Montreal Part Trois

Day 4

We headed back to Old Montreal. We originally thought this would be where most of the vacation would be spent, but we were wrong. Luckily out hotel was centrally located, right in the middle of the city, so we were able to get to all points easily during our vacation.

There were islands, small parks, and the hustle and bustle you would expect from this part of town. And small planes to pose in!

Even a fantastic street performer that included my son in his act.

This was all topped off by a lunch in a beautiful old house which doubled as a restaurant.

Day 5

Gay Day! We headed to Montreal’s Gay Village area. Below are the pink streamers hanging over the neighborhood for those who did not know this was a gay street! We should have know there were no parties on Sunday morning in this neighborhood, but I did run into someone from NYC from my old neighborhood! Remember, its a small world, so always be on your best behavior!

We waked down the pink street all the way until we hit the park of Mont Royal. We had a minor family scuffle related to bicycle riding, but eventually got over it in the local department store, I love shopping out of town sales!

The kid seemed run down so we took it easy and had a mellow dinner in the hotel, not bad at all! He had been doing a lot of walking for a 9 year old. And please don’t misunderstand, that walking did not come without its share of complaining!

Day 6

Monday was Labor Day so a lot of places were closed. So we decided to scale a mountain. Literally. Mont Royal, otherwise known as the namesake for Montreal, was our destination. We should have known we were in trouble when we walked up a huge hill just to get to the park. Then it was another 1,000 steps up the side of the mountain into the park on top of the Mont. And why did we climb it? Because it was there!

Now this is where my spouse comes in handy. He explained to us that Frederick Law Olmsted designed this park. And did you know that he was also the designer of Central Park in NYC? I love this kind of info!

Another highlight of our walk (which was basically a walk to nowhere since the lake was drained), was seeing a real live raccoon. Cause we are city folk, and we usually only see squirrels in the wild! We told my son not to get to close so as to not catch rabies, we did tell him later he looked like he was frothing at the mouth! Hey, the adults have to have some fun!

We walked down the other side of the mountain to see the city from the other end. Turns out it was the side of the city with no good places to eat, but somehow we survived! Then back to the hotel for our last swim…..

My son loves to have an afternoon swim when we are on vacation, we have been very fortunate to find hotels with pools on most of our travels. I was a little concerned that this hotel had a pool with salt water! My son’s first response was that it would be good for his skin – what do you expect, he has 2 dads! They had a blast at the pool, and I have to add the hotel had a full gym and a squash court as well. Pretty cool.

Day 7

Some last minute shopping, I was hoping I could find a couple of items not available in America, that is my catch phrase. The flight home was in a small plane, if I did not have my son on board I wold have switched to the train. You can never let your kids smell fear!

We had another great vacation, we saw all of Montreal, my son was thrilled with his souvenirs, and we all got along. I left my son with the idea that we work hard so that we can earn these amazing adventures!

 

Disclosure: We stayed at the Delta Hotel in downtown Montreal at a reduced rate thanks to Montreal’s Tourism Board, and also 2 museum passes from them. All opinions are always 100% our own and honest.

My spouse thought that we would be best located in Old Montreal, but I thought different. Turns out the Delta Hotel that we stayed in was not next to any sites, but it was exactly in the middle of the city. For our purposes it was equidistant from everything we did all week, literally in all 4 directions on the compass! For that reason the location was perfect! And breakfast was included, I will never forget those chocolate croissants!