Day 5: Au Revoir, Montréal!

We all woke up at 9:00am and went to breakfast at Olive and Gourmando in the Old Town. They specialize in organic, local ingredients and served us a very good breakfast including yogurts, paninis, and pastries. We all sat down and enjoyed our breakfast and got ready to head back to school! After that, we went to a souvenir shop to get our last minute souvenirs from the amazing trip to Canada that we had. We all bought different clothes, candies, and exchanged our money back from Canadian to American. Then, we went back to the hotel and packed up our stuff so we could get ready to leave for school. We all talked about our favorite times on the trip and we had a fun bus ride back. We stopped at Subway for our last lunch as a group before crossing the border. Then, we ended the day by getting back to campus, preparing for the symposium, and finishing our time with our project week group. It was a wonderful week!

From the Mile-End to the Olympic Tower: Day 4 in Montreal

On Thursday, we participated in a food tour of the Mile-End neighborhood of Montreal. We began the tour with a vegan falafel sandwich from La Panthère Verte, which was very filling.

After that, we stopped by a chocolate store and had a sample of hot chocolate with a brownie inside. That was hands down the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had! Following that, we went to Théâtre Rialto. What’s special about this theatre is that it’s the oldest theatre in Montreal. They have over 20 shows a month in this theatre. Next, we also went to the famous bagel shop called St-Viateur Bagel—it was incredible! While we were there we learned about how the bagels are made and how they came up with the different kinds of bagels to serve.

After that, we went to Wilensky’s, which serves sandwiches, though it didn’t start off that way. The owner started this store by selling cigars. He had some customers asking for food, so he decided to make and sell sandwiches. Later on, he realized more people were coming for food instead of cigars, so he gave up the cigars and it has been a sandwich restaurant ever since. The last stop on our food tour was at Boucherie Lawrence in Plateau Mont Royal. When we were there we tried 2 cheeses and 3 different kinds of meat, which were all surprisingly very good.

After the food tour, we got onto a private bus and went to the Olympic Stadium, which was truly amazing. We went up to the top on a groovy elevator (a funicular) and could see the skyline of Montreal, which was beautiful.

After returning to the ground, we got to see the pool, and that was a beautiful sight. There were a couple people in there practicing for the Summer Olympics. When we got back on the bus, we went to Mount Royal Lookout, where you could also see the skyline of Montreal. It was just an amazing sight, the city never ended.

Ending the bus tour, we went to a church called Oratoire St-Joseph, which was huge. The architecture was more modern than the churches we visited earlier in the week, but it was still breathtaking.

To end the day, we went to a Canadiens de Montreal hockey game. Even though we weren’t in the front row, the game was very fun. The lively atmosphere of the crowd really got you into the game even if you weren’t a Canadiens fan. They ended up beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2, but one of their stars got hurt, P.K. Subban. Overall, Thursday was an incredible day and I’m happy I chose to come to Montreal.

- Valentina F.


To start off Thursday morning we went to our first restaurant, Panthère Verte. At this vegan restaurant we had a taste of their special falafel. We also stopped by Chocolats Geneviéve Grandbois, Théàtre Rialto, St-Viateur Bagels and Boucherie Lawrence.

We then went to the top of the Olympic Tour and got an overview of the city and a look at the history of the building. To get an even better view we went up Mount Royal to get an even closer look at the city. That night we went to the Montreal Canadians Hockey game and watched them beat the Buffalo Sabers 3-2 at the Bell Center.


- Lauren D. 

Au Canada! Day 3: Bagels, Books and Plackis

Bonjour, des parents! We are now ending our third day in Montreal, and tomorrow will be our last day. We woke up and took the bus up Rue Saint-Laurent for our food tour. Along the way we saw quite a few adorable children, but then we got back to business and continued to our meeting place to meet up with our tour guide. Unfortunately, once we arrived, it was communicated to our project leaders that there was a miscommunication with the day and they intended on meeting up with us tomorrow. But, as the saying goes, the show must go on, so we continued on to a famous bagel shop, St-Viateur Bagel, and ate some pretty delicious bagels. Once we got there though, I, Jenna, noticed that my favorite tea store in the world, DAVIDsTEA (which is actually based in Montréal), was next door. Of course, being the tea fanatic that I am, I insisted that we stop in and check out the tea.

After enjoying our trés déliecieux bagels and tea, we took the bus to McGill University, the oldest university in Canada, and one of the most prestigious ones in the world. We stopped by a lot of the science and engineering buildings, the arts building, the bookstore, and the rec. center, where we grabbed some lunch. It made me feel nostalgic of the time when I began touring universities, and it finally hit me that I’m graduating from high school in two months and I’ll be attending college next fall. It’s crazy to think how time flies by!

  

We walked to the Basilique Marie-Reine-du-Monde through the Underground City, which is like one huge underground mall. It’s stocked with loads of boutiques and chain stores, and it has a little food court in it as well.

Upon our arrival at the cathedral, we went inside and just wandered around. We noticed the Cathedral is in the shape of the holy cross and that the architecture is very similar to that of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Italy.  Simply put, we were in complete awe of the beauty of the cathedral. The intricate design and color scheme in the cathedral was absolutely stunning.

When we returned back to our hotel, we had some time to rest after a long day of walking and navigating around the city. After we had our time to rejuvenate and chill out, we walked over to Café Stash, a Polish restaurant in the old city. The general favorites were placki, a dish that is essentially potato pancakes. Of course, we also had to order pierogies, a traditional Polish dish that resembles dumplings, except they typically have potatoes and cheese in them. The food was wonderful and a perfect end to our day!

Now we’re all in our hotel rooms, getting ready for another exciting day tomorrow! Bon soir mesdames et messieurs!

Day 2: Montreal's Past

On the second day of our trip to Montreal, we took a guided tour of the area of the city that we were in known as Old Montreal. We started with a look at the statue of the founder of Montreal, Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve.

We learned that he was chosen to found New France by the French government because he was a soldier and a pious man. Next we visited the Basilica in Montreal and learned of the story of the architect.

For context we were taught the story of the mutual distaste between English speaking and French speaking inhabitants of Montreal. The founders of the church were French Catholics and they wanted the best architect so they swallowed their pride and chose James O'Donnell who was an Irish Protestant. O'Donnell loved his work so much that on his deathbed he converted to Catholicism so he could be buried in his masterpiece.

We also visited the Pointe-à-Callière museum where we learned of the original founding of Montreal and the story of the Mount Royal Cross. The people of Montreal settled on a point between two rivers, and when flood season occurred the rivers began to rise. The people desperately prayed for their fort to be spared. When it was their founder, Maisonneuve, climbed neighboring Mount Royal, which he had previously named after his King, and planted the Cross of Mount Royal which has been replaced and maintained and still watches over the city today.

We also had two perfect meals at a local sandwich shop, Marché de la villette, a pizzeria, Bevo, and a short indulgence at a small “pâtisserie”. Overall it was a great second day in Montreal.

- Sean G.

Day 1: Poutineville

 

Our day started off with a 4 hour bus ride to Montreal, Quebec. With Ms. Farr-Williams at the wheel, 20 mins in to the trip everyone was fast asleep. But as we got closer to Montreal, you could feel the excitement and energy. We got to the hotel in Old Town Montreal and as soon as we knew, we were off roaming the exciting and crowded streets of this big city. Navigating the streets and the metro we finally made it to our French class and learned simple phrases in Quebec French. We also learned a few curse words, but we're not supposed to tell anyone that.

After, we made our way to Poutineville "Home of the best poutine in Montreal" so they say. And after ordering and stuffing our faces with mountains of poutine we made it back to the hotel safe and sound.

- Elizabeth C.

Attache ta tuque! We’re going to Montreal!

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the relationship between language and national identity in Quebec?

A group of students is very excited to travel to Montreal Canada for the week!

We plan to learn more about the Québécois culture through history, language, and food! To do this we will take a French language course, journey through the old city by foot, explore historical museums and botanical gardens, enjoy a walking food tour, visit McGill University, go to a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, and take the funicular up the Olympic Tower! - Maddy S.