McVentures: Au Revoir Montreal!

While my stay in Montreal was short it was by no means lacking in interesting people, great food and beautiful sights. Here's a few takeaways from my trip:

1. The people of Montreal love their graffiti murals! Most every where I walked there was sure to be a mural on the side of a building, bus stop sign or the back of a bank building. These murals were no small feat either; some were extremely detailed while others were creative and even a bit odd - but all were worth stopping to admire.

2. Montreal is very Green - from their designated bike paths (SF has nothing on Montreal when it comes to being biker friendly)

to their impressive metro system to their gardens. Below are a few shots from the Sentier Urbain I stumbled on this morning. This lot was once a run down empty space home to rif raff, drug users and prostitutes until a group took it over and turned it in to a beautiful garden that cultivates green life.

3. Montreal LOVES their restaurants. Saint Catherine street is lined with restaurants as far as the eye can see, and it's quite beautiful to walk down

Their Poutine - french fries with cheese curds and brown gravy - is their biggest claim to fame. I didn't make it to the recommended spot for Poutine as I didn't have time. What I did try was just alright, the cheese was a bit rubbery and the gravy was a little too runny for my liking. Still worth trying!

4. Lot's of History! I walked around China town (note: there will be no pictures of China town as it's exactly the same as SF, NY, Chicago and any other major city in the US) and all other parts of the city and there was an impressive amount of old brick buildings, churches

and historical monuments. I made my way down to the beach and stopped at this old Clock Tower and walked up it's 129 steps to the top for breath taking views of the city.