Montreal on Saturday
Aug. 21st, 2011 02:58 amToday I did two bike rides.
* The first was from Place d'Armes (Chinatown) to Parc La Fontaine, then to the Plateau, up to the top of Mont Royal (45 minutes), back down (10 min), and back and forth around Mile End, and then it started raining, so I aborted at Station Jean-Talon. Google Maps called it 23km, but I estimate 25 or 26km. Parc La Fontaine had some silly break-dancing. Most of the streets were pretty quiet, especially at Mile End. I did get nice directions from a guy in his back yard; he seemed fully bilingual, and we spoke in a mixture of English and French; when I asked, he identified as anglophone.
* I started the second bike ride on Rue St Catherine, around Beaudry, zig-zagged several times all the way to Guy-Concordia, down to Place Victoria, to the quays being used as nightclubs, to Place Cartier, and back to Place d'Armes. Google Maps estimated 8.7km, but I estimate 13km. The highlight were the people absailing down from the tops of buildings, and the subsequent visit by the cops.
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bhudson invited me to an event at Tohu, something called Falles, from Valencia, with his friend Aurélie, Jean-Simon and Rachelle. Right now I'm like wow, I've never spoken so much French in one evening! The event was full of hula-hooping and juggling, quite the family event. Somehow, having children around does not preclude alcohol consumption. It culminated with a fireworks show around a big monument with statues, which eventually caught fire. At some point, sprinklers turned on and we thought they were going to put out the fire, but instead the fire only got bigger and bigger, so we think they were sprinkling alcohol instead.
* The first was from Place d'Armes (Chinatown) to Parc La Fontaine, then to the Plateau, up to the top of Mont Royal (45 minutes), back down (10 min), and back and forth around Mile End, and then it started raining, so I aborted at Station Jean-Talon. Google Maps called it 23km, but I estimate 25 or 26km. Parc La Fontaine had some silly break-dancing. Most of the streets were pretty quiet, especially at Mile End. I did get nice directions from a guy in his back yard; he seemed fully bilingual, and we spoke in a mixture of English and French; when I asked, he identified as anglophone.
* I started the second bike ride on Rue St Catherine, around Beaudry, zig-zagged several times all the way to Guy-Concordia, down to Place Victoria, to the quays being used as nightclubs, to Place Cartier, and back to Place d'Armes. Google Maps estimated 8.7km, but I estimate 13km. The highlight were the people absailing down from the tops of buildings, and the subsequent visit by the cops.
bhudson invited me to an event at Tohu, something called Falles, from Valencia, with his friend Aurélie, Jean-Simon and Rachelle. Right now I'm like wow, I've never spoken so much French in one evening! The event was full of hula-hooping and juggling, quite the family event. Somehow, having children around does not preclude alcohol consumption. It culminated with a fireworks show around a big monument with statues, which eventually caught fire. At some point, sprinklers turned on and we thought they were going to put out the fire, but instead the fire only got bigger and bigger, so we think they were sprinkling alcohol instead.