Day 25 - Ottawa to Montreal

Wednesday May 28, 2008

We left Ottawa fairly late, and after driving through the city TWICE looking for a gas station, we left for Montreal. It was a surprisingly short trip, but very green and lush. There were a ton of seagulls near the road, but we couldn’t find a large body of water nearby. I suppose the St. Lawrence is just around the corner...

Arriving in the city was fun, I managed to navigate Montreal rush hour traffic. A testament to their driving is when I triple parked the car outside our hotel (The Intercontinental). Unlike honk happy Ontario, not a single person beeped. Apparently making your own parking / stopping rules is par for the course in Montreal and nobody even batted an eye. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and the marble bathroom is enormous. I love the mini bar though; not only does it have a large assortment of overpriced of drinks and snacks, but it also carried an intimacy kit. You too can be the proud owner of 2 condoms (thin of course), a small package of lube, and a ‘gynaecologic refreshment napkin’ for the low, low price of $9! Only in Montreal...

Across the street is the coolest building – the conference centre. Okay, it’s not THAT unique, but the windows are all different colors making a really cool looking light pattern inside. I didn’t bring my camera with me though, so I’m going to have to mooch Riley’s pic sometime. We went to the Peel pub for dinner, and had our ridiculous fill of poutine. Food’s cheap here... or at least it looks that way on the menu. Of course, then you have to add GST, Tip and PST, which Quebec has somehow managed to set up in a such a way that it is paid on the GST as well. Yes, in this province you pay tax on tax. Apparently somebody told taught them the wonders of compound interest.


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Distance: 204 KM
Moving Time: 2h 13 min
Moving Avg: 91.9 km

Trip to Date: 6387 km