Mum and Sister visit Montreal

With it being the start of summer, and Montreal being one of the best places on the planet to be during that time, Mum and Karen decided that they were going to come out and visit me here before it was too late, with all thats been going on lately it was another welcome distraction, and with it being Karen's first time in Montreal I was hoping that she would enjoy it as much as I have.

They were incidentally staying at the same hotel as my mum stayed in last May and I was hoping that they would have better luck with the people of Montreal than Andy, Sha and Saima did back in May.

I had been so busy organising things with my flat, and with work that I hadn't really had much time to organise anything for us to do and with me taking all of my available time off already I wanted to make sure that they had plenty to do, I needn't of worried as it seemed like the easiest solution was to point them in the direction of the nearest mall and set them on their way. I've never been one to really drink around my parents, but that changed last year when they first arrived in Montreal, so they were well aware of my habits the second time around, and after the first couple of nights of them being here, even though I was working I started to feel as though I was on a holiday too.

Karen seemed to be having alot of the same reactions I originally had when arriving here, and being an artist herself she was looking at every opportunity to take pictures, albeit mainly of wildlife... I had no idea she enjoyed bird watching so much.

The weather was perfect, not humid, not too windy but as Goldie locks once said "It was juuuust right" Mum was looking tanned as usual, and even Karen had caught the sun a little, and for Zadziuk's thats quite impressive.

One of the main things to do in Montreal is eat, and that we did, went to some great resturants, took them on a tour of my Montreal, and stayed away from downtown when possible that didn't need me around.

We had tried and failed to get Cirque tickets, turned out that they were sold out early April, and didn't fancy coughing up $200 - $300 for the 'cheap seats', so we decided that there was plenty of other entertainment, of course I've already mentioned the Comedy club, which still gives me shivers, there is a boat that leaves from the Old Port in the evenings called the Bateau Mouche, only in the Summer, but on this boat you get the 5 star VIP treatment, for $85 dollars a head (which is a really good deal considering) you get a 3 and a half hour cruise around the St.Lawrence, and a 5 course meal with one of Montreals top chef's. He is the same Chef that works at the hotel that John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their "Love In", maybe not at the same time, but you understand that this guy is pretty good.

Anyway, the food was amazing, the sort of meal that even when you've had enough you could quite easily have some more, just because it's THAT good. Ordered a really good bottle of wine thanks to the knowledge of wine tasting stolen from Andy and Sharon, this was one of those nights when you look at the city you live in, in a completely different light. Montreal really is beautiful, I've always known this but it's only really now that I've started to appreciate it for what it really is. Here are some of the photographs from their time here.

Having Mum and Karen out here was great, I'm pretty sure they had a good time as well, now it's on with my move and back to work... But it's alright, it's Canada day holiday next weekend, so thats a short week for me then.