Montreal Day 2

I managed to sleep until 6 AM on Saturday, but our early start to the day was slowed down by a prolonged search for breakfast. We were quite surprised that breakfast was not included with our hotel room, and the hotel restaurant was really expensive. Last night we'd noticed a restaurant offering a breakfast special just a block away, so that's where we started. We were disappointed to discover that they didn't open until 9 AM. We decided to walk through the Latin Quarter again to see if anyplace was open for breakfast, but we found only McDonalds and places like Starbucks. So we walked back to the first restaurant and waited for 9 AM. At 9:05 there were still no signs of life, so we tried walking in the other direction. After just a few steps, we found a place that turned out to be very nice. I had crepes with maple syrup. Yum! The waitress was very nice, and when she noticed me looking at the map, she gave us a bunch of suggestions.

My husband's priority was auto parts while his friends were after clothes and electronics, so I went with his friends to the shopping district. Once again, it was quite a walk to get there, but very scenic. I got bored while the guys looked in one electronics store after another, so I went to a neighboring shop to look at leather jackets. I've wanted one for many years, but I thought they were rather expensive. Had it not been for the skill of the shopkeeper, I certainly would have left empty handed. But he was very attentive, helpful, and persuasive. I tried on mid-length black coats one after another, and while we did find one that looked great on me, I just wasn't sure. I liked a short beige coat that was in the window, so I took a closer look at that rack too. They didn't have beige in my size, but they did have a very similar one in white. I loved it! It fit me perfectly, and I was suddenly sure that it was just what I'd been looking for. It was a splurge, but at 1/3 it's original price it was also a bargain. It is now the single most expensive article of clothing I own.

We proceeded on to mall after mall and discovered that there is a huge network of underground malls running under much of the city. The top floor would be at street level and there would be offices or a hotel above, but then there were several floors of mall underneath. Some were connected to each other with pedestrian tunnels (also lined with small shops), and others were connected by subway. One could spend days like a shopping crazed gopher never seeing the daylight!

The guys were fascinated by the concept of food courts, so we ate lunch at the largest of the malls that we'd been to. There were easily 20 restaurants to choose from. The guys chose Subway, and while I also like subway, I went for Thai food instead. Yum again. There is a food court at the new mall in Lund near where they work, but it has only 4 restaurants, 3 of which are similar and all of which are over priced, so this was a real treat. After lunch we were soon too overwhelmed to shop any more, so we started walking back to the hotel. By the time we got there, we were quite exhausted.

After a couple hours rest, it was time to meet for dinner. Back to the Latin Quarter this time to the Mexican restaurant. I was pleased that we actually had a goal instead of just wandering around seeing what struck somebody's fancy. Unfortunately there was a line out the door, so it was back to wandering. We ended up at a rather mediocre Italian place. The guys are now at the bar trying to meet up with other colleagues. I'm relieved to be up here by myself blogging instead. Now, let's hope I can keep my internet connection functional long enough to publish this....