Exploring Montreal in Less Than 72 Hours

Hello darling! The travel bug didn’t stay in Italy! This past weekend my friends and I decided to drive three hours to explore Montreal. None of us have ever been so we were extremely excited to see what Canadian life is like.

Friday

We departed early Friday morning and entered Montreal around noon. We quickly got a bite to eat and then decided to walked around the shops and street corners. Everywhere we went it seemed like there was beautiful artwork painted on the street corners or funky stairs greeting a painted door. Montreal was definitely one of the most “earthy” cities I have ever been to. There seemed to be trees emerging from every which way.

After we walked around, we decided to rent bikes. We ended up biking around the city for about 2 hours. We actually ended up biking all the way to the Olympic stadium where the 1976 summer Olympics were held. I have officially been to two Olympic locations now (Germany was my other location).

We went to Schwartz for dinner and ended up getting sandwiches with tons of smoked meat falling out of the sides. Afterwards, we decided to walk around and pop our heads into stores.

Saturday

We decided to venture farther into Old Montreal and see the Notre Dame Basilica. The architecture of the building was stunning. The basilica is made up of rich stain glass windows and elegant staircases. What I appreciated most was the use of colors at the alter. The light blues and strong purples made the alter seem as if it was alive. It is definitely something worth seeing.

I was not aware of a second church in the basilica. The second church was made mostly out of wood and copper, giving the alter and earthly feel. It reminded me of the Trinity library in London because of the unique colors and materials used.

After our eyes fell out of ours skulls from the basilica, we decided to grab a bite to eat. We ended up finding this adorable little cafe that is half a store and half a restaurant. There was even a man playing a piano! The place is called et Bistro Le Magasin Général du Vieux-Montreal and I definitely recommend it. The only issue with this restaurant was how long it took to get our food. I think we waited for at least 45-50 minutes after ordering our food. But it was definitely worth the wait because the food was amazing.

After our tummies were full, we decided to drive to the overlook at Mont Royal. There you can see some of the most breathtaking views of the city. If you really want to treat yourself, you should wake up early and see the sunrise over Mont Royal. I’ve been told it is amazing.

For dinner, we ended up at at a vegetarian restaurant called Lola Rosa. The food was incredible. My brother makes amazing nachos but Lola Rosa came close to topping his batch. Everything at Lola Rosa tasted incredibly fresh and flavorful. It also helps that my favorite food is a burrito and they had that on the menu. If you’re ever in Montreal I highly recommend Lola Rosa if you want something with a strong flavor. Another unique thing about Lola Rosa was that inside ever table there were notes stored. Anyone could write notes and leave them inside the table. There were really funny notes and even serious notes about needing to love yourself. If you even come to Lola Rosa and find my note let me know!