Friend visit

My friend C came to Montreal for a visit this week. It was great, and what made it that much more special was that we hadn't seen each other since we were both teaching in Puebla, Mexico three years ago, so we had a lot to catch up on!

Monday morning I went to pick her up at the bus station (which is newly renovated and very nice) and we had a coffee there at the Presse Café. After a stop of at home to drop off her bags and for her to have a shower (her bus had been delayed so she spend a long night, part of which was slept on a floor!), we went to L'Anecdote, which I have just discovered recently. It is a cute little diner near the community centre where I volunteer teach English to immigrants once a week. She had her first real poutine and enjoyed it, actually her exact words were, "It's fries, gravy and cheese... what's not to like?". We then walked down Saint Denis street, across the Carré Saint Louis (which they are renovating) and along Prince Arthur. We continued on Saint Laurent all the way down past ChinaTown to the Old Port. After all of that walking, our feet were sore and our bodies cold, so we stopped at Tim Hortons where I introduced C to the wonder that is the 'Roll up the rim to win' contest. Unfortunately we did not win anything, though I have to mention I have won a free doughnut and a free coffee this year! We walked down through Place Jacques Quartier to the water and watched the big ice sheets go by. C was impressed because she had never seen frozen rivers before (she's from Texas).

We then went home, go the dog and walked to the Atwater market. I'm just realizing now that we did a bunch of walking that day! After that we stayed home and relaxed, though. My husband came home from work and we ate burritos and played the Train game, which Paul won.

Eating our tacos al pastor - picture courtesy of C!

Tuesday we went to the museum of fine arts. I hadn't realized that almost all of it is free! We spent nearly three hours there looking at various expositions from old religious paintings to modern art to Canadian art, it was very interesting! We then headed over to have lunch at La Matraca, which serves authentic tacos al pastor. It was delicious and it was also so great to reminisce about our time in Mexico. We then walked around the McGill campus, the underground mall, and Saint Catherine street towards the Place des Arts, where the festivals happen during the summer.

We got home and took the dog for a short walk around the neighbourhood where I showed C the church I sing at on Sundays. I then had to take off for my Statistics class, but my husband and C had dinner and watched Modern Family.

Overall, I'd say the trip was a huge success. I feel like I was able to show C the highlights of Montreal. The only downside was the temperature wasn't so nice, it was cold and grey. I kept telling her the city changes in the winter and summer. The summer is especially a nice time to come because of all the festivals and activities that happen downtown.