As far as I can remember, this is the first summer I have ever spent entirely away from home. As sad as I am to not have the opportunity to visit for very long with my family in Calgary, I have some amazing adventures in store for me. I’ve resuscitated my travel blog in order to keep all of you updated about my current and forthcoming adventures, so check back every once-in-a-while for updates. My summer plans thus far include a trip to Montreal, QC to visit my cousin Sarah, five weeks in Trois-Pistoles, QC to participate in a French-immersion program called Explore, and a five month trip to Australia starting July 15th. I’ll be completing the first semester of my last year of undergrad in Australia, and am really, really excited to be travelling foreign lands again.
My time in Montreal with cousin Sarah was wonderful. I hadn’t been to Montreal in more than five years, and it was really nice to go back to the big city as an adult who could just roam as desired. While in Montreal I did a lot of biking around the city, caught up with some friends, and ate way more than my share of bagels. The second time I visited St. Viateur bagel shop, I met Wilson, who had been making bagels at St. Viateur for 25 years. When I asked Wilson if I could take some pictures of him making the bagels, he insisted that I get behind the counter and make some bagels myself while he took the photos, saying “I know all the good angles ‘ere”. Wilson was hilarious and as I was about to leave, gave me a t-shirt as a souvenir of our joking-around. I ate a lot of really great food while in Montreal, including, of course, fabulous poutine. Sarah took me to a restaurant that serves more than 20 kinds of poutine. I ordered poutine with bacon, spicy sausage, and onion on it. Soooo yummy! I also cooked a good old fashioned Nova Scotian lobster dinner during my time with Sarah. I’ve definitely fallen in love with Montreal and will exercise any excuse to go back.
