Oh, Canada! (Part II)
What is worse than not loving baseball in Saint Louis? Not being a hockey fan in Montreal...
I can't tell you how many times I was asked "Do you like hockey?" while I was up in the Great White North. By the people I worked with...waiters...cab drivers...strangers on the street... okay, maybe not strangers...
Hockey is okay - it's not really my thing...but the Canadians, (or the Habs as they are referred to by locals - short for Les Habitants - referring to the original French settlers of Quebec) are the life blood of not only Montreal, but the whole Province of Quebec. (No other sports teams in the whole province...and the province is roughly twice the size of Texas). I was on the 24th floor of my hotel and the Bell Center, where they play, is about 3 blocks from the hotel. I could hear the fans pour out of the place on the Thursday after a Montreal win for about 30 minutes hooping and hollering.
They do love their hockey.
Outside of hockey, (And I didn't go to a game - no way I could have gotten tickets) I did end up doing a few tourist-y things out and about in Montreal while I was there. One thing I wanted to make sure I did was go and tour Olympic Stadium - where the Montreal Expos used to play. They've moved on to greener pastures now (Washington DC), but the stadium still stands, home to conventions and motocross and monster truck extravaganzas now ("featuring Big Daddy Don Bodine's truck - The Behemoth") It's very large and very empty. The guy giving the tour said that this was where Pope John Paul came when he visited Montreal. A young, unknown Canadian singer named Celene Dion sang for him (kind of like a warm up act?) at the stadium. As a result, the Pope has never visited Canada since. (Really - that's what he said!)
One thing I thought was interesting was when I was out to dinner, I was looking for someplace Italian (I had a craving for veal parm) and just walking down Rue Peel when someone came out of a pizzeria. The pie smelled so yummy, I had to go in. I sat down and looking over the menu, I came across in the appetizer section something I hadn't seen in an American restaurant: Escargot Provencal - Snails in a white whine, butter, garlic and shallot sauce. My first thought was: "Even in an Italian place, can't get rid of the French roots," and I dismissed it. But I kept coming back to it on the appetizer page. Finally, I thought "You know, if I don't order it - I'll regret it later, wondering what it tasted like."
So I got it.
Wow.
If you've never eaten snails, it tastes like a cross between mussels and calamari. Very very good.
When I got back to the hotel, I called Alex right away and told her of my gastronomic adventures. She said she had eaten them before, but didn't know if she was brave enough to try them anymore.
I wished she could have been there with me. Montreal was nice, but it would have been magical with her there as well. Calling her every night was nice, but no where near the same.
I think that my Canada trip may eek out one more post....more later!
I can't tell you how many times I was asked "Do you like hockey?" while I was up in the Great White North. By the people I worked with...waiters...cab drivers...strangers on the street... okay, maybe not strangers...
Hockey is okay - it's not really my thing...but the Canadians, (or the Habs as they are referred to by locals - short for Les Habitants - referring to the original French settlers of Quebec) are the life blood of not only Montreal, but the whole Province of Quebec. (No other sports teams in the whole province...and the province is roughly twice the size of Texas). I was on the 24th floor of my hotel and the Bell Center, where they play, is about 3 blocks from the hotel. I could hear the fans pour out of the place on the Thursday after a Montreal win for about 30 minutes hooping and hollering.
They do love their hockey.
Outside of hockey, (And I didn't go to a game - no way I could have gotten tickets) I did end up doing a few tourist-y things out and about in Montreal while I was there. One thing I wanted to make sure I did was go and tour Olympic Stadium - where the Montreal Expos used to play. They've moved on to greener pastures now (Washington DC), but the stadium still stands, home to conventions and motocross and monster truck extravaganzas now ("featuring Big Daddy Don Bodine's truck - The Behemoth") It's very large and very empty. The guy giving the tour said that this was where Pope John Paul came when he visited Montreal. A young, unknown Canadian singer named Celene Dion sang for him (kind of like a warm up act?) at the stadium. As a result, the Pope has never visited Canada since. (Really - that's what he said!)
One thing I thought was interesting was when I was out to dinner, I was looking for someplace Italian (I had a craving for veal parm) and just walking down Rue Peel when someone came out of a pizzeria. The pie smelled so yummy, I had to go in. I sat down and looking over the menu, I came across in the appetizer section something I hadn't seen in an American restaurant: Escargot Provencal - Snails in a white whine, butter, garlic and shallot sauce. My first thought was: "Even in an Italian place, can't get rid of the French roots," and I dismissed it. But I kept coming back to it on the appetizer page. Finally, I thought "You know, if I don't order it - I'll regret it later, wondering what it tasted like."
So I got it.
Wow.
If you've never eaten snails, it tastes like a cross between mussels and calamari. Very very good.
When I got back to the hotel, I called Alex right away and told her of my gastronomic adventures. She said she had eaten them before, but didn't know if she was brave enough to try them anymore.
I wished she could have been there with me. Montreal was nice, but it would have been magical with her there as well. Calling her every night was nice, but no where near the same.
I think that my Canada trip may eek out one more post....more later!
posted by ValhallaOne @ 20:45
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