This might not be as long as the last one...

It took me 13 minutes just to read all my email... you wouldn't believe the stuff that piles up in your inbox when you join a web mailing list.... good stuff about jobs that are available, etc. But it takes a long time to weed through everything.

So, let's see... where did we leave off? Ah yes, the last time I blogged. We left the Internet cafe' and wandered around Montreal some more. We found a brewery and Franz had a homemade brew while they were taking the hops out of a big cooker. I liked the way that they smelled. Sort of grainy and wonderful.

Montreal is very easy to get turned around in. Add to that the fact that the days are all melting together, and it makes for a confusing journey. I will try to tell you some of the high points.

We wandered through the "Village" which is the local gay area. There were rainbow flags every where and adds hanging up for a big Gay Pride parade that I should have paid more attention to. More on that later.

A Comedy of Errors

We went back to the hotel and rested, then Franz picked a place to go for dinner. He read about it, figured out on the map how to get there, and cleared it with me when I woke up from a nap. "It's a long walk," he said, "But it looks like it will be worth it." So, away we went. And went and went and went. We walked for a REALLY long time. Through beautiful neighborhoods, and an area that looked a little gang-occupied. Finally we came to this storefront. The disappointment in Franz's face was almost enough to knock you over. It was a TOTAL dump. Worse yet, it was scary looking... as in "the health department is going to shut us down any minute now." I stuck my chin up and said, "Is this it?" He looked at me and said, "Yep." I said, "Well, we better go in." He looked mildly surprised, but I was game to try anything to get that look off his face. We walked in and the man behind the grimy counter told us that they had already shut down the grill for the night. I couldn't tell is Franz was relieved or even sadder. We walked out and he said, "I'm sorry, baby." I just started to laugh. It was really hilarious, if you think about it. Every single time we have set out with a specific place in mind, something has gone wrong. The place is a dump, the place is closed for vacation, no place that we are trying to find has the kind of food we are looking for, etc. It is a comedy of errors. Eventually we were both standing there on the sidewalk just giggling uncontrollably. "How is it," I said, "That in a city with more restaurants per capita than anyplace else in the world, except New York, we can't find a place to eat?"

So we walked some more. And we found another place from the guide book called "Schwartz's". This is supposed to be the best place in the city to try that famous Canadian delicacy, smoked meat. Okay. People fly here from New York just for lunch... supposedly. It was good, but it (to me anyways) was just a little crowded deli. Nothing to sneeze at. I think if you are going to fly there for lunch, it is more just because you can, and not because of the food. Franz agreed.

C is for "hot", F is for "cold"

The sinks here are labeled C and F. I didn't notice this until I scalded my left hand in a bathroom at a restaurant. It's amazing what you take for granted. Not much of a story here, just a little pain.

Huge gelattos and street fairs

We stopped at a gelatto place (Italian ice cream) and Franz got us two huge portions. I could not believe the size of the things we got. And that was the size that they came in. So, we ate our ice cream for the next thrity minutes or so. We watched some street performers, who were dancing around fire and juggling, etc. Then managed to find our very tired way back to the hotel.

The Biodome, The Insectarium and the Botanical Gardens

So, today was a Sherry planned day. Which will have to wait until later to talk about. This keyboard is giving me fits... it is en Francais... which means everytime I hit the apostrophe, it gives me this... è. I will write more later.

Love to all,

Sherry