Montreal is part of the French-dominated speaking province of Quebec, but you’d be quite surprised at how many people speak English. The city is also a big part of Canada’s history as it was one of the first recorded French settlers like Jack Cartier. Before that, it was the land of the Iroquois first nation. But enough of the history you probably clicked on this post to hear what I and my friends did in Montreal.

So, the trip was a long-awaited since it was booked since February of this year when our favourite band from Australia 5 Second of Summer (5SOS) announced that they were going on tour with The Chainsmokers and one of there tour spots were in Montreal. They had come to Montreal once before 5 years ago I was still in high school and no money or car to get there. But this time we had Money but no car but that is okay. We bought the tickets and planed from there.

This group of friends was the same group form Barcelona so no Airbnb for them. If you did read that post long story short Airbnb was an illegal one had to leave quickly and try and find a new place to live for the rest of our 10 day stay. We rented a room in the downtown core of Montreal ate the Holiday Inn and sweet. It was a bit expensive, but it was near the bell center where the concert was being held. It is also the home of the Montreal canadine hockey team or other knows as the Habs.

The best and hassle-free way for us to get there was by train even though we where 2h away from each other. And trust me when I say this New York or LA might have lots of traffic but Montreal has everyone bet on construction on top of lots of traffic. It affects not only the car but even the pedestrians. So. I was glad to not be driving in that chaos.

Let the adventure begin at 9 am start on Wednesday picked up my friends and set off to the train station in Ottawa. There was no traffic that day so we ended up being quite early but there was a little café, so we had a pastry and coffee while we waited. Now train travel in Canada is slightly different than Europe and the UK where you can stand on the platform while you wait for the train. Whereas in Ottawa and Montreal it’s like an airport where you wait at a gate and then when your train arrives and the other passengers have gotten off they scan your boarding pass and let you embark but way less security. Once on the train and have left the station they rescan your boarding pass.

Once in Montreal we where met by one of our old Hight school friends who are living and studying in Montreal. We checked into our hotel which was right around the corner of the Bell center and then set off to lunch to an Italian place nearby. The concert was that evening starting ate 7:30 so we had an early dinner and got ready for the evening then set off to the Bell center. Our ticket where standing floor so we got there early enough so we would be near the stage. We did not stop dancing and singing the whole night.

Unfortunately, during the concert, my friend went to put her phone in her pocket and fell on the floor and her phone would turn on and off right away, so she, unfortunately, lost her photos and videos. So, I got on my phone and googled the nearest apple store which happened to be right around the corner from our hotel so the next morning we set off to the Apple store where they gave us a time which gave us the time to go eat a delicious breakfast at a creperie. Where lots of Nutella and fruits are the norm.

The rest of the day we spent our day window shopping on the famous street of St. Catharine.

I love my friends but there not the most adventures in their food repertoire. So, slowly I’ve been introducing them to a new cuisine. We found this wonderful Ramen place where the menu only had four variations of Ramen with chicken or pork and a dozen appetizers like kimchi. This place is called the Kinton Ramen. Then we set off to be part of a haunted walk of Montreal which was a great night filled with laughter and history. 

The next day the trip took a turn for the worse when I woke up not feeling 100% but I got up and got dressed. Set off to breakfast which was not one of your best places that we chose. The name of the restaurant is called ben & Florentine. Despite its busyness, the server was rude and quite pushy to take our order. Then it took a good half an hour for our food and once it had arrived my potato’s where half warm and cold and my avocado “toast” was not toasted.  Plus, the bill at the end was way too expensive. I was still not feeling better, so I stopped at a local pharmacy to get some cold medicine to maybe fight this thing. So, I went back to the hotel and changed back into my PJs and tried to sleep it off but no luck I sleep all day and night and every 4h I would walk up and asses my situation and stay hydrated and medicated.

Sunday came and we were going home. What we didn’t realize when we booked our trip that it was Thanksgiving in Canada so there were not many things opened around apart from McDonald and Tim Horton. Then we set off to the train station and off we came back to Ottawa where my friend dropped me off home and I had a cup of soup and watched a movie in bed and passed out. That was my festive Thanksgiving since my parents were off visiting some family in PEI.

Thank you for reading.

I will be writing more often so stay tuned.