We had a delightful visit to Montreal a few weekends ago. It was the 150th birthday of Canada and 375th birthday of Montreal so there were lots of street performances and random stuff going on.
Circus performances were held around the city and they ranged from amazing to amazingly weird. That photo of the people on the pole? That pole is about 3-4 stories up in the air to begin with.
Also, as we walked around we met people in full on body paint. We started calling them the “colored people” and then realized that the phrase had been taken already.
There was also a weird parade at night that included a percussion ensemble, ladies in giant hoop dresses singing and this weird contraption that reminded me of the vehicles in Mad Max: Fury Road.
We also stopped by the Museum of Contemporary Art. More oddity! Stuffed dead animals around the gallery; an amazing trompe l’oeil painting that was created by crumpling up the canvas, painting it, re-stretching it and then painting a white border and shadows around the black paint; mysterious robed figures joined by an extra.
Oh and we had excellent food, including Montreal bagels (thinner, lighter and less chewy than New York bagels) and a cool soft-serve place that rolled the cones in various toppings.
Our verdict: Montreal – great place to visit.
We then headed to Toronto, but stopped for a few hours in Ottawa for lunch, to see the Parliament and walk around a bit.
Here A is enjoying a Virtual Reality tour of the interior of Parliament; a statue of Terry Fox in front of the real thing; selfie from a photo set up that was showcasing various parts of Canada.
Jack Cheng, PhD 