4th of July

Am I in Canada or Europe? This definitely feels like Europe... Old Montreal


Obviously Canadians do not celebrate the 4th of July, I mean, they have a 4th of July, they just don't do anything special for it :) This is my first time out of the country on Independence Day and I do feel unpatriotic for being in Canada instead of the States. This time last year I was standing in the middle of Storrow Drive with my then roommate's friend of a friend watching my first Boston 4th of July fireworks. This year, I am surrounded by 16 friends I met over the past year. Oh what a difference a year makes! And look at where I am now compared to then. Wow! is all I can say when I think about things like that.

Today was my last day in Montreal and packed a lot of walking into my last day. First, the bed in the hotel is as hard as the floor. It's way worse than my old bed (and my bed in Cali, for those who have slept in them...way worse). So sleeping hasn't soundly hasn't happened (so much for trying to make this my R&R weekend). I walked around today by myself...as... Ms. Traveler. I think I under calculated how far Olympic Park was from the hotel. But first, lets start with going back down to Old Montreal. It looks quite different in the day than it does at night. I saw the Notre Dame Basilica (obviously NOT the same one as the one I visited while in Paris) and loved walking around on the stone streets. Checked out a lot of artwork which I totally could have bought a painting or two.

I then walked down Saint Catherine Street which was lined with art booths and had roses hanging from one side of the street to the other (being Catholic, I'm pretty sure I should know what Catherin is the Saint for, but I'm sure it has to do with roses if I'm going to guess). A lot of artists were selling their paintings, they had jewelry and musicians trying to make a buck or two. I then walked and walked and walked....and walked and walked some more. Finally reaching Olympic Park where the Stadium (built for the 1976 Summer Olympics) stands. It started to rain a bit, but I needed to rest my feet. I sat and ate and then made my way around the maze to walk up to the stadium (though didn't go inside). This is my 2nd Olympic park I've visited, the first being in Germany in 2008. Maybe I should add those to my should hit list when traveling (along with the whole breweries and baseball stadiums).

Now, as much as I enjoy traveling with a group, I do miss all the little things that happens as a solo traveler. For instance, meeting random people and taking photos of each other in front of monuments or typical tourist spots. This happened to me today. An nice (cute) foreigner (maybe really French?? I dunno he did speak English to me after I said "sure I'll take your photo") ANYWAY, he stood on the medal block thingy where the rings and torch are with the stadium in the back ground and I snapped his photo. Then it was my turn. A couple with their two kids who were college age it seemed just walked up. The father asked if the two of us wanted a picture together, and I wasn't quick enough to think of anything to say (always happens!!!) and the foreigner said "oh, no we're not together" lol. The guy who asked was so embarrassed and his kids gave him a hard time. But what an opportunity it was if only I had opened my mouth and thought to say "oh sure"? Talk about random... like when I went to the Brewers game in Milwaukee and met those guys who I had photos taken with. So we parted ways after taking each other's photos (don't even know his name). Then I walked and walked and walked and walked....and walked and got a text that the group was in the park I had past 15 minutes ago, so I turned around and walked and walked. Finally met up with the group and laid down under the trees and relaxed. I was exhausted. When we got up to leave I was so stiff. So I walked back (another 25 minutes or so) to the hotel, where I then went swimming and chilled in the sauna. I googled my trip and I walked over 17km today (which translated into American is "I walked over 10.5 miles today") No wonder I was so stiff after sitting down for any length of time. It did feel good to go swimming, especially since it was hot today and I sweating pretty much all day long... I really HATE this type of weather and totally love being able to take a dip in a pool.

We then all went to an apartment a couple in the group rented and did a toast to the 4th of July and Montreal as this is our last night all together. Some of us are leaving tomorrow (including me- in the early car... woot woot!) some on Tuesday and a handful of who's left on Wednesday.

I'm ready to be back. I've been go go go for way too many weeks and haven't been feeling that great for a while now. Today I feel like I'm having some sort of allergic reaction to something, so I am just ready to be back in Boston where I can be a little more comfy being in my own bed and hopefully catch up on my sleep b/c I HATE the feeling of being so exhausted and swollen. One last time...Bonne nuit Montreal!



Had to add this photo, since this is the one foreign boy took :)