Montreal Photo Diary Pt 2

Pictures taken at the Montreal Biodome

Montreal Photo Diary Pt 1

Sorry for the absence, I find myself going through long periods of being unmotivated this winter. I think, like most people, I've been having a hard time adjusting to this constantly changing weather. Anyway, here are some photos from a trip I took to Montreal, Canada! Talk about a whirlwind trip. Driving up after work, getting there in the wee hours of the morning, and sleeping for less than five hours before hitting the town. My roommate Chloe and I decided to give ourselves a lil ladycation in lieu of Christmas gifts this year. 

I hadn't been to Montreal since I was 17 and I forgot all the beauty and wonder it has to offer. The friendliest people. Snow lines streets. Stumbling across an art installation of see-saws that light up and play music when you sit on them. And the poutine, oh the poutine. It's safe to say that pountine (for those of you who have no experienced the beauty and wonder — french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) was the driving force of many of our explorations. That and the beer. Montreal is home to tons of local breweries with the nicest bartenders servin them up!

We stayed in the cutest airbnb, small but the perfect size for us. The winding spiral staircase that led to an alley behind the house was so whimsical and cute. Chloe and I long ago realized that we are the perfect travel companions since we met studying abroad. Our go-to plan is to have a mental list of a few things we really want to do, but other than that it's all up in the air! We'll chat up bartenders and locals and ask them where we should go. It's often the best way to find those hole in the wall bars, the best food and lots of local color. I think if you're only in town for a weekend, it's the best way to experience a place. Stay tuned for part two!

Ultimate

Here are more pictures from my vacation to Canada with Jimmy. If you're wondering what that glazed/wonderful pastry is, it's called a beavertail! I would almost describe it like a super-thin glazed donut, served piping hot and of course paired with coffee. My mouth is watering just at the memory of it....

Now that I've started school, I'm missing the break even more. Yesterday I had my last first day of school! I have officially started my ultimate semester and it comes with mixed emotions. Though I'll be happy not to deal with the stress of midterms/finals and I'll finally be able to save some money, I have been told by everyone that this is time I shouldn't be wishing away. I'm trying to enjoy my last semester to the fullest, which is hard to do when I'm not sure where I'll be after college. I am so sick of getting the question "what do you want to do!?" I know it's just people making conversation, but I have to answer it daily. I've started getting creative with my answers, because believe it or not the answer "i don't know," simply isn't good enough. What's worse than actually asking the question, is when people have lots of suggestions of what I should be doing with my life. I usually just nod and let them go through their spiel, while thinking in my head if you're not offering me a job, you can't tell me anything I haven't already heard. 

So enough of that rant. I really am excited for what lies next, but I will be much more excited when I actually know. In the meantime, I will be doing my best to explore/discover new places in this fair city.

Great White North

Here are some pictures I took while my boyfriend and I were on vacation in Canada. We drove from New Jersey to Ottawa, then Ottawa to Cochrane, took the train from Cochrane to Moosonee, took the train back and drove to North Bay, then to Toronto and finally we visited Niagara Falls on the way back! Over the course of a week we spent more than forty hours traveling, but the boy and I are both firm believers in enjoying the journey and we both love a hearty sense of adventure (que the Indiana Jones theme song). It was an incredible trip. We rented the cutest little apartment in Toronto which made the trip all the better. With classic tapes of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and heck, maybe a little MC Hammer, there was always music playing in the background, transporting us into another era.

The highlights were eating poutine, making blueberry pancakes on Sunday morning, seeing Niagara Falls, the train ride to Moosonee, clutching my boyfriend's hand while we both tried not to fall ice skating (which we totally didn't!) and of course all the nice people we met. In particular, a man named John Miller who went out of his way to make us feel welcome in Moosonee, took off of work to give us a tour, and invited us into his home. We talked about everything from the Louvre and eating locally to the best way to tan the hide of a moose he shot himself. To date, he is probably one of the nicest and most genuine people I have met. Just a week shy of sixty, his mission in life seems to be to make everyone he comes in contact appreciate the place he has made his home. And get this - he has a tiny dog named Brutus who sits on his butt with his back legs out to the sides and his paws in front of him to eat his dinner. I've never seen a dog sit while eating, or as John Miller says - "he doesn't eat, he dines." Cheers to a man who, though he has a large family of his own, makes strangers feel like they're part of it even, if only for a day.