We flew on Porter Airlines, a discount Canadian carrier. It was our first time and actually a pretty good experience. It seems that all of their flights stop in Toronto but the airport was so nice. The airline had a lounge set-up with complimentary snacks and drinks. And, mostly importantly, LOTS of power outlets! :)
We decided to spend our first afternoon exploring Old Montreal, specifically the Old Port area. We took the Metro public transportation from our neighborhood to the Champs-de-Mars stop and walked from there. The streets leading us to the Old Port were beautiful and had such a European feel to the area.
We finally made it to the Old Port of town and it was really cute! There were vendors set up selling random things, but my favorite was walking along the water.
We walked to the clock tower...I have a love for clock towers. :) After that we decided to hit up one of the rooftop bars we'd noticed while out walking. We ended up at Terrasse Sur L'Auberge. The views were incredible and the drinks were good. They had a small menu but we just had a drink and left. There was a line to get in so we didn't want to hog our table. Plus, I wanted poutine.
We walked back to Rue St Paul which is a hopping area of town. Lots of souvenir shops, bars, restaurants, and gelato shops. People in Montreal seem to really enjoy gelato. After browsing the shops for a magnet, we stopped at 3 Brasseurs for dinner. It's a brewery so Loren was a happy camper. That was about all we could handle for the first day and headed back to the hotel for the night.
Day two in Montreal started with some super delicious bagels. We went to Fairmount Bagel. The company started in 1919 but became Fairmount Bagel in 1949. The bagels are rolled by hand and then baked in a wood-fired oven and SO DELICIOUS! Seriously, so so good.
After carb loading (we may have went back for a second helping of bagels), we started a long walk to Mont Royal. It was a hike to get up to the top, and I wouldn't recommend wearing sandals but the views were gorgeous. And there was a building with snacks and a shop at the top to cool down and relax. There were actually several people in there napping! We passed on the nap and just enjoyed the shade for a bit.
Once we reached the bottom again we grabbed an Uber (which are actually illegal in Montreal and was a little scary) to Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. The basilica was stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. We'd heard that it was blue inside and I was sort of skeptical but wow.
We were starving again by this point and headed back over to Rue Sainte Paul for a late lunch. We ate outside at this sports bar called La Cage. They had the most delicious lemonade and apparently the beer was good too. :) The atmosphere was nice, being outside and able to people watch.
That's pretty much the end of our excursions in Montreal. We had so much visiting, it was a fun little getaway. If you have the chance to go, I'd really recommend it. And, I'm thankful to my cousin for all the travel tips before we left! Our last full day we took a trip to Quebec City and I'll be back to share those details soon. Thanks for reading and letting me share our adventure with you!
Love,
K
P.S.
Yes, I ate poutine everyday! :)
I should have ate glacies everyday!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have had a nice time in Montreal ! Yay :) Also your photos are very nice and well representative of the city :) Did you enjoyed the Poutine?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, I LOVED the poutine! Always do :)
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