It's incredible how much I've done over the last two-and-a-bit months, yet even more incredible how much I wanted to do that I haven't got round to; so many people I wanted to visit and didn't have time, places I wanted to see, trips I wanted to go on, events I wanted to take part in. I really need to start sleeping less.
The second half of our England trip began with a little ol' party with family and friends to celebrate our getting married. Meg's parents and sister came over to visit and we spent a nice few days showing them round the Lakes, visiting the Dales and generally acting as tour guides. Special thanks go to Luke for showing us round Beatrix Potter's house and re-enacting scenes from 'The Trip' at Bolton abbey.
The party itself was really nice: perfect weather, family and friends, lots of good food and a croquet lawn. Who could ask for more?
After that, it was down to Cambridge for two weeks, starting with graduation and finishing with a friend's wedding. Graduation was fun, I always like to dress up in ridiculous costumes (of which more later!), but I couldn't believe how quickly it went. They really get through it fast. Still, it was a great opportunity to catch up with lots of people and prance around the town feeling superior. Always fun.
Becky and Gary's wedding was also fantastic fun. It acted like a mini Sawston reunion for me. I really enjoyed seeing some old friends and catching up on all the gossip. Plus, the open bar was awesome!
It made me realise how many really great people worked at Sawston whilst I was there. I was very lucky to get to work with such good friends and very lucky to get to see them all again this summer.
This leads us on nicely to being back in Canada. Rather than sit back and relax, I decided that a little trip up to Montreal to visit Tom and Claire would be in order. They moved to Montreal at about the time I was setting off back to England so I figured that they'd had long enough to settle in and I could now go and impose myself. Thankfully, they agreed.
The bus journey to Montreal from Toronto is just over six hours. That's the same as the flight from Manchester to Toronto. Thankfully it's slightly cheaper. I had to get up so early that the subway hadn't even opened yet. I didn't know that was possible. But it was worth it; Montreal is a very cool place. It feels a bit like Toronto and Paris have been blended together in a heterogeneous mix. Some parts feel just like walking around a French town, particularly the older part of the city, whilst other parts feel full on Canadian. It's a very strange feeling and I found myself quite regularly forgetting where exactly I was. Much of the city is very pretty, lots of older style buildings and lots of parks.
On my first day, I hired a bike and set off on a cycling tour of the city. There are lots of protected cycle lanes and it's mostly very easy to get around by bike. But that's not all. It's possible to cycle over to an island in the middle of the St Lawrence river (in fact the central part of Montreal is all on an island) and cycle around the F1 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The circuit is open to walk, cycle or drive (very slowly) around. I can't offer any logical reason, but this was awesome fun. There were lots of locals on their fancy racing bikes who obviously use the circuit as a training track, which I would definitely do if I lived in Montreal.
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| In retrospect, this was probably too early to start breaking for the hair-pin. |
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| Turning in for the apex, hoping to overtake the back-markers on the exit. |
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| Hitting the apex bang on. |
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| Turning into the chicane. |
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| Cycling back over the bridge into the city. |
Much of the rest of the weekend was taken up with food (as all good weekends should). We visited the world famous St. Viateur bagel shop for the best and freshest bagels in Montreal. It's a real hole-in-the-wall place where they make the most delicious bagels with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, raisins, garlic and onion, or wholewheat.
We also visited the Italian district street fair, where we saw the opera singing pasta chef ( as weird as it sounds) and then the Jean Talon market to buy supplies for dinner and a picnic the following day when we ascended the Parc du Mont-Royal for views across the city.
We finished up the weekend with a quick trip to the Gay pride parade before heading out for a dinner of Poutine at La Banquise. Even at 8pm on a Sunday we had to queue in the street for over half an hour. When we left at about 10, the line wasn't any shorter. They have over 20 types of poutine; I went for the chicken, bacon, onion and peppercorn sauce. It was worth the wait. I look forward to going back to Montreal soon.
