Today, 27 Aug, our Canada sojourn takes us to Montreal. Eagerly, we headed to the Union Square Station where we boarded the 7am ViaRail Canada train service to the northeastern city. As you can see from the picture below, we are indeed responsible travelers as we stuck closely to the advisory to arrive 30 minutes before departure... hahaha!
Ah... one of my favorite pics so far... a snapshot of opportunity!
So here's Doris eagerly anticipating a fresh adventure in Canada...
And then there were others who were lazily lumbering aboard the insanely early train service!
If you think this is the sea coast, think again. This mind-boggling body of water that stretches miles and miles without end is actually Lake Ontario. I wonder how many Singapores would fit into it... and to think the glacial Lake Iroquios during the Ice Age (recall the entry for Toronto???) was said to be larger than Lake Ontario. Truly unbelievable...
Some beautiful artwork we sighted at the Berri-UQAM Station.
One of the many beautiful churches we came across in the city.
Heading downtown along Montreal's very own 'Orchard Road' - Rue Sainte Catherine. And as you can see from the following few pictures, Montreal is a place that is bursting with artistic expression...
As we proceeded further, we came across a section of the street that was closed off because of preparations for the Montreal Film Festival.
And these was this unique-looking bike... fierce man!
This Victorian neo-gothic medieval cathedral is the Saint James United Church. Its history traces way back in 1803 when seven members of Montreal's first Methodist congregation came together to form a church. It is said that members of the congregation had fought against slavery in the British Empire and the U.S., and the church was also actively involved in starting the first YMCA in North America, as well as the championing of women's suffrage in the early 20th century.
Near the St. James United Church is the Phillip's Square. The landmark feature is the bronze statue of Britain’s King Edward VII, who is a dearly-beloved monarch in Quebec. The statue by Louis-Philippe Hébert commemorates Edward the Peacemaker, and was unveiled in 1914.
There are four allegorical figures at the base of the monument, representing Peace, Harmony, Abundance, and Liberty. Peace is the woman at the front holding the olive branch, but there is actually a sword hidden in the folds of her skirt as a reminder that force may sometimes be needed to keep the peace. Harmony, on the right, represents Montreal’s four founding nationalities - the French, Scots, Irish, and the English - all living together in harmony. At the back of the monument is a winged angel which represents the value of Liberty, and the angel has broken the shackles of religious prejudice and persecution. To the left is the figure of a woman holding a horn of aplenty to represent the wish for Canada's continued material abundance.
Turning around from the statue, one will instantaneously be captured by the spires of the Christ Church Cathedral.
It is soon time for dinner and Doris and I quickly skipped along to Rue Bishop, where Hard Rock Montreal is. Doesn't the scene remind of Holland Village in some sense?
One would have mistaken that in a city peppered with churches and cathedrals that even Hard Rock cafe had a stained glass showpiece of its own... haha!
For starters, we ordered a plate of grilled hot wings... and for the entree, we got ourselves a smoked Atlantic Salmon... yummy!!
Hard Rock isn't really Hard Rock if it didn't have an interesting collection of items, each with its own unique story. hanging on the walls are costumes or musical instruments once used or worn by some famous celebrities... can you see the yellow and blue Napoleonic costume on the top left of the picture? That once belonged to Sir Elton John...
Or what about the complete drum set that once followed Guns n Roses on their world tour?
Near the end of the day, we headed for our hotel, which is a stone's throw away from Chinatown in Montreal. Notice the Holiday Inn hotel nearby with the unmistakable Chinese architecture?
Being me, I couldn't resist posing beside a fire station... :)
Our hotel is really quite near the Basilique Notre-Dame... fronting the cathedral is a monument of Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612 – 1676), a French military officer and founder of Montreal.
Coming home that evening, we caught some time with the grand old lady just as her evening lights were coming on... we promised to visit her again the next day!
Hosting us for our two-day stopover in Montreal was a poised and dignified hotel aptly named the Auberge Bonaparte... I liked its corridors for its simplicity and elegance.
It was a day of endless trekking... and while I loved the workout, I just couldn't wait to turn in... ZZZZzzzz
It's Day 2 in Montreal, and today we've set off especially early in the morning to visit the famous Cross on the northeastern face of Mount Royal that overlooks Montreal's downtown.
This structure is known as the Chalet, and it sits atop an observational foundation on Mount Royal, from where a person can catch a spectacular view of the city (see below).
Another spur of the moment picture, but this one sure took me a long while as I turned my 'macro' on and chased the bee around the flowers while taking care not to spook it too much...
Doesn't this just look like Bukit Timah... hahaha, maybe a speck of it... Mount Royal is huge, and it even has a lake within its premises, but we just never managed to find it though...
The Cross is actually 2km from the Chalet on one side, and 0.7km from the other side. Being the exercise freaks that we were, we chose the longer route to get there... ok actually we misread the signage... so we actually got a real workout that morning... but back to the Cross...
It is a symbol of Montreal's deeply Roman-Catholic heritage. The first ever cross on Mount Royal was put in place by Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve - the founder of Montreal - to fulfill a vow he made to the Virgin Mary to stop a flooding disaster. The current 31m cross was installed in 1924 by the Saint-Jean-Baptist Society and now belongs to the city.
Oh my... where is the bus to take us outta here???
Oh... is that the bus I see in the distance? No......
I only wished I could tell you more about this monument, which looks like the Washington Monument, but all the inscriptions are in French, so just enjoy it as it stands then...
This is a statue of John Young, a prominent Canadian politician and parliamentarian who fought hard to improve the city's transportation system in order to establish it as a premier commercial center in North America. The Victoria Bridge, which was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in 1860, was the pet project of Young. His statue stands near the old Montreal port in remembrance of his works.
And here are some interesting sights along the Old Port Promenade.
I couldn't help but take a picture of this place - Cafe Arsenik - to tease my colleagues back in the SCDF... Arsenic is a type of poison, so what a name for cafe... hahaha!
Circling the area like vultures, seagulls were marauding the promenade that evening. The reason was because large groups of college students undergoing orientation programs were leaving behind large quantities of trash and this was bringing in the birds... tsk tsk...
The brightly illuminated five-story Montreal City Hall (Hotel de Ville) makes quite an imposing sight at night!
This is probably the highlight of our stay in Montreal - a visit to the Basilique Notre-Dame, just as we'd promised. The blue spots you see above were part of the 30 minute light show cum documentary on the founding of the cathedral that we watched that night. Quick, I have to hide my camera now...
The altar of the Notre-Dame is a mix of red, azure, purple, silver and gold, and stands out singularly as the riveting showpiece of the cathedral. It is understood that the altar as well as the intricate carvings that adorn the interior took some 20 years to be completed between 1870 and 1900.
The elaborate pulpit of the Notre-Dame.
The Casavant Freres pipe organ, which comprises 97 organ stops, some 7,000 pipes and four keyboards.
Like an ageless beauty, the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal is indeed a breathtaking place to visit and behold. All glory be unto the Lord!
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