From Here to There – A Move Across an Ocean

Back in May, my besties and I decided to take a girl’s trip to Montreal, Canada.  It was sort of a half way point for us.  We were here for a long weekend, so we made the most of it!  Montreal was absolutely beautiful!  Such a great city with lots to offer.  The weather while we were there was fantastic, and the people were very nice.  It has a European feel to it, and is very French.

We stayed at the Hotel Bonaventure Montreal, located in Downtown.  It was a nice hotel, and had just undergone a makeover.  It was also conveniently located near a subway station.  Pictures of right around the hotel.

We went down to Old Montreal and found a cute patio place to have lunch and have a look around.

Later than night, we had scheduled a beer bike tour and it turned out to be a whole lotta fun!  It was one of those bikes that sits up to 12 people, and you literally pedal around town!  This party bike had several bars as destinations.  We had originally been scheduled for an earlier time, but due to not enough people signing up – they called us and asked if we could do the later time slot, and we agreed.

At first, we couldn’t figure out where to meet because we didn’t see a huge party bike at the stated location.  I mean, we figured it would be pretty hard to miss a huge bike that sits 12 people!  There was a fire station right across the street from where we were supposed to go, and we enlisted the firemen’s help in trying to figure out where we were supposed to be!  They were the nicest guys!

We finally found the party bike, and discovered that the other people on the bike were all guys of a bachelor party!  They were fun, and luckily they weren’t too crazy! It was a fun evening – but seriously, even with a lot of people pedaling, it was hard!! 

The next day we enjoyed a 3 hour fabulous food tour around Montreal.  Our guide was a woman who loved what she did and was full of information.  She really made the tour so fun!  First up was a falafel.  And it was a huge portion – not just some little taste test!  And very tasty! 

Next up was an awesome bagel shop!  It located in a great little Jewish community. 

The owners work hard side by side with the employees.  They make sesame seed bagels…At least that’s what was on the menu on this day!

Our next stop was a butcher shop.  They processed all parts of the animal, right there in the shop. 

And they had some really yummy looking jams, jellies, and chutneys for sale as well.

We had been walking quite a bit, and it was time for a break.  Along our tour was a really cool old theater. 

Once we all had a quick bathroom break and rest off of our feet for a minute, we were back on our walking tour.  Next up was a place known for its gnocchi.  I had actually never had gnocchi before, so that was a new taste for me.  It was really enjoyable!  A little bit can really fill you up!

Then after all the fabulous food came the sweet stuff.  First up – an interesting brownie hot chocolate combination that was OH SO DELICIOUS!   This chocolate shop smelled so good, and the chocolate was gourmet.

And we finished up the tour at a very popular local ice cream parlor – Kem Coba.  The owners are very creative with their flavor combinations, and the flavor we tried was Mango/Dulce de Leche, and while it didn’t sound all that appetizing – it was Phenominal!!  SO TASTY!!  And a fabulous way to end an exceptional walking food tour!

At the beginning of the tour, everyone in the group had introduced themselves, and said where they were from.  We thought it was a bit weird that the guy on the left in the hat was doing the tour when he was originally from Montreal.  But we all thought it was just a good way to see other parts of the city he might not be familiar with.  He was alone on the tour and was relatively quiet.

It was only at the very end of the tour that we found out that it was our guide’s first day on the job (She was FANTASTIC!!) – and he was part of her company monitoring her to see how she was doing. 

We all had a great time on this food tour, and I HIGHLY recommend it if you plan on visiting Montreal in the future.  Great experience, sight seeing and food!!

Nest up….more biking!!