Montreal Through My Camera Lens

At the end of my vacation, last week my Mum and I put together an overnight trip to Montreal together at the last minute. We had originally planned to hit the St. Lawrence Seaway in the Ganenoque area but the weather was just too predictable to have outdoor plans with no easy indoor backup. Thus our choice of Montreal, if it was beautiful we'd be outside, if not we'd hit the Metro, check out the underground city, and the museums. It turned out we had to gorgeous days in Montreal which allowed us to play cameras outdoors at the Botanical Gardens (if it rained we would of hit the greenhouses) on Friday, and Vieux Montreal on Saturday.

Friday really was a jam packed day! It started out with a two hour drive into Montreal, and each time we go there I'm becoming more and more familiar/comfortable with the city. Though I was born there and lived there until I was 11 I was always a passenger. Now I'm the chauffeur. At least that's the arrangement I have with my Mum, I drive she pays... fair don't you think? We headed right downtown to our hotel which was a short walk to the Metro and Vieux Montreal/Old Port, our room was ready early so we could check in before noon and have the Valet take my car away. From there we hit the pavement, heading to the nearest Metro station to take the subway to the Botanical Gardens.

Of course the Metro lets you out right at the Big "O", the home of the 1976 Olympics. It kinda looks like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind doesn't it? Or Star Trek maybe!

Good daughters always get the gold medal in their Mum's eyes!

The Athlete's Village in 1976

I last went there about 5 years ago, during March and was only able to check out the greenhouses. This time I was able to wander the acres and acres that make up the outdoor gardens... Rose, Chinese, Japanese, First Nations, Alpine, Shade, Lilly, Water gardens and more!

We started out in the Rose Gardens

Then moved onto the Chinese Gardens which were spectacular!

The entrance

Fierce Garden Guards

Beautiful Stone Mural

What a frame for a wonderful garden!

Colourful gazebos

A perfect photo-op!

Bonsai! (some were over 100 years old)

Next was the Japanese Garden which was so serene and minimalist after the riot of colour and elements in the Chinese Gardens.

What would a Japanese garden be without Koi?

Koi, being watched by this hungry heron

More... bonsai!!!


Lotus flowers

This bell was a gift from the city of Hiroshima to the city of Montreal.

The Beautiful Water gardens

Assorted flowers and fauna my lens captured at the Botanical Gardens (the Chinese & Japanese gardens were the true highlight of the day). There are just so many gardens, flowers, fountains and structures that in six hours you still won't see it all!

We came across this bit of eye candy in Vieux Montreal at night. We were treated to this spectacular fountain (Vieux Montreal really comes alive on a Friday night!) after the worst Indian meal ever! Mum and I have decided we'll have to make up for the horrible food with a trip to our favourite Indian restaurant here at home! I mean... since when did naan, butter chicken and lamb korma all taste sickly sweet? There were no complex flavours... and a huge waste of money we could barely eat it! Once I dropped Mum off at the hotel I went and met Kathryn, another blogger from Nevada who was in town for a Si-Fi convention. So was Ruth, but it didn't work out for us to meet, hopefully we'll be in the same city again... someday! Both ladies are from the Western US and it was a miracle we were in the same city at the same time! As Christin says... I can't go anywhere without running into someone I know (be it in real life or online and yet to be met in person).

Saturday was bight and VERY sunny which made it hard to take photographs which are full of depth and colour. I'm sure if I had the patience to play with these pictures for hours in Photoshop they'd look much better but for now they'll have to do! Mum and I started out with a walk through China Town, which led us to Vieux Montreal/Old Port.

The first place we hit was Notre Dame Basilica, and paid the fee to go inside. I managed to get a few shots inside but without a tripod and a VERY powerful flash it was just impossible to photograph the beautiful architecture.

As you can tell I love stained glass!

I just love this picture, the subjects in the Cleche (horse and buggy) show so much life and character (click to enlarge to see!). We would of loved to do a tour of the Old City in one of these but they were so expensive!

This resident definitely put forth the effort to decorate their winodows... beautiful!

There are little gems hiding in every nook and cranny in Montreal!

Artist at work in an alley crammed with photographers and painters selling their art.

A couple of ships in port.

This two day/one night trip was so jam packed I felt like I was gone from home for four days! Today it was back to work, and back to the real world!!!

The Stitchy Post

Well, we're almost a week into August now, so I suppose I should review July's stitching goals and share with you what I hope to accomplish in August.

July Goals - Recap
Stitch Two Ornaments - Yes!
Work on Todd's Stocking - Oh boy, did I!
Work on Art Deco Spirits - A little
Work on Tour des Marques - Never had a chance!

August Goals

Work on Todd's Stocking

Work on Tour des Marques

Stitch 2 ornaments

Now onto the stitchy pictures!

Here's Todd's stocking, I've made great progress on it in the last month.

Tour des Marques, I managed to get in a good day's worth on Monday.

Michael Powell's Mini Cottages 6, this is my on the road project worked on it a bit in Florida

August Ornament #1 which I stared last night when I couldn't work on the stocking since Todd was still up.

A short while ago I won a draw on Deb's blog, and here's the goodies she sent me! Thanks for the wonderful goodies Deb!

Well my Mum and I finally made our plans for our little overnight trip. Initially we were going to head to the Ganenoque/Kingston/Rockport area for two days one night. Being the summer that we've had its turned cool and cloudy and not ideal for being on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Also if it rains there's not a lot to do indoors. So we've just booked an overnight stay in Montreal! This way if the weather's nice we can be outside exploring the old city and the port if its crap we can hit the botanical gardens, museums, etc. I'm actually quite excited about this little trip, neither of us have ever stayed right down town (we're within 1km of Vieux Montreal) even though I grew up in the West Island (until 1987). So once again I'll have another photographic journey to share with you and I can't wait!

The Tail End of My Trip

Hey blog readers! Well, I am back home, and have been since dinnertime Sunday.

So where did I leave off when I last blogged? It was Wednesday, so I have Thursday-Saturday left to cover from my Jacksonville, Florida trip.

Thursday Claire and I had a fairly low-key day. We went back to the beach! This time a different one, which is part of a State Park and you can actually drive your car onto the beach. Here are a few of my shots from that day.

Claire enjoying a sunny day.

Ships going into the intercostal waterway.

Beautiful scenery

Birds

Lifeguards

Friday Claire, Patrick and I headed back out to St. Augustine, this time to to some more touristy stuff! I have to say I think it was the hottest day I experienced during my ten days there.

We started out by walking down the main pedestrian street with all the shops.

Isn't this the ideal place to stop for a cool drink? Or in my case, the best gelato ever!

From there we cut up to Flagler College which back in the day was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, it must of been a spectacular sight in its day. We only got to see the grounds and the main lobby as we didn't want to pay for the full tour.

The main entry from inside the courtyard

The fountain in the courtyard.

Do you think these cute guys will keep the stitching frogs at bay?

Claire and Patrick

The ceiling in the lobby.

Some of the spectacular windows (some of them are Tiffany).

Is that Hungry hanging out there?

After checking out Flagler College we headed out to the Island where I conquered all 219 steps of the St. Augustine Lighthouse on a hot day! I have to say there was a wonderful cool breeze when you got to the top!

The Lighthouse from the parking lot

The Lighthouse (it was hard to photograph since the sun was right behind it, but it did make for cool effects)

Oooh that's a long way up, 219 steps you said?

The stunning view from the top.

Saturday we had another low-key day, in the morning we headed out to Claire & Patrick's church where we helped to pain the new choir room (Claire sings in the choir). Of course we were appropriately bribed with pizza. After a rest in the afternoon, we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie, I quite enjoyed it. I know they left out a lot, but if you watch it not being critical of how it doesn't stand up to the book, its not bad.

Then, as all trips do, they come to an end an its time to come home! I was up at "freakin' early o'clock" once again! I had no problems at the Jacksonville airport, but when I got to my connection in Philadelphia... everything was okay until we left the gate. We boarded on time, we left the gate on time... then we waited, and waited in line! They only had one runway open for take-offs. I should of been in the air by 9:45am and in Syracuse, NY by 10:50... well that didn't happen. We spent so much time waiting in line that a severe thunderstorm rolled in. That's when the pilot turned the engines off. We were stuck in a small plane, on the tarmac until almost 12:00! That is wayyy too long to be stuck in a small plane! I didn't get into Syracuse until almost 1pm.

I have to say as nice as it is to go away, and it was fantastic catching up with my best friend, its just as nice to get home!

Tonight was weigh in day at Weight Watchers. I was quite shocked to find I was only up 0.6lbs, so that's a total 1lbs gain while spending 10 days in Florida, eating out at least once a day... and not always the best choices were made! I am now exactly at my goal weight, before this trip I was 1lb under, so this is completely acceptable for my maintenance. So I'm very happy with the end result, and now I can focus on getting that pound back off. I've been eating properly since I got home, I've been out for a walk, and tonight I did a Taekwon-Do class and a Cardio TaeBox class (which sorely kicked my ass after being off for 10 days!).

I am off work for the rest of this week, surprise, surprise my Mum and I are in the process of putting some plans together for Thursday/Friday. I never sit still for long!