Big Boy Bezek Blog!

Last day in Montreal *or* beer sales at the Bell Centre don't stop after the 2nd period.

Hi everyone!  If you're new to our blog, check out the older honeymoon posts to the left, along with wedding photos.

Now on with the show....In further proof that maps.google.com stinks when it comes to Montreal, we went in search of a restaurant called Cora's, which we heard 'had an adventurous take on breakfast.'  Sounded good to us, and after mapping it out, we walked over and couldn't find it.  Frustrating.  We went around the block and were relieved to find we were just a block off.

The restaurant's logo was a sleepy smiley face, and the restaurant walls had chickens (not real ones) perched in crates all over.  Dan ordered a crepe hollendaise omlette, and I got baked apples with brie and toasted nuts in maple syrup, with a side of fruit.  Not exactly what you'd find in Rochester =)

   

After all that, Dan felt he required a Strawberry Crepe, and I was shocked when it arrived as it was ENORMOUS!  Here's the before, and the after photos.

 

I think they tell the whole story. =)

After Cora's, we wandered back to one of the giant shopping centers, and made a few purchases and returns. We had dinner reservations at a mildly fancy restaurant near the arena for 5:30pm, but we decided to cancel them in an effort to be more spontaneous, aaaaand because we really weren't all that hungry.

Of course, we figured we should have something before heading to the game, where we'd no doubt be hit with crazy prices for mediocre stadium food.  So we stopped by a microbrewhouse where we found their Amber ale to be delicious.  We also tried their 4 beer sampler, and a goat cheese and tomato thin crust pizza.  It was almost crispy crepe thin!

   

I didn't get a picture of it, but they have a full line of drinks on their menu that involve a mix of beer and a mix of liquors.  I had the lightest beer, mixed with banana liquor, and it was strangely tasty.  Go figure. 

We headed back to our room to drop off our purchases, and then it was off to the game at Bell Centre!

Inside  the arena, there was actually a full Tim Horton's donut shop!  We had to stop and take this picture.  I think the girl working there thought we were crazy.  I wish I had an after photo, as there were NO DONUTS left at the end of the game, and this place had a longer line than more of the beer stands.

Seating went up to the 400's, and we thought our 300 level seats were in the nosebleeds! There were railings at waist level in front of every row, which was a great way to not feel dizzy when you got up to walk around.

 

Beers were $9.25, and the only choice seemed to be Molson Export.  We're officially out of Canadian money now!

I sat next to a really nice Canadiens fan (hi Doug!) and his family who were all from Hamilton, Ontario.  Dan sat next to two women from Buffalo.  Go Buffalo!  Even though the Sabres lost, it was a great game.

Our two Sabres buddies went with us back to the microbrewery, where we learned one was 8 months pregnant!  Dan was facinated and took a bunch of pictures of her belly. =)  She was quite brave.

After our fellow Buffalo fans left, we hightailed it out of there soon after, but only after having a chicken cordon bleu pizza, and some final poutine.   Mmmmm.

I'm updating this in the morning, and now we're packing up for the train ride.  The Molson Export is not doing either of us any favors. ;)  We'll be home soon!

We discover deliciousness in Old Montreal

After yesterday's directional fiasco (I mapped out how far we incorrectly walked yesterday looking for sushi, and it was equal to 5.3 miles), I made sure to do a better job today.

Because we snoozed in until 10:30am, we missed the hotel's free breakfast.  I scarfed some gummi bears, and Dan had some coffee and leftover gnocchi, but both of us were in need of a good lunch.

We headed off to "Old Montreal" which was about 15 minutes from our hotel.   It's the portion of the city that contains buildings dating back to the 1600's, and actually used to have a wall around it until the 1800's.

Planning to have lunch at a restaurant called Olive & Gourmando, we arrived at noon to find it packed.  We attempted to ignore our grumbling tummies and explored a bit to kill some time.  And boy, were we glad we did!

The Notre Dame Basilica wasn't far, and it was gorgeous, inside and out. (Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger!)

It was $4 per person to go inside (it's free when there's a mass) and we spent about 30 minutes looking around and listening to one of the tours.  The church could accommodate 10,000 people before pews were put in, and the average mass these days only has 100 people attending.  Christmas still is packed, with a new capacity of 3,300 once the pews were put in.  The tour guide also mentioned how it costs $500,000 to heat the church annually.  From May to January, there's actually a light show that focuses on the church, and it's something that we'd definitely like to return for.

Now being about 1pm, we headed back to Olive & Gourmando.  It was still packed!  We turned around and headed out, when another patron who was leaving mentioned that the line moved quick, and that it was worth the short wait.  We went back in, and sure enough, only had to wait about 10 minutes.

After being told we were being seated at table #3, we were ushered to the back of the restaurant to place our order.  The menu was on a chalkboard, and in French.  Dan and I both went to order, and realized we'd both selected the EXACT same items.  A grilled cheese made with goat cheese and carmelized onions, with a side of homemade ketchup, and a bowl of fennel soup with spinach.  It arrived about 8 minutes later, and Dan says "it was the best meal we've had here and it's going to be impossible to top."

   

In addition to the great food and quirky decor, they had a ton of baked goods and coffee offerings.  Dan had an espresso, and we split a chocolate banana brioche and a chocolate cranberry cookie.  Yummmm....

Blissfully full, we wandered the city and went past many shops, bakeries, bistros, and historical monuments.  We then headed back downtown and tracked down the Bell Centre (in preparation for tomorrow's hockey game) and then we discovered 2 underground shopping centers.  Once was 5 floors, and the bottom floor was the largest food court I'd ever seen.  There were over 30 different restaurants!  Not being whatsoever hungry, it was rather painful to explore. =)

Heading back to the hotel at 4pm, we took a nap, watched a movie, and made reservations at Gibby's, recommended by Aunt Anne and Aunt Martha.

Our reservations were made for 8:45pm, so the walk balk to Old Montreal was pretty chilly.  Gibby's is in a historic building, and we were ushered down to our table on the lower level.  This picture was taken later in the evening (as you can tell by the messy tablecloth, and no I didn't spring a leak!) but you can see how the walls are made out of stone.

Dan started with a bowl of gazpacho, while I had a tomato and onion salad.  The next course was 2 sirlion jalepeno sausages, with mango chutney and roasted red peppers.  Oh, and how could I forget the bowl of pickles that was placed on the table as soon as we sat down!

Dan ordered rack of lamb, which came with a stuffed potato, asparagus, and mint jelly.  I had filet mignon, along with scampi, which were actually baby lobster tails.  SO GOOD.  Next time, I'm just having a giant plate of scampi. =)

   

Dessert was next, and I got a crispy crepe full of ice cream, topped with cherries and blueberries.  Dan opted for a Brazilian coffee FLAMBE which required the most complicated (and firey) preparation either of us had ever seen.  Both were incredible.

   

Our spectacular dinner now over, we hoofed it back to our hotel. We turned on the tv long enough to see the Sabres beat the Islanders, meaning if they win tomorrow, they'll clinch the best record in the division.  Woohoo!

Tomorrow's our last non-travel day of the trip.  It's gone by so fast!   

Penguins and Poutine

It took a little bit of effort to get out of bed this morning, but we were on our way to figure out the subway system by 9:30am.  The high today was supposed to be 45 degrees, so it was still pretty brisk.

On our way to the station, we passed lots of stores and creative graffiti.  We snapped these two as they were just too funny. =)

We learned quickly that the minor subway stations don't have electronic self serve ticket kiosks, and you need to b uy tickets for individual rides from the booth.  Of course, the people working the booths don't know much English, so it makes it a little bit more challenging.  We got a 1 way ticket, and found ourselves on our way to the Biodome, located in the Olympic Park.  Montreal was home to the summer olympics in 1976, and they've attempted to convert the area into different attactions.

The biodome is home to 4 different ecosystems, complete with tons of animals, fish, and plants.  We took a many photos, but these are my favorites. Here's Dan pointing at a porcupine sleeping in a tree, and then in the arctic with some new friends.

Next stop was a ride to the top of the tower that holds up the roof of the olympic stadium.  We'd just recently read how this structure was just paid off (after 30 years) in 2006, as it went so much over budget and required local taxpayers to foot the bill .  An elevator the size of a small car takes you to the top, and you can see the entire city from there.

Next stop was the Insectarium (ew bugs!), followed by the botanical gardens.  The outdoor portion of the gardens is free, and is quite sprawling, but due to the weather, there wasn't anything to see.  Indoors was another story, as there were 8 different climate controlled greenhouses, including a bonsai display and a live butterfly observatory.

It was very similar to the one in Niagara Falls, but I thought there were way more butterflies flying around.  They also had a whole area of hatching butterflies and moths which was pretty neat.

We worked up a pretty good appetite, and planned on walking to a sushi restaurant called Kaizen.  I had mapped out that was about a 20 minute walk from Olympic Park...or so I thought.  So we said goodbye to the tower and headed out in search of Kaizen....

Unfortunately, after walking for an hour, I realized I had made a major error.  While we were on the right street, I'd neglected the letter "O" at the end of the street address.  "Ouest" means "West" in French, and we were on Rue St. Catherine's East, not West.  By the time this was discovered, I was really hungry and grumpy.  We did pass a pet store and Dan did a double take and told me I had to see this....

I'm not sure who buys ducklings, but they were darn cute!

After backtracking, we wound up at a restaurant called Gerry's Deli.  We ordered a pitcher of Molson, some poutine (french fries covered in a bbq sauce-like gravy and topped with cheese) and each decided on 'smoked meat' sandwiches.  Mine was a club, and Dan's was touted as the biggest sandwich on the menu.  Turns out, smoked meat is similar to pastrami or corned beef.  And Dan's sandwich was massive.

I can't believe he ate it all!  Now that we were stuffed, we found our way back to the subway, and managed to talk our way into riding for free.  Upon returning to the hotel, the giant sandwich took it's toll.

After a lengthy snooze, we watched a movie on the laptop, and soon it was 9pm.  We decided to grab a cab and head to the Casino, to wander around and grab a snack.

The Casino is housed in a building that looks like Space Mountain at Disney World, and it was a gift from the French for the 1968 Expo, or so our taxi driver told us.  This shot from the taxi is blurry, but I still think it's neat.

I played the slots for nearly 2 hours, and managed to win all of my money back....and then put it all back in again.  So it goes. =)  After a visit to the restaurant on the top floor (cheese plate for Dan, maple cheesecake with carmelized apples for me) we headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we're going to visit 'Old Montreal' but I have a feeling we're going to sleep in.  Goodnight!

Waking up at 4am is no fun.

Our day began at 4am when the alarm went off.  It was reeeeally tough to get out of bed, let me tell you!

At 4:45am, Dan's dad Matt arrived and brought Dan coffee.  We were making some breakfast sandwiches, so we made couple of extra and gladly shared. =)

Train station arrival downtown happened at 5:20am, and our train arrived on time at 5:47am.  Trains don't require the same amount of fanfare as air travel.  You essentially show up, give the agent your name, he prints out your tickets, and you're done!

Dan snapped this first picture just as the sun was coming up

While I slept, Dan got a couple of pictures of the wreckage that resulted from the gas explosion a few weeks ago.  The charred cars are still on the side of the tracks!

At around 9:45am, we rolled into Schenectady, where we had to get off the first train, and wait until 11:19am for the connecting train.  The Schenectady station was about as exciting as the Rochester station, and we were starving and Dan ran across the street for some Burger King, and I raided the vending machine.  Calories were obtained =)

The 2nd train arrived on time, and this one only had 6 cars, plus a snack car.  I continued to nap on and off while watching movies (I'll spare you those photos), while Dan took pictures of the scenery.

The snack car provided some acceptible eats, but by the time we arrived in Montreal at 6:30pm, we were more than ready to get off the train.  We grabbed a cab to our hotel, Le Square Phillips which was only a $7 ride away.  Check in was easy, and the room is HUGE!  Stove, fridge, dishwasher, and all!

After I spent some time on work emails, Dan was able to find the Sabres game on tv, and we debated what to do for dinner.  There's an Italian restaurant next door that delivers to the room, so we went for that.  We ordered a veggie pizza, gnocchi, and a bottle of wine.  We watched the Sabres stomp the Devils 4-3, and stuffed ourselves accordingly.  The first *real* food we've eaten in 19 hours.  Delish.

Apparently the hotel allows pets, and Dan encountered a GIANT Rottweiler when he ran to get us some drinks from the lobby shop.  He just wasn't quite prepared for it to be sitting in the elevator when the doors opened.

The hotel offers free breakfast, so we're planning on stopping by there before attempting the subway and going to the Olympic Park and Biodome. The Biodome has 4 different climates, even a polar one with penguins!  Dan was disappointed that Pauly Shore won't be there. (Bad movie reference.)

Alright, I'm really sleepy, so I'll end this entry, while Dan watches Nascar in French.  Bon Soir!

Tomorrow is Day 1!

Tomorrow we're leaving on Amtrak at 5:47am (yuck!) for Montreal.  After 3 hours, we'll get to Schenectady, where we'll have a 3 hour layover before we hop on another train for 7 hours.  We'll get to Montreal around 7:30pm.

What do we have planned?  Besides going to the Sabres vs. Canadiens game on Saturday, pretty much nothing!  But we'll find lots to do (and EAT) I'm sure.  Check back each day for a recap of our day.  Thanks for travelling along with us! :)

PS:  if you're interested in re-visiting our honeymoon blog, just click on the link marked 'Honeymoon' on the left.  You'll get to scroll through the entire thing, but start at the bottom, as the last entry will be at the top.