Three weeks in Montreal. World Gymnastics Championships 2017 and a week relaxing.
M Hostel gave me a deal. C$500 for 30 nights. It costs more than that for 14 nights at the usual rate. Two giant hot tubs on the roof.
Many mornings I ran old Montreal.
After my first stop of the day.
Slowest and least efficient Timmies in Canada, I’d say.
Mostly I wandered the downtown.
Mount Royal park is fantastic. I hadn’t been there for decades.
I spent a few weeks this year near the Berri-UQAM Metro station on Rue Sainte-Catherine, heart of downtown Montreal. There are a LOT of homeless people. It reminds me of a major American city in that way.
One survey (Douglas Mental Health University / 800+ volunteers) counted 3,016 homeless in the city. 10% aboriginal. 10% immigrants. Veterans 6%.
Other guesstimates have been 10 times as high.
I was there during warmer months. During winter these folks need to find someplace heated.
A harsh and boring life, seems to me. They all seem to have cigarettes. Somehow.
Not sure what can be done to reduce the numbers. A guaranteed minimum income experiment — or new kinds of free housing — could be tried.
Fontaine Boréale – Complexe Desjardins – Montréal
Me and the little kids can’t get enough of this water show.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I like my Apple EarPods. These are similar but better. Volume control on the earbud.
But here’s the killer feature.
You’ll be able to walk up to nearly anybody in another country and hold a fluid, natural language conversation without the need for pantomime and large hand gestures, or worry of offending with a mispronunciation. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Tourists — including me — always seem to have a good time in Montreal.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
September 8, 2017 to October 31, 2017
James and I enjoyed this light show presented close to the Olympic stadium. One ticket gets you into the Insectarium and gardens.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I worked all day yesterday in the huge downtown library, part of Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec(BAnQ), Quebec’s national library.
In 2011 it attracted 2.7 million visitors, and was the most frequented public library in North America.
I hope to live long enough to visit the planned new Calgary downtown library.
