Easter with mexicanos, gringos and Frenchies

We had friends visit from Friday morning to Sunday night. First to arrive were P&Em; we went to the airport to pick them up at 8am and I only circled the pick-up area five times (the airport security men are very serious about the 'no-waiting' zone). We headed home to drop off their suitcases and to meet up with our friend H, who also lives in Montreal but is part of this crazy friend group because... OK maybe you need a bit of background info before I continue.

Where we all met in 2006

So Husband and I met in Mexico in 2006. We met through mutual friends at a rugby party because he is a rugby player. I spent the majority of my time in Mexico in my study abroad year (2006-07) learning Spanish with rugby players, so I have a foul potty mouth in Spanish, which is surprising to most because I almost never swear in French or English. The cast of characters of friends who came to visit are all related to rugby playing in Mexico. P studied with Husband and played on the team. Em is P's girlfriend, she is French and met P studying abroad in 2008. H is Spanish from Spain and was studying abroad the same year I was and also played on the team and now lives in Montreal. T is French and was also studying abroad and playing on the rugby team. J is American and lived and played in Mexico before any of us met, so he is kind of the founder of everything and the reason we all met (kind of). To summarize:

P-Mexican, lives in Monterrey
Em-French, P's gf, lives in Monterrey
H-Spanish, lives in Montreal
T-French, lives in NYC
J-American (aka gringo), lives in Boston
me & Husband, live in Montreal

The boys at Mount Royal look-out

Walking in the Old Port

Ok, back to the story. After dropping off the suitcases, we walked to the bus station to pick up T and then we all went out for breakfast right in front of Place des Arts (a must-see in Montreal). Then we walked home to drop off T's suitcase and walked up Mount Royal (another must-see). Em & I had great chats on the way up about Mexico, living abroad, and life in general. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day and a great view of downtown. We then walked down to the Eaton Center and the underground city toward the Old Port where we stopped to have beers and lunch. It was a great long lunch and we talked and laughed and reminisced about the good ol' days in Mexico. We then walked around the Old Port and walked along the St. Lawrence river. We walked back home and then went to H's house for dinner, where J met up with us. He prepared his famous paella (I may be biased but I do think it's the best in the world) and we had some wine and were merry.

H's paella

poutine

Saturday morning I had to work, but the rest of the crew woke up late and had a breakfast of champions (French toast) prepared by Husband. We met up at the Olympic Stadium, where they went up the elevator thingy that overlooks the city. H & I stayed behind and looked at the Olympic swimming installations. We were going to go to the Biodome as well, but the wait was 45 minutes and we decided it wasn't worth it. But if you are visiting Montreal with children, I highly recommend the Biodome, which is like a zoo but separated into different ecosystems. We went to the Eaton Center again, where P tried poutine for the first time. He said it was just OK. I say it's delicious, but it does look gross. Em wanted to buy shoes and they don't have Aldo in Monterrey, so we went and she bought awesome black heels. We then went to Peel Pub to watch the hockey game. The Montreal Canadians were playing the Boston Bruins so J was the odd man out in the pub, being from Boston and all, and the Bruins ended up winning so the hardcore Canadians fans were that much more hostile towards him. Thankfully nothing serious happened and thankfully I wasn't there to get stressed out about it, because Husband and I had tickets to a play that Santa had given us at Christmas, so we missed the game but caught up with our friends afterwards. After our play and after the game, we went to St. Laurent, which is a happening street in Montreal full of bars and clubs. We first went to a place called Upstairs (which is where we went last time we went out). It has pornographic art on the walls, OK music and a very young crowd: mostly university students. After a drink there we got sick of the pushing and shoving and debauchery and decided to go elsewhere. We went to Ballroom, which was a lot bigger and had great old school rap playing. I loved it! Oh and MM met up with us, another Montrealer who studied abroad with us in Mexico.

Walk around the lake by my parent's house

Sunday morning we all went out for breakfast at Chez Cora, which is the most amazing breakfast place ever. J had to leave us at this point, so we parted ways and after a delicious meal we decided to go ice skating at the Atrium (it's an indoor skating rink). An old 79-year-old man who does crazy figure skating there taught me how to skate backwards, but also told me that I wasn't that good at skating in the first place so I should probably just focus on going forwards. My parents had graciously invited the whole crew over for Easter dinner. We made it to the suburbs and I was amazed that the crazy animal rugby players I know were able to be civilized gentlemen around my parents. T even cut carrots (an amazing feat for someone who 4 years ago was unable to eat an orange properly). My siblings were there with their respective partners so all in all there were twelve of us. We had turkey, carrots, yams, turnips, potatoes, and colourful eggs (my dad always makes dyed eggs for Easter). We went for a walk around the lake and then had desert (hot crossed buns, obviously). We dropped T off at the bus station, then came home and watched The Hangover. H went home, and P & Em left at 4am to catch their flight.

It was an amazing weekend. They are truly great great friends and I can't wait to see them again! This weekend also made me realize how amazing Montreal is. I LOVE Montreal and I think more friends should come visit and discover how great it is! Hint hint...