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Paris but not…
Montreal is a weird little place. Well, little isn’t really the right word. The city is the jewel in French Canadia’s Crown. With a population of around 1.6 million in the city and 3.6 in the ‘burbs Montreal is the second largest French speaking city in the world. It feels Metropolitan. Walking around the Latin Quarter, visiting the many bars and restaurants along St. Denis reminds me of Paris. In fact the vibe of the City is very much Paris, while still having enough of its own character to set itself apart from its big sister.
While in Montreal I have walked Mont Royale in the pouring rain, been out to a few bars and restaurants, played Scrabble with new friends in my very, very awesome hostel, rode the very cool Bixi bikes all over town and checked out the Biodome. I saw live music in pubs and clubs, and enjoyed the Franco Folies Festival with some friends from Toronto.
In a strange mental snap I spent a day looking for 3/4 length cargo pants in downtown Montreal. Finding this one article of clothing has become a bit of an obsession for me. My search has become a crazed compulsion, leading me into every store I can find to search rows and rows of clothes for shorts that aren’t quite pants and pants that aren’t quite shorts. How hard can they be to find really? Very hard evidently. I need to find a Kathmandu or Patagonia or some other camping goods store, something that seems pretty much non existent here. Maybe in Vancouver. Damn you 3/4 length cargos, release me from this strange neurosis.
I’ve had an awesome time in Montreal. It has been much friendlier and more interesting than Toronto. I will be back here again in about a week to catch my flight to Vancouver so I think I’ll be visiting the Blues Bar again, just for some quiet drinks and some live music. Great stuff.
Studio Ghibli Museum
If you every want to see pure joy on the faces of children, then Studio Ghibli Museum is the place to be. Situated in Mitaka the museum houses exhibits including demonstrations of animation techniques which blew my mind, a recreation of Hayao Miyazaki’s studio and other great pieces of Ghibli history. Any place that has a full size Cat Bus is alright with me, even if they wont let adults join in the fun of climbing all over it. We spent around four hours wandering the halls of the huge building, tiny doorways leading in and out of corridors and winding staircases curling up three stories. We watched a short Ghibli film that is only shown in the museum, and had lunch at the cafe. It was a magical day.
Unfortunately the guards didn’t allow photos anywhere inside. I still got a photo on the roof though, and snuck a few sneaky vids that you’ll see in a few days.
The rest of the day consisted of wandering around Akihabara again, hitting Don Quiote and eating crepes. My new mates and I got into hostel late, negating any chance once again of going out on the town. Tomorrow for sure.
Morning Sydney, well… afternoon
I had a bit of a sleep in today, I think I deserved it. Last night I had a couple of quiet drinks at the back packers and then to the Side Bar to enjoy $6.80 pints of Heineken and to enquire about work. I think I will apply next week.
Today I am heading into town to meet up with John, my old work friend for lunch. He’s just up in Darlinghurst, which is handy, because I need to catch up with Adam from Birds to get a BDO ticket, and he’s also up there.
After that I need to find a camera, coz using my phone camera just ain’t gonna cut it. Any suggestions? I am looking at getting something reasonably small, shove in your pocket style, with half decent picture quality and ease of use. Needs to be durable too.
Alright, now to start the day.