31 October 2006
All over the place
For supper on our last night on PEI (Saturday), they bought the two of us a lobster to share. It was great – and very thoughtful of them. We really enjoyed staying chez Zember; they all made us really welcome and the work was very interesting too. Working with the goats was good, making soap was good to learn about, and it was also interesting to see the kind of small business we might want to run one day - maybe!
On Sunday morning we got the bus from Charlottetown on PEI to Amherst in Nova Scotia, which took about two hours. It went over the Confederation Bridge, which connects PEI with the mainland. The bridge has only been open about ten years and before that there were just ferries and planes - which made the Island quite isolated for the several months each year when the sea is frozen. Apparently when the bridge was first opened, thousands of tourists queued across and the Island's accommodation facilities were so overwhelmed that school halls had to be turned into temporary shelters for bedless visitors. In Amherst we walked to the train station. Rowan had been saying that the bags felt much lighter than when we arrived, but wasn’t saying that by the time we got to the station. We checked in our bags at the station. There appeared to be only one member of staff, and we noticed a sign saying that the ticket office would close 5 minutes before the train arrived and reopen shortly after. We laughed and imagined the ticket clerk putting a hat on, grabbing a whistle and running out to act as guard for the train.
Amherst is (from what we saw) a rather down-at-heel sort of town. We resigned ourselves to burger and chips for lunch, as we only saw fast food places on the way to the station. Once we’d dropped off our bags and bought food supplies for the journey at a convenience store, we spotted a restaurant called “Old Germany”, so gave it a try. We were glad we did – the German food was excellent. It was run by a German couple (Heidi and Holger) who had emigrated three years ago. They’d apparently been cheated by an immigration lawyer (oooh, lawyers eh?!). They have a farm (the price of land here compared to Germany was what brought them over) but said that the climate here isn’t ideal for farming, with the harsh winters, and it’s hard to make a living on three months’ farming a year, so they have started the restaurant to help cash flow.
Heidi said we could stay as long as we liked, as we'd said we were waiting for a train, and didn’t have to keep eating, which was nice as we were very full after our main courses. If ever you find yourself hungry in Amherst, NS, look up Old Germany. It’s near the station.
When we got back to the train station and caught the train we found that the ticket clerk did indeed get changed and run out to act as guard for the train, and she was also the porter too. Not a job for people who like company (although with two trains a day it’s pretty busy for a Canadian station). We were the only people who got on at Amherst.
Yesterday we arrived in Montreal around half past 8 in the morning. Sleeping on the train wasn't too bad as the seats are big and recline well. We found the hotel easily, and fortunately were able to check in early (we had to switch to a smoking room but it wasn’t too smelly) and have a shower. Then we headed out for breakfast. The hotel was right in the business district among the skyscrapers and close to the station. It seemed strange to be walking round a city at rush hour: it’s been a while since we saw so many smart coats and suits! We walked round for a while looking for a bagel place recommended on the Rough Guide website, but all we found was the red light district and Chinatown. In the end we settled for a lunch chain in a mall. We just about managed to order brunch in French. Fortified, we set off to buy Sophie some shoes (hers had broken). Montreal has the largest covered shopping mall in the world – all the malls (most are underground) are interconnected. Sophie bought in an overground shop some fake-fur-trimmed boots, which were good in the cold dry weather yesterday.
After that, we headed for the old quarter and wandered round. It was a nice place to look round, with stone buildings and cobbled streets along the waterfront, though very touristy - we felt we'd found the area the city wanted us to be in. It also had lots of small art galleries which we spent the afternoon looking round. We particularly liked the Guild des Graphiques which was a print-making gallery and workshop. We bought an etching (after spending a very long time trying to decide which one!) Later on, we had a quick look round a photo exhibition in the Science Museum on the Greenland ice sheet.
As we were feeling hungry (long time since brunch) we went in search of dinner. The restaurants in the old quarter looked like tourist traps so we left there. We saw a rather nice looking French restaurant but in the end decided that we’d spent enough money on our artwork and went up to Chinatown. We were intrigued by a sign for “Japanese fondue” (“shobu shobu”) so we gave it a try. It was very good – you get a big bowl of “soup” (water with dried mushrooms and seaweed) on a hotplate and a plate of veg and (with the carnivorous option) very thinly sliced meat to boil in the soup. We had ice cream (green tea, and black sesame) for dessert.
We went back to the hotel to drop off our acquisitions and get changed, then went out in search of live jazz, armed with two recommendations from the Rough Guide. After a long walk one of the recommended places was still 2000 street numbers away (we haven't got the hang of how street numbers work yet well enough to judge how far that would be) so we took a detour to the other recommended place, only to find it didn’t have live jazz. It was a Monday night so perhaps we were being a bit hopeful. We had a drink in a non-jazz pub/bar and then walked home.
This morning we got up, re-packed in a rush and just about made it on time to check in our luggage. We liked Montreal. We’ve had a long enough break from cities now that we enjoyed exploring one for a day.
We're now on the train to Toronto, where we'll change for a train to Niagara Falls, taking advantage of the newly-installed wifi service. We're staying one night in Niagara Falls, then we come back to Toronto tomorrow evening. It's all go.
On Sunday morning we got the bus from Charlottetown on PEI to Amherst in Nova Scotia, which took about two hours. It went over the Confederation Bridge, which connects PEI with the mainland. The bridge has only been open about ten years and before that there were just ferries and planes - which made the Island quite isolated for the several months each year when the sea is frozen. Apparently when the bridge was first opened, thousands of tourists queued across and the Island's accommodation facilities were so overwhelmed that school halls had to be turned into temporary shelters for bedless visitors. In Amherst we walked to the train station. Rowan had been saying that the bags felt much lighter than when we arrived, but wasn’t saying that by the time we got to the station. We checked in our bags at the station. There appeared to be only one member of staff, and we noticed a sign saying that the ticket office would close 5 minutes before the train arrived and reopen shortly after. We laughed and imagined the ticket clerk putting a hat on, grabbing a whistle and running out to act as guard for the train.
Amherst is (from what we saw) a rather down-at-heel sort of town. We resigned ourselves to burger and chips for lunch, as we only saw fast food places on the way to the station. Once we’d dropped off our bags and bought food supplies for the journey at a convenience store, we spotted a restaurant called “Old Germany”, so gave it a try. We were glad we did – the German food was excellent. It was run by a German couple (Heidi and Holger) who had emigrated three years ago. They’d apparently been cheated by an immigration lawyer (oooh, lawyers eh?!). They have a farm (the price of land here compared to Germany was what brought them over) but said that the climate here isn’t ideal for farming, with the harsh winters, and it’s hard to make a living on three months’ farming a year, so they have started the restaurant to help cash flow.
Heidi said we could stay as long as we liked, as we'd said we were waiting for a train, and didn’t have to keep eating, which was nice as we were very full after our main courses. If ever you find yourself hungry in Amherst, NS, look up Old Germany. It’s near the station.
When we got back to the train station and caught the train we found that the ticket clerk did indeed get changed and run out to act as guard for the train, and she was also the porter too. Not a job for people who like company (although with two trains a day it’s pretty busy for a Canadian station). We were the only people who got on at Amherst.
Yesterday we arrived in Montreal around half past 8 in the morning. Sleeping on the train wasn't too bad as the seats are big and recline well. We found the hotel easily, and fortunately were able to check in early (we had to switch to a smoking room but it wasn’t too smelly) and have a shower. Then we headed out for breakfast. The hotel was right in the business district among the skyscrapers and close to the station. It seemed strange to be walking round a city at rush hour: it’s been a while since we saw so many smart coats and suits! We walked round for a while looking for a bagel place recommended on the Rough Guide website, but all we found was the red light district and Chinatown. In the end we settled for a lunch chain in a mall. We just about managed to order brunch in French. Fortified, we set off to buy Sophie some shoes (hers had broken). Montreal has the largest covered shopping mall in the world – all the malls (most are underground) are interconnected. Sophie bought in an overground shop some fake-fur-trimmed boots, which were good in the cold dry weather yesterday.
After that, we headed for the old quarter and wandered round. It was a nice place to look round, with stone buildings and cobbled streets along the waterfront, though very touristy - we felt we'd found the area the city wanted us to be in. It also had lots of small art galleries which we spent the afternoon looking round. We particularly liked the Guild des Graphiques which was a print-making gallery and workshop. We bought an etching (after spending a very long time trying to decide which one!) Later on, we had a quick look round a photo exhibition in the Science Museum on the Greenland ice sheet.
As we were feeling hungry (long time since brunch) we went in search of dinner. The restaurants in the old quarter looked like tourist traps so we left there. We saw a rather nice looking French restaurant but in the end decided that we’d spent enough money on our artwork and went up to Chinatown. We were intrigued by a sign for “Japanese fondue” (“shobu shobu”) so we gave it a try. It was very good – you get a big bowl of “soup” (water with dried mushrooms and seaweed) on a hotplate and a plate of veg and (with the carnivorous option) very thinly sliced meat to boil in the soup. We had ice cream (green tea, and black sesame) for dessert.
We went back to the hotel to drop off our acquisitions and get changed, then went out in search of live jazz, armed with two recommendations from the Rough Guide. After a long walk one of the recommended places was still 2000 street numbers away (we haven't got the hang of how street numbers work yet well enough to judge how far that would be) so we took a detour to the other recommended place, only to find it didn’t have live jazz. It was a Monday night so perhaps we were being a bit hopeful. We had a drink in a non-jazz pub/bar and then walked home.This morning we got up, re-packed in a rush and just about made it on time to check in our luggage. We liked Montreal. We’ve had a long enough break from cities now that we enjoyed exploring one for a day.
We're now on the train to Toronto, where we'll change for a train to Niagara Falls, taking advantage of the newly-installed wifi service. We're staying one night in Niagara Falls, then we come back to Toronto tomorrow evening. It's all go.
