Day 2
We raced down to the Science Museum by cab after breakfast to go to the Star Wars Exhibit. I was afraid it would be sold out for the day, after all it was the hot ticket in town! Turns out my decision not buy tickets in advance was fine, it was not mobbed on a Thursday morning.
We enjoyed the exhibit and loved the rest of the museum. My son does well with all the interactive opportunities in all the science museums we visit, and this one did not disappoint at all. Easily a full 4 hours in any city’s science museum works for our 9 year old!
We enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch in Old Montreal, and I got to cross foie gras off my list of must haves. Yum.
We walked back to our hotel. This is one of the ways we get to see the cities we visit. We walk miles and miles every day. We love to see the different neighborhoods, see the various citizens, and peek in the cute shoppes! And as luck would have it, there was a film festival in Montreal during our trip. Streets were closed to traffic, there were booths set up all over Rue St. Catherine, and it added to the vibrancy of the south end of the neighborhood we were staying in.
Day 3
We trained it out to the site of the 1976 Olympics. Montreal’s Botanical Gardens are a must stop on any itinerary of Montreal. My bug loving son loved the Insectarium, he meditated in the Japanese garden, and we loved the greenhouses.
The 10 interconnected greenhouses were my favorite part of the Jardin Botanique!
From orchids to cacti, each room had different flora to enjoy. It was awesome! Below is from the ant exhibit, the green leaves you see moving are being carried by ants actually working all the day long, fantastic exhibit!
We were cutting through the Olympic Stadium when we found out we could visit the pool area. I was ecstatic! I have been a huge Summer Olympics fan since 1972, so the opportunity to see the spot were the Olympic Swimming took place in 1976 was wonderful for me. And, if you are visiting Montreal, know that the swimming pool is open to the general public!
The Biodome was out next stop. The original site of Olympic cycling in 1976, this now houses replications of 4 different ecosystems. It is basically a zoo with a tropical rainforest, a Laurentian forest, the St. Lawrence marine system, and a polar environment. Another must see on your visit to Montreal. The exhibit ends in a shallow pool of water for the kids to walk through, it’s OK parents, it is only ankle deep.
More tomorrow! And enough pics for several Wordless Wednesdays to come!
Disclosure: We stayed at the Delta Hotel in downtown Montreal at a reduced rate thanks to Montreal’s Gay Tourism Board.
Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly says
When you hit up New Orleans, take him to the zoo, aquarium and insectarium there, he’ll love it! He is getting taller!