We decided to explore Mount Royal Park today. We use a free website rome2rio to organise our trips. The website gives distances, options for walking, bus, trains and times, schedules and links to buy tickets. We took the walking option today.
It was an easy walk through the various ethnic districts. We ended up in the Portuguese area. Some of the businesses had beautiful painted tiles.
Just below the park I found a hairdresser, so had a quick haircut for $20. Mark waited outside and enjoyed the antics of a traffic controller while the road was being re-tarred. He watched several pre-school groups returning from the playground and a carer pushing a six-seater stroller.
The view up to Mont Royal (234m). There is a statue of Jacques Cartier, who named the mountain Montreal in 1535 and then the city was also known as Montreal as it developed below the mountain.
Lots of walking trails in this popular parkland. I walked up to the Chateau Mont-Royal and enjoyed the panoramic views.
From there we wandered through the campus of Macgill University, including a massive stadium. We were impressed with the university’s student housing in beautiful old terraces.
When we mentioned we were staying in Montreal, several people said that we must go to Schwartz’s to have their smoked beef sandwiches. They are an institution and have been so for 90 years. It is still owned by a Romanian Jewish family. The condition is that you line up and wait until you are called.
The menu is simple and the most popular dish is the smoked meat sandwich ($12), which is in fact corned beef. It is smoked, soaked and steamed in a process that takes about 8 days. We were allocated seats with four Canadian friends. Only a few choices, no alcohol and they move the hordes through pretty quickly. Cash only.
There is lots of memorabilia and artwork about the cafe, which has not changed its decor. There was even a musical made from this remarkable story.
Then we followed Rue Rachel, passing a lot of street art. We regretted not having a Fitbit today as it would have been interesting to see how many kms and steps we did.
We found the Fontaine Park with its two large lakes and hordes of squirrels, including these light-coloured ones. We like squirrels but we’d also like to see some raccoons, beavers and moose. Mark thought it unlikely we would find them here today.
Then we were back in The Village with all its colour and activity, with a quiet community garden and stylish cafe nearby.
Italian for dinner amongst the summer crowds on Rue Saint-Denis
Au revoir, Montreal!
M&M
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