Rapid Travel Chai

The first night we were delayed out of New York so that we arrived the next morning and spent much of the day sleeping. The second day we had glorious sunshine. The third day it poured.

This was a Mrs. RTC trip so there was no formal agenda except to relax, eat, and stroll a bit to work up appetites.

We stayed at Le Westin Montréal, which sits in between the Intercontinental and Embassy Suites in a thin, bland commercial and convention center strip bordering Montréal, Chinatown, and the business and shopping areas to the north. An excellent location convenient.

Montréal’s public transport is worth note. A weekend unlimited pass that includes the 747 airport express bus is only $12. The metro is clean and fast.

Chinatown is tiny, but has some good Hong Kong cafes and Vietnamese restaurants.

Restaurant Santa Lucia on Catherine & Stanley is old world, basic Italian and pizza with set meal specials that are a steal.

In the summer there are constant festivals. Last Saturday there was one for kids down by the science museum and one for adults on Catherine Street.

There is a Six Flags affiliate amusement park called La Ronde. ‘Le Monstre‘ just doesn’t sound intense to my ears.

Airport departure is awful, especially for US-bound flights, combining the worst of Canada and US security and immigration inefficiency.

We had a nice time, the city is nice, felt less European than we expected, there is plenty more we would have seen if given better weather and less relaxed laziness on our part. Not in a hurry to go back.