Today we travel to Montreal. We have the Moovit app which provides public transport routes and information. There are several options for our journey to Toronto Union Station, all involving changes. The recommended route seems to come with an amber warning of disruption. The final bus leg has been suspended, and instead there is a replacement train. I'm sorely tempted by this, as it seems so very different from the rail replacement buses that we dread in the UK. In the end we opt for the familiarity of the 44 to Confederation Park and get the number 12 to Burlington GO station. It also means that we can use the tickets I purchased in the UK to get from Appleby station to Toronto when I knew next to nothing about public transport in the Toronto area.
The 44 is right on time at 8.35, and the 12 is only a few minutes behind schedule. From Burlington we get the GO train, which is a double decker with about 20 coaches. It's pretty full as people are going to the Toronto Pride event. They tell us it will also be Pride in Montreal, so that bodes well for later in the day.
Union Station is a maze, with multiple levels, entrances and exits, local trains, long distance trains. We must look like a pair of bewildered out of towners from Hicksville, as a woman named Cat takes charge of us and shows us where we need to go
We have nearly an hour before our train departs, and 40 minutes before boarding. So we head off for a coffee, and are soon lost again. A helpful security worker directs us back to the platform 17 entrance. Two long queues have materialised while we have been away, the train is going to be busy - I remember now that many of the trains to Montreal today were fully booked.
We had planned to eat on the train. A five hour train journey must offer food options, right? The refreshment trolley is tiny. We are told not to look at the menu, it's a question of what's available. We opt for the last remaining and rather enigmatically named protein box, a ham and cheese croissant, and a couple of beers. We feel sorry for the people further up the train who are going to find very little on offer
At 14.20 we arrive at Kingston, and after nearly six hours of traveling we are about to leave Lake Ontario behind. It certainly makes me appreciate the sheer scale of Canada.
2 hours and 40 minutes later we arrive in Montreal. Today has been overcast, and the fierce air conditioning on the train has made me believe it's cool outside. So the hot and humid air of Montreal really hits me when we get off the train and take the 20 minute walk to our hotel.
A helicopter buzzes over the city, and the central streets are blocked off by police cars, blue lights flashing. Clearly something is going on; are we in time to see the Pride parade?
Cyclists fly down the barrier-closed streets. It's a city centre bike race? We have stumbled upon the Sprint Triathlon World Championships, and have seen the last competitors going past.
Our Air B&B is 50m from the Notre Dame Basilica. You couldn't get a more central location.
Internet research doesn't reveal many nearby places to eat that are open on a Sunday, and also tells me that the final triathlon leg will be a 5km run - so we will miss that also.
So we wander off to see what we can find.
We find the Wolf and Workman, a pub doing beer and food. We haven't booked, but they can squeeze in a table for two.
The questions are fun, with a reasonable number being general knowledge. But a knowledge of N American trivia would definitely have helped our cause. We are saved from public humiliation because a) we've not done that badly and B) only the scores of the three leading teams are revealed
But we are tired and decide to skip round two, wander down to the river, and have an early night. There has been some rain so I go outside first and check the weather. There's a huddle of GB triathletes there drinking, so I ask how they did. They have won gold in the over 60s, team event.
We return here later for a final beer. Team GB is in full celebration mode, and the enthusiasm, energy, and exuberance is quite infectious and a joy to be welcomed into
i am very happy your hawing a good time mike by
ReplyDelete