Bienvenue a Montreál
[Painted stairs, Montreal; June 4, 2006]
Montreal is a welcoming place. Hotel staff, shop clerks, and waiters were gently charming and accommodating. They toggled deftly between French and English. And in several restaurants where our high-spirited group of as many as 8-11 (depending on who showed up) swarmed for meals, they obligingly brought separate checks for each person, coming back with the correct change for each in turn. This would not happen anywhere I've been in the US!
Montreal seems to be a very tolerant city. As Lorianne points out, the sacred and the profane bump against each other openly, with condom stores next to ice cream parlors next to hookah lounges next to McDonalds. Which was why it was a perfect setting for a group of free-thinking bloggers to come together to enjoy each other's company in the flesh. Reading each other's words online is one thing. Sharing coffee under an awning while rain washes the cobblestones, speculating together in front of a piece of art in a museum, laughing over wine and moussaka in a crowded restaurant or beer and spicy soba noodles in a cafe, or aimlessly wandering damp streets and parks... these things allow blog friendship to bloom into real friendship. It was not just the city that made me feel welcome, but the company I enjoyed the city with.
Update: See new posts from Rachel and Lorianne, as well as qB's photos. And now Dave has added his own poetic take.
It was a good thing, and it happened in a good place.
And I love these photos!
Not blogging meant I took far fewer photos than I would have, but I'm happy to have see the city again through y'all's eyes.
Posted by: St Antonym | Tuesday, June 06, 2006 at 10:22 AM
What a lovely post. Amen, amen!
Posted by: Rachel | Tuesday, June 06, 2006 at 10:59 AM
And ditto and amen from me too.
Posted by: qB | Tuesday, June 06, 2006 at 05:42 PM
Oooh, I love all the colorful stairs! It reminds me of some posters we have downstairs of Irish doors, all different colors. Fun!
Grey skies make all the colors pop.
Posted by: Sara | Wednesday, June 07, 2006 at 09:38 AM
St.A - Sometimes it's good to experience things unmediated. With everyone else wielding digicams, you knew you'd get plenty of photos. Still, I appreciate your particular eye. I wonder if you photograph better when that's your sole focus, i.e., when alone?
Amen, Rachel and qB! Great to see your photos as well.
Sara: The colorful stairs reminded me of walls/windows in Mexico. I didn't know Irish doors are also colorful. I'd love to see them sometime. Maybe the gray did help - our eyes always running to the colors.
Posted by: leslee | Thursday, June 08, 2006 at 06:18 PM