First blog post! I feel like I should do something to celebrate. In this case, it’s going on a search for 222’s (Tylenol with codeine, available only in every country not named the United States of America.) Our flight in to Montreal was unremarkable…Air Canada did have on-demand movies though. I chose Soul Surfer, which is about Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who lost her arm to a shark but made a comeback to surf again…turns out I probably just should have slept.
The first night our only task was getting from the airport to the hotel, and it was a lot harder than it needed to be. Montreal is primarily French-speaking, and while most signs/advertistements are offered in both languages, they seem to neglect translating certain things like, oh, I don’t know, bus routes. But we made it. Needless to say, my French is a little rusty (non-existant.) I know sortie (exit), je ne parles pas francais (I don’t speak French), and ménage a trois (although I haven’t found a situation where I would need to say that.)
The first day we went to the Biodome, which is actually housed in the old structure from the ’76 Olympic Games. It was kind of an indoor zoo, with lots of live animals but nothing too large. It also had an insectariums and a botanical garden (we were blessed with gorgeous weather for all of our outdoor activities.) Today we went to the museum of archaeology, which was actually built on top of the structure of one of Montreal’s first buildings (they seem to have a habit of building things on top of other things.) The museum was located right by the port, so we caught a fleeting glimpse of my home for the next three months. We hiked up to a hill in the middle of the city, Mont Royal, which offered great views and lots and lots of rain.
I board the boat tomorrow, but I’d like to spend some more time in Quebec. We haven’t had a meal that didn’t suck (pardon my French.)(I’ve been waiting so long to say that.) I know once we’re off though, it will be a blast. Classes start Saturday (ha! I can’t believe I have to take classes. I thought this was a cruise?) so I’ll post again after Morocco. See you in Africa! Or, as they say in French….never mind, I have no idea how to say that in French.
