710 ml

I slept in again this morning. Our room is like a cave that stays very dark. The four people making noise at 5am didn't bother me too much cause I knew I could sleep until whenever I woke up, which was about 10am. Back to setting an alarm tomorrow.

My first order of business today was walking to the Parc du Mont-Royal. As soon as I stepped outside the sky got dark and it started to rain. Luckily it only lasted about an hour. By the time I had an early lunch at Green, a delicious and healthy sandwich and salad shop, it had stopped raining. So I headed back out and hiked up to the Chalet du Mont Royal. You can walk up stairs or walk back and forth up switchbacks. I decided to take the stairs. Phew. Was happy to get to the top and take in the gorgeous view of Montreal. I was prepared for the view not to be great because of the weather, but it turned out to be a blue sky sunny day. A little weird knowing that this was where a previous boyfriend proposed to his girlfriend, but what are you gonna do, I had to see the sight.

A little trivia knowledge (from Wikipedia): "Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French, (Mont Royal in present French)."

After snapping several photos and taking in the scenery, I walked over to a park bench, laid down, and read my book. Canada has been less overwhelming than Europe in a nice way. I don't feel like I have to spend all day rushing to several sights. I've been kind of wandering around like I would if I lived here. Although my foot and leg issues is probably adding to that. One place I thought about going to again was Le Biodôme de Montréal. I went in college as an adult chaperone for a bunch of middle school kids. I remember being so impressed by it that I wanted to relish that memory and not go again with the potential of being disappointed.

Once I had read several chapters I decided to head over to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. On the way there I walked through McGill's campus which was kind of fun. Once I got to the basilica I didn't feel like paying to go in so I just admired it from outside. Then I wanted to see the St. Lawrence River, so I walked over there and sat on a bench to people watch. On the way inland I walked through the Vieux-Montréal, the old historic part of town.

When I started to get hungry for dinner I decided to find a grocery store and pick up a bunch of snacks to enjoy tonight and then on my train ride tomorrow. Along with the food I bought a 710 ml Labatt Bleue, or two. My hostel/hotel has a bar but they only have imported beer and the wine I tried the other night was not good. Only problem is you can't drink outside booze in the bar/lounge area. So I ate my little dinner on my bed, which was actually kind of fun. I then remembered that you could borrow movies from the front desk. It was a long day so I just wanted to chill tonight. You can tell by the movie selection that only guys work here. Kind of funny that they were all illegal burned movies as well. I picked Fight Club and headed back to my room. The DVD player in the TV wouldn't open. So I went to return the movie and the guy at the front asked me if I wanted to watch it in the common room downstairs. I didn't know there was one. So now I'm sitting downstairs watching the movie, enjoying my large Labatt Bleue, and relaxing.

Before I forget - they added lots of pink bulbs today taking up now three blocks. I looked it up and this is what I learned: "During the 2011 Aires Libres summer event, 170,000 pink resin balls will be fastened to wires strung out at different levels and through the trees forming a long pink canopy suspended over the St. Catherine street pedestrian zone. The three different size pink resin balls will produce a five-tone hue creating the effect of a long sequenced ribbon. Enjoy unique and festive moments as you stroll under a sky of pink resin balls while experiencing the succession of nine different suspension patterns that stretch over a 1.2km distance between Berri and Papineau streets. A color event that asserts itself in the heart of the Village. Les Boules roses is produced by landscape architect Claude Cormier." Fancy.

Taking a train to Québec City tomorrow afternoon and meeting up with my aunt Carol and cousin Megan. Excited to hang out with them and explore Québec!

Now back to Edward & Brad.