March Break: Montreal

Class, today we're going to begin with another lesson in pronunciation. Say the word Monday. Did you pronounce the o like a u - Munday? Yes, you did. Montreal is the same. Monday. Montreal. Get it? 

We arrived in Montreal last week after leaving Old Quebec in the morning. It was a quick three hour drive. We stayed at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, right down town. They were also kind enough to celebrate our month-early-anniversary with a lovely piece of chocolate-mousse-cake-slice-of-heaven. I love these people.

We hit the streets and headed down St. Catherine Street, which would be the equivalent of Michigan Avenue in Chicago - fabulous shopping of NORMAL stores. We even hit up Ogilvy's, which is like a Nordstrom or Saks. Hallelujiah! My faith is restored in Canadians. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Montreal is bigger than I thought. Wikipedia kindly told me the city has about 4 million people and is the second largest city in Canada, right after Toronto. Clearly, not all of those 4 million peeps are law-abiding citizens. At least this homeless guy has no shame and isn't scared to admit his addictions. 

Hmmm, this is a family friendly blog so I probably shouldn't be showing pictures of what is apparently Canada's greatest strip club. I don't know why I took a photo or why I thought you would want to see it. Please understand, Montreal is a great city. It's clean and beautiful and the residents actually live in the city and it has a great night life. Don't let my photos of strip clubs and homeless pot smokers sway your opinion...

Moving on...

The next morning TC and I decided that it was imperative we go to the most renowned bagel place in Montreal. After all, Montreal is known for three foods: poutine, smoked meat and bagels.

We bought day passes for the Metro and hopped aboard to set out on what we thought would be an easy trip for breakfast.

We walked. 

And we walked.

We saw residential Montreal.

We saw bikes buried in snow.

And we walked some more.

No bagels. 

We were lost. Walking in the wrong direction.

An hour later, TC was none too impressed. He does deserve a pat on the back for having such a good attitude though. Even if it was hidden sometimes.

Out of desperation for coffee, we aborted our mission and headed back to the Metro in search of lunch.

 Then we got a little lost again. Luckily, we stumbled upon a cool little coffee shop that was covered in chalkboard paint. They didn't give me coffee in a bowl, but at that point I wasn't about to complain.

Eventually, we made our way to the most famous smoked meat restaurant in the world. Schwartz's.

Did you know smoked meat was famous? I didn't. I didn't even know what smoked meat was. Let alone that it was good enough to wait in line for 45 minutes to ensure the "Schwartz experience."

Let me tell you, it was worth the wait. It's diner style, but the manager stands at the door to manage the line. When seats open, he yells for the correct amount of people and squeezes you in. TC and I enjoyed our lunch while sharing a table with four complete strangers. 

I'm pretty sure there is only three things on the menu: fries (which they cut and cook themselves), pickles, and a smoked meat sandwich. Your sandwich can be large or small and you also have the choice or lean, medium or fatty. We went with small and medium, extra mustard. Definitely the perfect combination.

After we rolled ourselves out of Schwartz's we hopped back on the Metro and headed toward the Biodome at Olympic Park (1976 Summer Olympics).

The Biodome is indoor (dome? get it) and features four different ecosystems - tropical forest, arctic, North American forest and marine.

The animals in each ecosystem weren't caged and co-habitated as they naturally would. Except this guy.  

I liked the penguins so much I bought a Christmas ornament of one. I'm cool like that. Plus, my Christmas tree needs all the help it can get.

Next we took the Metro into Old Montreal. It was quiet and quaint with old buildings, cobblestone roads and carriage rides.

At that point our feet were aching and we needed a drink to calm down after the mob of elementary school children that was the Biodome.

Clearly TC was enjoying his beer and got a little cross eyed. 

Side note: Seriously, how does he do that? Why can't I cross my eyes? Genetic defect. Thanks, Mom.

Good times. If you have never been to Montreal and get the chance, definitely make the trip. It's just across the border from New York and Vermont. If it hadn't been such a beautiful day and if I had my passport, I just may have made a run for it.

Kidding! Seriously, I'm kidding. 

March Break: Quebec City, Round 1.

Last week was March Break for those of us employed by the school district. It's what I used to call Spring Break but here in the tundra it ain't spring yet, so we call it March Break. If they would wait another few weeks until April than maybe Spring Break would be appropriate, but it they did that there is a very serious risk that we would all have gone insane by then. So, March Break it is...

The Canadian and I headed west to the great province of Quebec. I should probably go ahead and let all you Americans in on a little secret. We've been mispronouncing Quebec our entire lives. There is no typical Qu sound at the beginning. It is not like quiet or quick. It's a K sound. Kebek. Something like that.

Side note: check out the nastiness that grew on the side of our car during the drive. 

Gross.

Where was I? Yes. Quebec - pronounced with a K. We drove several hours through northern New Brunswick to the French province of Quebec. I was super excited to pass by my favorite town in the whole world, St. Louis du Ha! Ha! Possibly the greatest name ever. I want to live in a town that ends in an exclamation point. Moncton! New Brunswick! Maybe I'll send a petition on over to the mayor and see about adding that little piece of grammatical genius.  

New Brunswick is the only official bilingual province in Canada. Quebec is the only completely French province. I'm American. If anything, Spanish would be my second language. Do the math - French and I are not friends. It poses a bit of a challenge in Quebec, but lucky for me TC is pretty good at rolling his R's. Even though they don't care to admit it, most Quebecers speak English. Somewhat broken, heavily accented, but English nonetheless. Especially in the tourist cities, like Quebec City and Montreal.





Old Quebec lies inside Quebec City and is surrounded by an enormous wall. Driving through the gates transports you to a city in a city that is reminiscent of Europe.





I've never been to Europe, but that's what I am told and it is certainly like I imagine Europe.





We stayed at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac - basically a castle. It was built in the late 19th century and is beautiful and ornate. Kinda made me feel like a princess, really. Next time I'll remember to pack my tiara.





TC let them know that we were there to celebrate our wedding anniversary (it's close enough, right?) and they treated us to a room upgrade and had delicious fudge and honey waiting in our room. Get this - the honey came straight from their rooftop beehives! I guess that is one way to keep the hooligans from climbing up on the roof.





We spent the afternoon wandering the town and enjoying the nice weather. It was super nasty the last time we visited so it was nice to actually see the sights when it wasn't buried under snow and cloudiness.





I tried to sucker TC in to a quick toboggan ride, but it apparently wasn't up to his standards.





He told me in no uncertain terms that we have an identical toboggan hanging in the basement and that there are much better hills at home that would be much more fun for my first toboggan ride. I told him he was a party pooper.





To make it up to me he bought me a lovely glass of wine, and all was well again. Doesn't take much, does it?





Exhausted from a long day of driving in the car and then gallivanting through the city we crashed early. The next morning we headed out in search of a hearty breakfast, and more importantly cafe au lait. We ended up with regular coffee but the woman next to us had a cappuccino in a bowl. I want coffee in a bowl. Mugs are for boring people. With that in mind, we set out to Montreal in search of coffee in a bowl.

To be continued...

I'm So Healthy, I Made Kale Chips.

I've been meaning to tell y'all how healthy I am for over a week now. I mean, if I made kale chips that definitely qualifies for the healthy category, right? Surely it counters all the sins of my peanut butter cookies.

It seems everyone and their brother routinely makes kale chips and I live under a rock, seeing as I wouldn't have known what kale was if it punched me in the face a week ago. But I do now. Don't you worry. Me and kale? We're thick as thieves.

I'd love to regale you with stories of all my healthy eating habits, but the fact of the matter is that it is all I can do to force myself to cook a lean meat and veggie combo every night...and even then I am not always successful.

Blah, blah, blah...all this talk about healthy food is putting me to sleep.

Kale chips. If you haven't tried them, do. They're good. Really. Even if they are "healthy."

Cut up the kale into bite sized pieces.

Toss it in extra virgin olive oil.

Lay it across a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Sprinkle it with a fair dusting of sea salt. Better yet, smoked paprika and rosemary. Go big or go home.

Now pop that bad boy in the over at 350 for 12-15 minutes until nice and crispy. 

Enjoy!