September 1, 2009
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Slowly moving eastward
The trek continues, with perhaps more browsing than travel happening for the most part. It's 3am and I'm sitting at a picnic table at a gas station somewhere in New Brunswick. After spending several days making our way from Ottawa through Montreal, we're doing the 12-hour drive from Montreal to Halifax in one long slog. Unfortunately, since we're having to tackle it at night (for scheduling reasons) it means we can't stop in and visit people along the way. There are some friends I haven't seen in ages, and I regret not being able to drop by. But this trip, with all its good points, has also been all about having to choose between things out of necessity.
We stayed at two campgrounds in Ottawa, one rather underwhelming and the other very pleasant (in a highly manicured sort of way). We weren't particularly ambitious in our sightseeing, hitting Parliament and the locks and a little bit of wandering. Though politics don't fascinate me, it was fun to see where all that stuff happens, and the buildings are great. Every night during the summer they run a projected multimedia show, which was neat.
Next it was off to Montreal. We arrived at the campground in the middle of the night and were baffled. This place had looked good on the website, but in reality it was over 50 sites jammed into a space more appropriate for a dozen. Looked like a used trailer sales lot. We laughed a lot and decided to move on. It was so late that we thought we'd just give up and try a motel. We pulled into one, and though it looked dubious we went inside to ask. It turned out to be a low-class strip club and brothel! No pictures, since we left rather quickly and laughed our way down the highway.
Montreal is a great city. We soaked up the energy, did some people-watching, and saw some sights. I've always wanted to visit Habitat 67, and thankfully we didn't see the "Private Property, Residents Only" signs until after we'd spent an hour wandering around taking pictures.
It's a much better city to be a pedestrian or cyclist than a driver. Montreal's reputation as home to vehicular maniacs is well-earned. We did some waking, as well as a little biking on rented bixi bicycles, and generally had a great time.
Anyhow, I've been sitting out here in the cold for too long, and the dog is getting whiny and chilly. Time to get back on the road.
Take care
-J-
Comments (4)
I didn't know they did projection images on the Parliament buildings -thanks for the images and that is so Canadian- love the Terry Fox image. Thanks as well for going to Habitat site, I should have guessed they sold them privately, good use of Expo creativity. Nice photos. It looks like you are having fun. (we ended up having to stay in a brothel hotel in Chile- it was nasty and the sleep almost nil.... but no more hotels for zillions of miles)
I'm jealous you get to traverse the country and see all of the sights therein, Justin. You two be careful, enjoy yourselves and have a blast.
Travel safely!~
I was just thinking about Montreal yesterday, and how we used to go to Old Montreal, and everyone just wandered the streets and browsed the shops in the evenings, and breakfast buffets--and is my memory correct that we (my husband and I)were amazed to see people with open alchohol walking the streets as well? (Or is my memory faulty?) It may be time for another visit soon. We camped just outside the city too--a very small noisy campground. I made KD for the first time, and actually messed it up. Thanks for the memories!