Week 8: My Get-away to NYC...

Leaving Montreal

Blue sleeve - Garrison K.

On Monday, July 18, I get the bus with backpack and travel bag/purse to the Amtrak station - Montreal to NYC, an 11 hour ride (1 hour for customs) “the Adirondack.” I meet 3 interesting women; my seatmate is a GA teacher who was on  the Prairie Home Companion cruise; 2 women from VA and MD had been on a retreat outside of Montreal ( I had a 1.5 hour lunch/discussion with one in the “café”)  Garrison Kellior sat 4 rows in front of me – see picture – I recognized him, for sure, by his red shoes.

Adirondacks???

Arriving in NYC, I got a little lost going downtown instead of uptown on subway, after changing directions, I come out of the subway at Lincoln Center, then walk east instead of west one block, call Cynthia to figure out where I am. She guides me better than a GPS so I get there safe and sound.

The next morning, Kathy and Cynthia have the day planned so we walk through the Park for the Frick to see Bellini’s newly cleaned  St. Francis of Assisi.  Beautiful and glowing, St Francis never looked better. We then lunch at home, nap, touch base with our computers, and in the evening, to get out of the heat, we see a movie with Adrienne – Horrible Bosses. 

Bellini's St. Francis of Assisi

At the Frick, Cynthia & Katherine

Self-portrait in the Park

Wednesday, another walk through Central Park, takes us to the Met – the Alexander McQueen exhibit- FABULOUS!  Lunch at the members’ café with Kathy, then shopping on Broadway. 

Savage Beauty - Alexander McQueen
Fabulous!!!

Lush Landscape

In the cooling air of the early evening, we stop for hamburgers at a bistro/pub near the High Line. We appreciate the wonderful breezy walk on the new part of the High Line.  All the plants have really lushed out since being there last, two years ago.  Water features entertain the families with children and bird houses mimic the background of the city.  This park is really a clever and innovative use of the history of the city.

Bird Houses mimic NY Skyline

High Line pond play

 

My last full day is spent finishing my shopping list – Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  It’s sooooo hot, Kathy and I take advantage of her membership at the Reebok Sports Club. WOW, very nice “gym” – wonderful pool, fabulous workout area, generous and luxury locker rooms.

Happy Adrienne in Astoria

Even tho it’s horrendously hot and humid, we drive out to Queens for a Cowboy concert in Astoria under the bridges by the water. The best part of going there is meeting Cynthia’s friends Sonya and John who live in a palatial corner apartment/condo across the street from the park with A.C.!  After the concert, we buy Greek food to take home for late dinner -  Mousaka, pastitsio & Greek salad, yum.

My Last View of NYC from Apartment 18A

The next morning, Friday, I‘ve pack up for 7:00 departure from apt. for Penn Station/Amtak departure at 8:15 (time to get subway pass, ride the subway, to get lost in Penn Station – I do not get lost so I have plenty of time for check-in).  The train ride back to Montreal is just as beautiful and lovely as the ride down – thanks to the efficient A.C. on the train.  Between the scenery, my Kindle and seatmate, Eric, the 12 hours go by swiftly and I arrive home by 9:30 pm to John who looks rested and seems happy to see me.

John and I quickly settle into our Saturday routine – up at 8 for the bus to Second Cup for breakfast snack before our 10:00 French class, then home for a nap for me and work out for John.  In the evening, we’ve gotten an invitation to a Cirque du Soleil event in the Old Port for the Safewalls Pop-Up Shop in the Tapis Rouge.  It’s an exhibit of Cirque posters and souvenirs while artists create a mural of cirque images with videos of the artists, music, food and drink – quite a party atmosphere.  We walked around the old port for a while, then walk up the street to find ourselves walking through Chinatown and then the Nuit Afrique Festival – music is heard for blocks with African Folk art fair along the city square. We find a quiet hotel bar outside of the hustle and bustle of the night for nachos, drinks and quiet conversation.  Nice date night.

Safewall mural painting...

Vieux Port a Nuit

Sunday is dedicated to groceries, laundry and late evening walk in Parc LaFontaine  – back to the routine of daily living.

Next week: Wednesday, Cirque du Soleil to look forward to. 

Week 7 - A Work Week...



Finishing Woodblocks

This week was so relaxing.  We each got a lot of work done.  I finished my woodblocks and John worked on his "Ethics of Care" section for CSUMB. Groceries at the big Metro on Mount Royal was another housekeeping chore for the week.  Wowie, zowie (we are really easily entertained.)

Ethics of Care...

The weather this week was hot & humid, pleasant and rainy, breezy and hot, lightening and rain.  A variety of weather, so a good week for working on inside projects and going to the gym or to the pool.







Fireworks on two nights this week - Wednesday, Italy; Saturday, Australia.

Our big excursion for week was to see the National Library on Berri for a library card, underground shopping malls for our health supplements, and walk up University Ave. to find McGill Stadium for Allouette tickets for Friday nite.



Molson Stadium,
home of the Allouettes

Allouette ticket

Then on Friday nite, the Allouette game. Not only do we get to watch the Allouettes beat the Argonaughts, we see just retired Ben Cahoon, popular and great receiver, get honored.  Anthony Calvillo breaks touchdown pass record on first touchdown of the evening – 395 career touchdown passes, breaking the all time record of Damien Allen, San Diego son and brother of Marcus. A fun evening in the cheap seats in the end zone, on a balmy Montreal evening, eating hot dogs and Molson beer (in Molson Stadium, what else would be sold?)

We end the week with French class on Saturday morning, washing clothes and grocery shopping. 

On Sunday, after the FIFA World Cup match where Japan beat the USA, we celebrated by taking the bus and metro to the Jean Talon Farmer’s Market.  We got there a little late so we didn't get the full feel for the market, we will have go back.  Still in a celebratory mood we stop in a bistro by the market for beers, a hot dog for John and poutine for me.

Jean Talon Market - avec bier



Sunday evening, I pack and get ready for NYC, NY, leaving John behind to concentrateon his writing and research.

Next week: the train trip on the Amtrak Adirondack and NYC!

Week 6 - Quebec City, highlight of the week!



Quebec City, Chateau Frontenac

On the road to Quebec City

Tuesday, July 5, 2011: We leave for Quebec City via Enterprise Car Rental!
It's a 2.5 hour drive parallel to the St. Lawrence River.  Lots of lush, green countryside views of small towns and farms along the freeway.  We arrive around 3:00 pm at the Four Points by Sheraton, Levis. 

 First View of Vieux Quebec

There is a shuttle from hotel to the Quebec ferry that leaves at 3:30 and 5:30. We get settled, catch the ferry to QC City  from the 5:30 shuttle. From the ferry, our first real glimpse of the magical city of Quebec. 

Terrasse Dufferin
The Chateaux in background

We spend afternoon walking though the quaint buildings and shops above the Ferry Landing.  At the level where the Chateau Frontenac/Fairmont Hotel is, we’ve walked up several sets of stairways to the Terrasse Dufferin that eventually takes us to the Promenade des Gouveneurs (and more stairs) that leads us to the Plaines d’Abraham (or the Battle Grounds around the Citadelle). Then back down through Old Quebec to get a feel for the village.

St. Lawrence River - Levis Ferry

After this long, hot, scenic walk, we stop for refreshment the Chateau Frontenac terrace. There’s a view of the St. Lawrence (St. Laurent) River and a light, balmy breeze is provided with John’s beer and my golden Mojito along with two glasses of ice water.   We are so impressed by the ambiance of the castle, on our way out of the Chateau,  we make dinner reservations for the next night.  We’ve missed the shuttle for the hotel (there’s one more at 11:30 pm, but it’s 8:30 now) so we hail a taxi.

By the time we get back, we find out what time the hotel restaurant closes and find we have less than an hour before it closes, so we shower and change into clean, fresh clothes and have dinner at 9:30 pm. After drinks and dinner, we crash and ready ourselves for the next day.

 It is a beautiful sun shiny day when we get up.  But we've slept in and are getting a late start and take 12:30 shuttle to ferry.  By the time we are on the ferry, the rain begins, when in the  old City it is pouring rain.  We decide to eat lunch, until the rain lets up.  We eat at Spag-a-tini across from the ferry landing.  After lunch, the rain lets up a bit and we venture off to find a tour that's not outside, but first we find a shop and buy and umbrella. Then a stop at tourist information center.  The tourist info clerk is very helpful and suggests we take the Parliament building tour at 4:00.  That gives us time to wander around inspect more of the old city, peek at the Cathedral Notre Dame and ruins of an old fort. Then to the Parliament Building (Hotel du Parlement) tour.  It was a perfect tour for us, I got to see the art, the inside and constructions of this historic building and John got to learn more of the historic politics of Quebec.  We both learned something to appreciate about this lovely and facsinating provence. 

Hotel du Parlement

Salle de L'Assemblee Nationale

A quick trip back to the hotel for John's workout and jacuzzi for me at the Sheraton, then we drive back to the ferry to make our dinner reservations at the Castle.

Dinner at Chateau Frontenac, now a Fairmont Hotel, is elegant and enjoyable. Three waiters helping us would seem a little much for us, but it was very nice to be fussed over and helped with decisions of drink, appetizers and entrée.  We started with a "real" Cesar Salad prepared by one of our attentive waiters, Pier-Marc, who was impressed that we knew that the Cesar Salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico and told us some other facts that we pretended we didn't know.  Before the entrées were served a small scoop of cucumber sorbet was served to cleanse the palate to be ready for our entrées of lapin (rabbit) and biche (venison).  After the satisfying dinner, we are asked if we want dessert, after declining, a plate of small delights is served compliments of the house - white fudge, chocolate cookie, and a chocolate truffle for each of us help make this dinner complete and satifying.

Lapin with Purple Mashed Potatoes

Venison with Fromage Stuffed Fig

It's about 10:30 when we catch the ferry back to Levis.  The ferry landings, both in quebec City and Levis seem to be lit up with street lites or amusement ride lights.  It is a very romantic ferry ride back - it has stopped raining, too, so we don't need our umbrella.

Nite Lights - the Castle

Lights at Ferry Landing

Thursday morning we pack and drive back on the south side of the St Lawrence and find the country side much the same without the "big" city of Trois-Rivieres, half way between Montreal and Quebec City.  We get home for time to rest and reflect on our first adventure out of Montreal.  I hope to have more of these adventures in the next months.

French Class

The weekend brings things like housekeeping duties, grocery shopping, cooking and reading. Oh, yes, and our Saturday French class with a trip to McGill after class.  John needs some information for a paper he is to write and I have time to relax in an airconditioned study room and read my handy Kindle - this week "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".  

Fireworks from England this Saturday nite - lots of fireworks on the ground this week, so from our rooftop view, not so impressive as there is a tall building blocking the  fireworks on the ground.

Plans for the coming week - writing for John, woodblock cutting and test prints for me.  A work week, I guess you can call it.  Hot steamy days and rain storms in the evening are predicted for this week.  Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Week 5 - We've been here for a full month, now!

Prints and Prep

We planned to go to Jazz Fest but John’s allergy cough keeps us at home, so, I print and get things together so I can start my little woodblocks.

Ian is in town, so he stops by so we can go to the bank and get the rent payment situation settled.  He is as affable and delightful as his emails and "guidebook" indicates. We also, discover that he is leaving for Istanbul on Sunday, spending 5-6 weeks there, then to Germany to begin his research on his PhD project, he will be gone at least until Oct. 1st.  Sooo, we are now staying through September instead of leaving on Sept. 1.  We are very happy to be able to stay a little longer in this interesting city and this charming little apartment/condo.

A working phonebooth
Not something we see
in the states

July 1, Canada Day, Moving Day – interesting holiday(s).  A celebration (Canada Day) similar to our July 4, a day to aappreciate the freedoms and rewards of the country. Oh, and "Moving Day" seems to be a day that everyone's lease is up and it's time to move, so there are moving trucks and unwanted furniture on the curbsides for the "garbage trucks" to pick up on every block as we see on our daily walk.  On our walk, we go to Loblows, a mega grocery store to buy oj, pizza and a dress(?), we just wanted to see what was there and had to buy some things. On our way back, John finds a phone booth…
That night we listen to fireworks for Canada Day – can’t figure out where they are but we can hear them.

 Saturday is our first French class.  Ben Hassel is our energetic, enthusiastic teacher and 4 others (from McGill University) fill up the big air conditioned room.  We, of course, are the "pain-in-the-ass" grown-ups that ask too many questions, want special explanations and seem too enthusiastic for the serious (and quiet) young people from McGill.

After the 2 hour morning class, we walk down to the Jazz Fest venue and enjoy a hot dog and beer while listening to one of the concerts. After the concert there are street performers, lounge awnings and gift kiosks to enjoy.  In the late evening we watch the fireworks competition from rooftop (every Saturday, thru the month of July, a different country sponsors fireworks - thus, a fireworks competition...)

Free concert

Fireworks by Chekoslavakia

Le Village

Sunday, it’s hot and muggy, so we turn on the air conditioning and read and work on our computers writing (John), manipulating photos (me) and studying our French.  John goes to the gym, I start figuring out what to do for dinner.  When John returns, we go for our Sunday walk down towards the bridge and find ourselves in Le Village on St. Catherine Street.  It’s the center of the gay community with lots of streetside cafes, street vendors (lots of art) and some street performers – an unexpected and delightful surprise for our Sunday evening stroll.

Piscine Fullum

Monday, even tho it rained last night, hard and long, it’s still hot and muggy!  It’s mid-morning and even tho the sun is shining, there are still big puddles on the street.  I’m going to the pool this afternoon for sure!

Tomorrow, we leave for QC City via Enterprise Car Rentals!

Watch for the report on this trip next week.