As we arrived in Montreal, we crossed the marker for the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole…awesome. Yet again, we happen to be driving into traffic around a big city on Friday afternoon. Let’s just say, we had plenty of time to soak in the new landscape, French signs, and the metric system before arriving in town. Our hostel, Hostel Globetrotters Backpackers of Monteal, was right in the heart of Mont Royal, a bustling street in town with shops, restaurants, and bars. It’s the happening place to be in Montreal for nightlife.
We walked up the stairs above a restaurant to the second floor. We walked around hostel’s long hallway passing a sitting room with four couches and a TV, a kitchen, a dining room. People of all different ages were there. A father (German?) and two children sat at the table in the kitchen. Two Asian girls were in the living room. In the front reception area as you walk in, a young French-Canadian couple told us to look for Pierre. We sat and waited, munching on the gumdrops, taking in the surroundings.
Pierre is just what you think a French-Canadian man named Pierre would be like; a tall, jolly man with a groomed white beard, whistling his way down the hallway into the room to greet us. He was quick but formal, showing us to our room upstairs and giving us our codes to unlock the doors. He handed us a small scrap of paper with three things on it; the code to the common area downstairs, the code to the third floor, and the name “Skippy.” He said that “Skeep” is “ze dog”. He is a little white terrier; just exactly the way you would picture a little French-Canadian terrier named Skippy, hopping down the hallway.
Our room was awesome. It was a corner room with a balcony that looked out over Avenue Mont Royal. There was a magnetic dartboard in the room and a paddle ball set in the wardrobe, just in case we got bored. Of course, we did not. We changed our clothes, and grabbed dinner.
After that we made our way down the strip to a very popular place called the Edgar Hyperpub. We enjoyed Canadian beer and people watched, listening to the indecipherable conversations around us.
After gaining enough courage, we danced to techno and American pop, with the obligatory Lady Gaga song about playing every fifteen minutes…which I loved. After, the pub, we decided to feed our latenight hunger at a place that one kind passerby so highly recommended, Famaux. Famaux was just that; famous. At three a.m. the place was packed. We indulged before heading back to the hostel and getting some much-needed rest.
The next day, we left the hostel and walked around Montreal. After a bite to eat and a little shopping (Imagine It is the coolest costume store with the most beautiful masks you have ever seen.) We drove to Old Montreal through the historic district. The architecture in this part of Montreal is amazing- historic with tall buildings close together and cobblestone streets between. Although our trip to Montreal was short and a bit expensive, we would definitely go back. It really is like being in Europe, but much closer to home.
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