Montreal Trip

School is out and it's vacation time, right! Our trip was to Montreal, Canada and we had a  wonderful time. We flew from Virginia, as it is too far to drive. But if you in the northeast, the best way is to fly to Burlington, Vermont and drive from there.

Montreal, previously called Ville Marie or the town of Mary was found in the 1600's by french colonists. They sent missionaries to basically teach bible to the native Americans there. Montreal, is an island in  St. Lawrence River. It is the second largest city in the eastern part of Canada, next to Toronto. It is very cosmopolitan and everybody speaks English, unlike Quebec city! You have the feeling of being in Europe with cobble stoned streets in Old Montreal.

Montreal hosted the winter Olympics in 1976 and they still have the Olympic park.
We visited the Botanical gardens a huge place with spectacular flowers and my favorite the Herb garden!

These were some of the cool plants found there.

This really tasted like a mint and chocolate!

They had something called the curry plant, which is very different to our curry leaf plant. The leaves in no way were fragrant as a curry, but they named it so the leaves nice smell!

Notre Dame basilica is magnificent. I learned that basilica is a status given to a church in appreciation of its architecture, beauty, and religious activities. It was a great visit.

Notre Dame Basilica

You get a wonderful panoramic view of Montreal city from a 45 degree inclined observation deck, or from Mont Royal's lookout center.

45 Degree inclined observation deck

Biosphere is the largest spherical structure in North America.

Biosphere

 They have some cool exhibits like dresses made out of various materials (i.e. garbage bags, bullets, computer paper, snakeskin, pill bottles, asphalt, etc.)

                                                       This dress was made of bullets!

Montreal people take their food seriously. They have an excellent French and American influence in their cuisine. We enjoyed French crepes thoroughly. Not to mention the Nutella and whipped cream! Mind you, the portion sizes are small.

There is a Science Center in Montreal where the kids can have hands-on fun and learn about a lot of things. There is also a great IMAX movie there.

A view of the city skyline is spectacular from the cruise on the St. Lawrence river.

So, if you are planning a vacation for a long weekend or summer break, Montreal is definitely worth it!!!