Utterly random Montreal brain droppings

[JManc]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Mile End.

Make the pilgrimage to at least one of these places for the world's greatest bagels. Expect lineups.

St. Viateur
https://www.google.com/maps/place/St-Via..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Fairmont
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fairmo..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

And don't forget to go to World-famous Schwartz Delicatessen for the best Smoked Meat Sandwiches on Earth
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schwar..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Yes, I remember it was very close to Mt. Royal.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Nothing like going to a Habs game. Montreal is the best hockey city on the planet. One of my classmates from High School is now the General Manager of the Habs (Kent Hughes).

Montreal is my hometown.

Other places to check out:
1) the Belvedere, atop Mont Royal (breathtaking view of Montreal). Go there before it gets extremely cold this weekend.
2) Vieux Montreal (of course) and the Old Port of Montreal. Wander the narrow streets. Check out Basilica Notre-Dame (Notre Dame Cathedral), Place Jacques-Cartier, Bonsecours Market, etc. Check out Place d'Armes, and nearby Rue St. Jacques (previously Rue St. James, the former "Wall Street" of Canada).
3) Just a few steps away from Place d'Armes is Chinatown. It may be small, but it is great: Pedestrianized, with great places to fill your stomach. Toronto's Chinatown is much larger, but Montreal's is much more charming.
4) for the really cold days, do Montreal's famous underground city. it spans a total of 32kms. You can walk underground across most of the central core (the most extensive contiguous section spans a huge U-shape, running from Peel Metro to McGill, then down to Place Ville Marie and thence Gare Centrale, then onto Place Bonaventure (forks there, but if you head east, you can walk all the way to Palais des Congres, which is adjacent to Chinatown and near Place d'Armes, then turn north to walk to Place des Arts). Part of the fun is the tricky navigation, and exposure to an incredible array of architectural styles (check out Bonaventure Metro station, my favourite). https://montrealundergroundcity.com/
5) Rue Ste Catherines. This is the "Fifth Avenue" of Montreal.
6) The Plateau-Mont Royal, and Mile End neighborhoods. Bohemian, trendy. The latter is the former heart of Jewish Montreal, and is the home of the bagel places mentioned in a previous post, as well as Wilensky's Light Lunch). Check out Square St. Louis and nearby Rue St. Denis (some good nightspots around here, including Pub Ste. Elizabethe). Lafontaine Park is nice in the summer.
7) Oratoire St. Joseph. The largest church in Canada, and one of the largest domes in the world. A famous landmark, on Mont Royal.
8) Jean Talon Market.
9) La Banquise for Poutine. This is the most famous place (although any greasy spoon will do: the greasier the spoon, the better the Poutine).

A lot of those I've already gone to, or was planning to.

Spent all day at Tremblant today. It was great! On the way there I accidentally stumbled through the town of Mont-Tremblant (not the resort), which was a happy mistake since it's a really quaint town.

Tremblant was awesome. Hadn't gone skiing in, like, 15 years so I first practiced on the bunny hill about 15 times before I got good enough to go on a regular hill. Then I did one of the green runs twice before it started snowing too hard to see.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Mile End.

Make the pilgrimage to at least one of these places for the world's greatest bagels. Expect lineups.

St. Viateur
https://www.google.com/maps/place/St-Via..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Fairmont
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fairmo..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

And don't forget to go to World-famous Schwartz Delicatessen for the best Smoked Meat Sandwiches on Earth
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schwar..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I'll try to hit one of those tomorrow or Friday.

[MolsonExport]

The world's greatest (no exaggeration whatsoever) Rotisserie Chicken joint is Chalet BBQ on Sherbrooke Street Ouest.
Get the quarter-breast meal. The sauce, the fries, the chicken....even the coleslaw. Unbelievably good. My favorite place to eat in the entire city. Absolutely legendary.

https://www.chaletbbq.com/en/eng.html

Near the Decarie Expressway. A short-ish walk from Vendome Metro (might be cold crossing the expressway, though)

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chalet..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDExOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[Docere]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Forgot this one ...

4. People. The people here look a lot like New Yorkers. There's a lot Italian-looking, or general southern Europe/Mediterranean-looking people here, with a healthy admixture of Middle Eastern-looking people, a decent amount of Asians and what I presume are Hatians and/or Africans of some sort. And an OK amount of more northerly European-looking people. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was in Manhattan's Upper West Side, or something. The only difference from New York is that there aren't many Indians/Pakistanis (which is also a big difference from other Canadian cities I've been to). I saw a few of them, but not too many.

Quebec has a lot of autonomy in terms of immigration and hence Montreal looks rather demographically different from other Canadian cities. In particular there's a lot less South Asians, Chinese and Filipinos. The largest visible minority groups are Blacks, Arabs and Latin Americans.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Forgot this one ...

4. People. The people here look a lot like New Yorkers. There's a lot Italian-looking, or general southern Europe/Mediterranean-looking people here, with a healthy admixture of Middle Eastern-looking people, a decent amount of Asians and what I presume are Hatians and/or Africans of some sort. And an OK amount of more northerly European-looking people. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was in Manhattan's Upper West Side, or something. The only difference from New York is that there aren't many Indians/Pakistanis (which is also a big difference from other Canadian cities I've been to). I saw a few of them, but not too many.

I wonder how many of the Italian looking people are Italian-Montrealers and how many are people originally from Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia, and other North African countries.

There’s a lot of West Africans and Central Africans in Montreal now too. Quebec’s Francophone immigration requirements could very well be the reason why Canada wins the World Cup one day.

Montreal is definitely my favourite city to visit in Canada, I’m just not sure I could ever handle actually living there since my French is quite poor. The good thing is, now, Canadians who went to high school elsewhere in Canada now qualify for free intensive French classes… which wasn’t the case before.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Been wanting to visit Montreal for years. I decided to do it in the winter 'cause it gives me an excuse to go to Tremblant.

Haven't gone skiing in about 15 years so I'll just do the bunny slopes. And since it's going to be really cold and start snowing in the afternoon I'll probably only end up doing a few runs anyway.

Be sure to check out the outdoor hockey rinks before you go… Montreal has the best ODR culture in Canada.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Be sure to check out the outdoor hockey rinks before you go… Montreal has the best ODR culture in Canada.

I've already wandered by an indoor ice rink in one of the downtown malls.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

I wonder how many of the Italian looking people are Italian-Montrealers and how many are people originally from Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia, and other North African countries.

Or just... French people.

[Crawford]

Are there a lot of French nationals in Montreal? I mean, relative to other big North American metros? I assume there would be relatively more, but not some big community.

[Zeej]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Are there a lot of French nationals in Montreal? I mean, relative to other big North American metros? I assume there would be relatively more, but not some big community.

Yes, there are estimated to be over 150,000 in the region, significantly more than in any other North American metro.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Or just... French people.

True, but not all are Mediterranean types.

Another large community is the Lebanese and Syrian one. I put them together because there is a lot of cultural crossover. That community has been around and growing for a hundred and twenty years, at least. The Greek and Armenian population is important, too. The First Greeks arrived in the 1850s.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Are there a lot of French nationals in Montreal? I mean, relative to other big North American metros? I assume there would be relatively more, but not some big community.

I've heard, but don't have data that a not insignificant amount of young people from France have discovered Montreal in the past 5-10 years as a unique alternative to Paris. While they are very different and Paris is a "world class city" multiples in size to Montreal, Paris is still stuck in their old ways.

Whereas in Montreal almost no one cares if you're openly LGBT, sport wildly different coloured hair, tattoos, piercings. People can be who they want and not what society expects of them.

When young French nationals get interviewed they usually cite France or Paris as not as accepting of people drifting from the "norm" and that Old French culture can feel stifling if not almost suffocating in comparison to Montreal, which is the creative capital of Canada and people are encouraged to discover their own path.

TL;DR There's more Liberté in Montreal than Paris.

[James Bond Agent 007]

8. North (or should I say East?) neighborhoods. I went to see Leonard Cohen's grave and then drove up Ave Mont-Royal to go see the Olympic Stadium. The whole trip up there reminded me of a lot of Chicago. After I got to the stadium and had my look, I drove around a few more neighborhoods in the area, and again, the whole area reminded me of a lot of Chicago. Maybe there were some minor architectural differences between it and Chicago, but regardless, it still had this Chicago vibe to it.

Also, the graffiti was noticeably worse up there than other parts of the city I've explored, which says a lot.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Wigs

I've heard, but don't have data that a not insignificant amount of young people from France have discovered Montreal in the past 5-10 years as a unique alternative to Paris. While they are very different and Paris is a "world class city" multiples in size to Montreal, Paris is still stuck in their old ways.

Whereas in Montreal almost no one cares if you're openly LGBT, sport wildly different coloured hair, tattoos, piercings. People can be who they want and not what society expects of them.

When young French nationals get interviewed they usually cite France or Paris as not as accepting of people drifting from the "norm" and that Old French culture can feel stifling if not almost suffocating in comparison to Montreal, which is the creative capital of Canada and people are encouraged to discover their own path.

TL;DR There's more Liberté in Montreal than Paris.

In a way, the "zeitgeist" of Montreal is more Berlin than Paris.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Docere

In a way, the "zeitgeist" of Montreal is more Berlin than Paris.

no doubt. Berlin was like deja-vu for this native Montreal son.

Paris is great, but does not have much in common with Montreal, other than the language. Quebecois culture is quite unique, and then there is Montreal culture, which has always been very bohemian.

[Crawford]

It's also weird how Boston and Montreal are frequently compared. Boston is likely the most uptight, preppy and culturally (not politically) conservative major American metro, packed with hard charging career-oriented types. I get that they're close-ish and pretty and old, but not that similar.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

It's also weird how Boston and Montreal are frequently compared. Boston is likely the most uptight, preppy and culturally (not politically) conservative major American metro, packed with hard charging career-oriented types. I get that they're close-ish and pretty and old, but not that similar.

An old port city that's not the largest city in the country? I agree there isn't much in common. Boston is quite wealthy, very academic and "establishmentarian" in culture. Very different vibe than Montreal.

[edale]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

8. North (or should I say East?) neighborhoods. I went to see Leonard Cohen's grave and then drove up Ave Mont-Royal to go see the Olympic Stadium. The whole trip up there reminded me of a lot of Chicago. After I got to the stadium and had my look, I drove around a few more neighborhoods in the area, and again, the whole area reminded me of a lot of Chicago. Maybe there were some minor architectural differences between it and Chicago, but regardless, it still had this Chicago vibe to it.

I can definitely see some Chicago comparisons. I think Montreal feels like a hybrid of Brooklyn, Boston, Philly, and Chicago, though none is a perfect match. Brooklyn is denser and the buildings are taller. Boston doesn't adhere to a grid as much. Chicago generally has wider streets and more breathing room between buildings and the street, while Philly has tighter streets and feels more compressed than Montreal.

I really need to get back to MTL. It's such a great city, and feels so unique among its North American peers. And Quebec City being right up the road is another huge bonus. It's the most European feeling city outside of Europe, I think.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Montreal High School would have been this building: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DHXo4YwonrQxD9wa8

Just wandered through several of the townhouse streets in back of this old high school. Beautiful! This area was more like Manhattan or older parts of Brooklyn than Chicago, except that the townhouses mostly had French architecture.

Every time I wander through old townhouse neighborhoods like that I get this going through my head. Was whistling it as I was walking around.

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