Friday, 25 August 2006

Montreal (Quebec)

I had an excellent nights sleep - the Black-hole of Montreal isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was a chilly but clear morning, so I set out to do a tour of Montreal on the bike. (I really must be crazy - cycling on a 'rest day'!) I couldn't go the route I wanted as the cycle path was closed - I was turned back by a policeman because there was some big car race on today - the Montreal Grand Prix, but not a Formula One Grand Prix. You could hear the race cars in the distance buzzing like angry insects.

Instead I cycled all the way along the Lachine Canal to the sculpture park at the end. Even this trip was much further than I expected and took all morning - I ended up cycling 50 km! I cycled back along the edge of the St. Lawrence to the old city on the east side of Montreal Island. It had threatened to cloud over early in the morning but that soon gave way to a beautiful hot sunny day.

In the afternoon I went all the way back to the Maison des Cyclistes to buy some maps and also ended up buying a 'Third Eye' rear-view mirror for all the road cycling I have ahead of me... It'll be interesting to see how well it works. It's one that clips onto the arm (or is that leg?) of your [sun]glasses. I then went to the Botanical Gardens, which at $12.75 seemed a bit pricey, but to do the place justice I think that you'd have to spend the whole day there which makes the price a bit more reasonable. The price does include entry to the Insectarium, but I didn't have time to go there mainly because I had to waste an hour going back to the hostel for spare batteries and memory cards for my camera. (Doh!) I stayed in the gardens until it was getting too dark for photos and too chilly to wander around in a t-shirt any longer. I headed back to Chinatown for another Chinese meal. Fortune cookie: You will make heads turn. (What, like in the Exorcist?)

Distance: 50.0 km
Cycling time: 3:06
Total distance: 6716.6 km