chouchoot | the other side of the mountain (days 3 & 4)

tuesday we began the morning with james' famous tofu veggie scramble, then i accompanied

vanessa_elle to her ashtanga yoga class. though i've been doing yoga for almost 2 years now weekly/regularly, the amount of walking (dare i say even hiking) we had done thus far on the trip made even the simplest positions very challenging. my muscles were exceedingly tight (though, of course, the yoga completely helped); i was pleased to experience an instructor that actually guides and adjusts you as needed (class size was around 5; mine are 30+). i left class feeling relaxed and centered, ready to begin another day of sight-seeing. we started off at the nearby (and newly restored) saint james church, then walked to mcgill campus and the surrounding areas. the campus (where

vanessa_elle attends) is quaint and welcoming, though i imagine any perspective i have of montreal landmarks would shift dramatically should i see it in it's "winter state." walking further, we saw the queen elizabeth hotel, most noteworthy as one of the locations of john & yoko's bed-in for peace, as well as a creepy marriot with a million eye-like windows. we then made our way to old montreal, the original center of montreal, dating back to around the 1600's. this, perhaps more than anywhere else, had a tangible "foreign" or "european" feel, due to the windy cobblestone streets, the architecture, and of course the language. this area is ironically (and unfortunately) also the tourist-y district, suffering a similar fate as st. augustine and salem both experience. we ended our night with a few drinks out--starting at a bit of a sports bar dive playing exceedingly bad music, then le pistol, and finally a really awesome place called casa del popolo off saint-laurent, a pretty decent bar playing "hard pop" hits and obscurities (a little todd rundgren, donovan, and the like does a body good), which made my night.

wednesday we had higher hopes to head out of montreal to visit either quebec city or the laurentides, but due to time, money, and a bit of travel-weariness, we stayed in montreal proper to squeeze the last bits out of the city. we started our morning in montreal's expansive and impressive gay district, also known as le village, which spanned several blocks and all-kinds of rainbow fanfare. even the chains (tim hortons, subway) feature pride flags, which, coming from mostly conservative florida, was pretty awesome. we had dinner at this adorable vegan restaurant, where we sat outside and enjoyed the welcomingly cool breeze; the food in montreal was great, and there seemed to be plenty of vegetarian (even vegan) establishments to choose from. tasty goodness. our final stop for the evening was at this irish pub for some sort of irish music jam. it ended up being completely adorable: about 20 musicians, some seemingly strangers to one another, all toting various instruments (from washboards to banjos, flutes to violins), jamming out irish-style. we headed back to v's that evening after a satisfyingly enjoyable last day in montreal. though i'm always happy to get home to see my puppies, i'm always, always sad to end my travels, and of course leave my v behind.

my darling

vanessa_elle, see you again, on the west coast, 2008.