Montreal (and Ottawa)

Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:24 pm

I will be in Montreal from 23 December to 30 December, and I will be taking a day trip to Ottawa during one of those days. There are tons of guides on the Internet, but I was wondering if anyone had any personal recommendations on what to do.

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:20 pm

I've never been to either of those places, but I know if I was taking a trip like that, I would try finding some sort of historical museum.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:04 pm

Montreal is by far the most exciting, beautiful, vibrant city I have ever visited. Ottawa was, um, a bit boring, but I did enjoy touring Parliament. Canada was even better than I was hoping.

And now I’m back in Tennessee.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:04 pm

I've been to both places. What I can't get over with Montreal is all the bridges and overpasses. It feels like being in a completely different world when driving into there. Just concrete and pavement everywhere, towers, more bridges it just never ends.

I would only want to go there as a passenger. I'd totally get lost if I drove.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 3:15 pm

Red Squirrel wrote: I would only want to go there as a passenger. I'd totally get lost if I drove.

Drivers in Montreal are crazy. Combine that with the one-way streets, French-only signage, and the many pedestrians who cross when they aren’t supposed to.

STM got me everywhere I needed to be – even in les banlieues – quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. I’m not sure why people drive in Montreal anyway.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 5:51 pm

That's the nice thing with the bigger cities, they usually have pretty good public transportation service.

If I lived in a place like that I probably would not even bother owning a car. I get pissed at traffic here, I would go insane in a big city.

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ycontrol · Post by **ycontrol** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 7:10 pm

When I went into Montreal it was by train, the station is underground kinda in the heart of things, so we just walked up to street level and got a poutine...lol...and visited some shops. When I was in Ottawa we drove straight from the train station to the army base in Petawawa. So I didn't explore there too much.

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:05 pm

ycontrol wrote: we just walked up to street level and got a poutine

Any place with poutine has GOT to be exciting.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:30 am

ycontrol wrote: so we just walked up to street level and got a poutine

One of my goals was to try poutine, but then I saw it in person. I did bring back several boxes of Smarties though. (We have something completely different by the same name. Americans: Canadian Smarties are like oversized M&M’s with thicker shells.)

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 9:32 pm

You failed to get a poutine?!?! The poutine is the pinnacle of all food and must be eaten on first sight!

Really you guys don't have smarties? We have those ones you posted to too but they're called rockets.

So you should probably move to Canada. Once you try a poutine, you'll want to.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:05 pm

Red Squirrel wrote: Really you guys don't have smarties? We have those ones you posted to too but they're called rockets.

M&M’s are comparable, just smaller. Speaking of food, I forgot to mention that your Mountain Dew has no caffeine. In my experience, caffeine-free Mountain Dew is hard to come by in the States unless you want diet.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:32 pm

Interesting did not know that about mountain dew, and yeah M&Ms are similar. I remember when M&M's used to be more rounded, kinda like chocolate covered almonds. I think they did have almonds in them. I don't think they make those anymore though.

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manadren · Post by **manadren** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:52 am

Chris Vogel wrote: Speaking of food, I forgot to mention that your Mountain Dew has no caffeine. In my experience, caffeine-free Mountain Dew is hard to come by in the States unless you want diet.

caffeine-free Mountain Dew... Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

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Chris Vogel · Post by **Chris Vogel** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:04 pm

manadren wrote: caffeine-free Mountain Dew... Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

Yeah, Mountain Dew is treated sort of like a light energy drink here, so the difference is shocking. Plenty of soft drinks had caffeine though, so I don’t think it’s a matter of law.

It was odd to see posters advertising a warm vacation in Cuba. (With few exceptions, Americans are forbidden to travel to Cuba.) It was also weird (and refreshing) to see people in Montreal smoking cannabis on the street. From what I gather, though, that’s the result of police tolerance instead of legalization.

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:15 pm

Red Squirrel wrote: Interesting did not know that about mountain dew, and yeah M&Ms are similar. I remember when M&M's used to be more rounded, kinda like chocolate covered almonds. I think they did have almonds in them. I don't think they make those anymore though.

They are doing all kinds of interesting things with M&Ms lately. I've seen coconut filled ones and ones that taste like chocolate covered cherries.

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ycontrol · Post by **ycontrol** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:17 pm

When I took a train from Montreal to Ottawa they forgot to put the seats in...so they eventually bumped us up to first class.

This is me and my GF waiting for RESOLUTION!

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