December 2011
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Making the Most of Montreal This Year
I’ll have more to say about this year’s holiday in Montréal in the coming days, but a few brief impressions.
This was the warmest, most snow-free trip there. We had several days of temperatures in the 20’s, 30’s and even 40’s F. There were three brief snow “events” - by which I mean flurries. On Christmas Day, you could probably have called it light...
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Monday: Here's Your Teaspoon of Snow
And there’s your Christmas snowfall, folks. Yup, not even a centimeter. And in the afternoon, it warmed up to 5°C and then it rained. So this is the 2011 variant of the Montréal holiday.
Hey, we can live with it, even if we’d prefer to see snow.
One note about yesterday - our dinner at Le Local was delicious, although a rocky experience. I think we hit the restaurant just at the...
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A Montreal Saturday
Saturday was our day of laziness. (Come to think of it, Sunday will be the same.)
We met up around 11am, took care of some minor shopping details, walked to Café Myriade for some of the best coffee in the city, and then after some downtime, went to the gym and met for dinner.
Dinner was at Nora Gray, which as I’ve already noted, is quite new, having been open for only three months. But...
xiaobird asked: have you been to a restaurant called DNA?
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Friday in Montreal: Arrival, Champagne, the Small...
I’ve devoted a lot of space over the years to my obsessive compulsive concerns about every aspect of my trip to Montréal.
There was the year we waited half an hour while the gate crew tried to move a frozen jetway away from the plane. We made our connecting flight only because it was an adjacent gate. There was the year when, fearful of an approaching winter storm, I switched my travel to...
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My Montreal Holiday Begins Tomorrow
Months ahead of time, I obsess about restaurants. I go over my packing list. I worry about weather for traveling. I worry about whether my flights will arrive on time. I worry about whether my friends’ flights will arrive on time. I double-check my list of to do items to make sure I’m finishing everything before I leave.
But… tomorrow I’m leaving. Assuming flights are on...
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Eating Montreal, v8.0
I’ll be in Montréal from 12/16-25 with friends, my eighth Christmas holiday in the city. This is part of what comprises the longest vacation I take during the year, and I make the most of it.
Days in Montréal are easy: breakfast at the auberge, an activity like a museum visit to occupy the morning hours, a trip to the gym, a trek to Café Myriade for afternoon coffee, and cocktails leading...
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Montreal in Winter: Preparing for Your Trip
I get a fair amount of email from people about travel to Montréal, and it generally falls into two categories: where to eat, and what to pack in winter.
My idea of the most interesting places to eat changes every year, but I feel like I can give some evergreen advice about packing for a Montréal trip in winter. Here are a few thoughts.
Weather
It’s as variable in Montréal as it is...
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Montreal Holiday, v8.0
Not that long ago, it was 350 days away. Now it’s five days until I arrive in Montréal for my eighth Christmas in the city.
The tradition began in 2004 with a group of friends, some of whom had their own long tradition of holidays in Montréal. As their tradition ended, I started my own, and over the past 8 years, others have joined me on the excursions. This year, for the fifth time, my...