a sushi restaurant. This place, like many in Montreal, it seemed, had all-you-can eat sushi for a very reasonable price. Again we were the first to arrive, and AIESECers, this time from UQAM, the first LC we met, got there shortly afterward. We gorged ourselves on all sorts of sushi and other random Japanese goodies for a good two and a half hours. A fantastic last meal of the trip.
Our last activity in Quebec took place at the famous Altitude 737, a club in the penthouse of one of (if not THE) highest buildings in Montreal. AIESECers from UQAM had arranged to get us (and some of them) on the guest list. The idea of the club was pretty awesome, although it could have executed better. It didn't feel very elite or exclusive or anything, but had a great view. We enjoyed some highly expensive drinks and partied it up for a couple of hours before we decided to get on the road. Rather than find a place to stay for the night, we took off for the border around 2 AM.
The drive itself was fairly uneventful, aside from a stop at the great Martin's supermarket in Maryland and another stop at a Cook Out fast food restaurant in North Carolina and 26 hours later, I was home, safe and sound, in Atlanta. In retrospect, it was a pretty bitchin' Spring Break. It definitely stands up to the adventures had in Wales a year ago and two years ago in Iceland. I owe a lot of the great times to Shannon, who shared with us her awesome lodging and resort, to the AIESECers of UQAM and HEC, for their local hospitality, and to my AIESEC GT travel companions. This trip probably wouldn't have been possible without them and surely wouldn't have been the same.
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