Final Transmission from Montreal

The weather has been nice in Montreal, but this sign is a not so subtle reminder that the snow piles up and falls on your head for much of the year here!

We returned to Old Montreal for a nice French meal as well as this castle view.

In the evening, we took the metro to Little Italy or "Petite Italie" as the locals call it.



We were headed to a specific little eatery that had come highly recommended by the local we sat by on the plane in. It was called Nepoletana.

The place was crowded; a good sign. We were seated at a table for 4. No problem...until they seated two complete strangers next to us moments later! They only spoke French at first but we talked to them some and had a nice conversation about Montreal with these locals. They even shared their wine with us as it was a BYOW type place and we didn't have any.

We split a highly touted pizza and some tortalini pasta. She was tasty!

As we walked back to the metro station, we saw the sad evidence of a missing cat. Should you see the animal, he may answer to "Justin". Justin may not come when called.

We took the metro to the Rue Peel downtown stop and found a hotel with a rooftop cafe. The round of 2 gin and tonics cost more than 15 dollars, but the view of Montreal made it worth the price!

The Montreal Trip Continues

We checked out the Bell Center, home of the Montreal Canadians. It's in downtown Montreal.

Later we came across this Spiderman fellow. He was pan handling in the street in this getup while playing techno music, dancing, and whistling. When I stopped to take his picture he started pretending to shoot webs at me while making a "thwip" sound.

Later in the night we went to see Cat Power followed by a midnight show of Buck 65. Here's Robert before the Buck show.

We got great seats above the masses and got a bird's eye view of Buck 65. Buck was a pretty cool act. I became increasingly upset as the show went on as it appeared he wasn't going to do my favorite song by him, "Wicked and Weird". Fortunately, he came through and did it as the last encore song of the night.


Here are the lyrics to "Wicked and Weird"

Driving with a yellow dog, I95
He's got a smile on his face and big shiny eyes
Up at a decent hour, I never ate yet
Got a little Johnny Cash in the old tape deck
Nothing in the trunk but some base ball gloves
a pair of jumper cables and a set of golf clubs
blanket on the back seat we're in rough shape
sunroof held on with a bit of duck tape
looking for a gas station, better make a list
Fill'er up with regular, I need to take a piss
sexy girl air freshener, snacks and a pinwheel
top up the fluids, clean the bugs off the windshield
not a care in the world, not a how, and a why
no destination, not a cloud in the sky
back on the road not a moment too soon
dish ran away with some other spoon

Wicked & wierd I'm a road hog with an old dog
singing slow songs trying to hold on
Wicked & wierd I'm a rat fish
trying to practice doing back flips on your mattress
(Repeat x2)

Hole in the muffler, ghosts on the shoulder
cough drops, loose change in the beverage holder
to roll down the window you gotta use a wrench
Been thinking about brushing up on my french
Right there in the glove box, if you should look
You'll find 40 parking tickets
And a copy of the Good Book
Don't bother looking, you'll never find me
I'm starting from scratch and leaving trouble behind me

Wicked & wierd I'm a road hog with an old dog
singing slow songs trying to hold on
Wicked & wierd I'm a rat fish
trying to practice doing back flips on your mattress
(Repeat x2)

Wicked, wicked, wicked and weird

Christ almighty, there's a rattle in the wheel well
Dog fell asleep and man, I don't feel well
But all I need is a half decent breakfast
And I'll be back at it, dirty and reckless

5 o'clock shadow, lips like mudflaps
hands like eagle's talons, eyes like hub caps
The further I get, I keep going faster
Whispers in the wind, and cows in the pasture
I have no plans and nothing to prove either
I eat out of a bag and sleep in a movie theatre

The highway's a story teller, I just write it down
Already been beaten, there's no way to fight it now
I just kick back and keep warm on the cold days
And laugh 'cause it ain't like it was in the old days
I figure when I make it to the heavenly gates
They'll be working on my car and playing 78's

Wicked & wierd I'm aroad hog with an old dog
singing slow songs trying to hold on
Wicked & wierd I'm a rat fish
trying to practice doing back flips on your mattress
(Repeat x2)

Montreal Crazy for World Cup

As we explored more of Montreal, we saw pubs totally full of World Cup Soccer fans cheering for both England and Portugal. We watched as the game went into a final shootout.

Portugal won. Little did we expect hords of fans parading through the streets blasting horns and waiving flags.

Seems we stumbled into "Little Portugal". Insanity!!!

As we walked back towards the hotel we saw bars swelling with fans for the France vs. Brazil match. Everyone you see here is straining to see the match on a bar tv. France won.

Montreal Day 2

We hit the heart of the Jazz Fest today. People and tents everywhere! We saw a number of jazz acts performing in various outdoor venues.

Seems the Canadians really take pride in their national animal, the beaver. You see the things depicted everywhere. Here one is in an electronics store window.

Old church spire contrasts with modern building.

We went to check out British power pop group "Gomez" tonight. Pretty catchy stuff.

More Montreal

Montreal is a pet friendly place. Lots of dogs around even inside stores. We had some fun watching this mini-dobi struggle free from the leash and run about the grocery!


You know that dark chocolate is the in thing. I've found it as high as 85% cocao in the U.S. Well here the have 99%!!! Holy Cats!!! I'm going to buy some a try it.


We ate a brew pub type place having some good beer and a thing called Flamm which is like a thin pizza. It was very good. The world cup Germany vs. Argentina was on. People are very very into it here. You can see the pub was packed with people just standing on the street watching and cheering. Germany pulled it out in a final face-off.

Montreal

Robert and I are in Montreal! Internet connection here a little slow so I'll be keeping the pictures to a minimum. Seems there is live music and great cafes and shops around every corner! More tomorrow. Gotta catch up on some sleep now.