Boston to Montreal, Saturday, September 7, 2019

The ms Zaandam arrives this morning at the port of Montreal on the St. Lawerence River at 7:00 AM. Again, a beautiful 58F day, moving towards mid-70s. Our luggage disappeared overnight from the corridor and we hope we can find it again when the time comes. We journey to the Lido Deck 8 for our final breakfast of the cruise. Crowded, but as our departure time is near the end of the group, 9:15, the cafeteria is emptying and we finally just headed down to our stateroom to await being called. At 9:00 Red # 2 is called and we drag our carry-ons off the ship. Unlike our last cruise, the bags are right there, standing clear of a mess and our driver is waiting for us.

Pierre is a 67 year-old native of Montreal, formerly an import/export person and, for 25 years, a chef. He embarks on a tour of this 44 mile long by 14 mile wide island populated by 2 million persons. Montreal is named for the 500 foot Mount Royal in the Center of the island. All the granite for the buildings has been quarried from this mountain, and there is plenty more to go.

Pierre takes us through the various neighborhoods, stopping at an Italian pastry store for amazing cannoli and then into the Hasidic Jewish quarter for freshly boiled bagels, still hot and covered with sesame seeds. This is like a mini-New York with all the various neighborhoods changing as the populations prosper, move out to the suburbs and are replaced by others. We drive past a Roman Catholic Church where three leaf clover are a part of the decor of the walls and plinths. This was built by the Irish, but as they prospered and moved on, it is now the Polish church which John Paul visited and led a mass in when he visited Montreal.

One note that Pierre was particularly excited about, the bicycle lobby is so strong that Montreal is probably the only city in North America where it is illegal to turn right on red. The bicyclists are afraid of getting hit - hence traffic is slowed as people impatiently wait to turn on red lights.

Our tour lasts about three hours and is ended by the highlight of the trip (according to Abigail) by a stop at the yarn store she had researched prior to leaving Omaha, Espace Tricot, La Knittere Moderne, where yarn was purchased.

Onward to the airport by 12:15 where we checked and weighed our bags, confirmed our seats and passed through immigration with the U.S. Gestapo who allowed that we could indeed return home. We are now checked all the way through to Omaha, the Duggans through Philadelphia, and the Coverts through Newark. We then stopped at Urban Crave and the adjoining Tim Horton’s. Tim enjoyed a cofffee and cinnamon sticks, Deb Duggan a salad, and the Coverts helpings of Poutine with bacon and wine. We enjoyed our vacation, our cruise, and now look forward to returning to our own beds, with windows to look out rather than our inside cabins with no view. Our view of the world has been enlarged and we have met people and seen sights that were new for all of us. We even got to places (Prince Edward Island, Halifax and Quebec City) that Deb Covert had not seen; this is always a plus as she feels less jaded with new experiences, and we feel like we have helped her expand her horizons.