Cancun and Montreal

Posted Today at 10:29 AM by amanda32

We took the bus to Cancun and checked into a 5 star hotel on the ocean, they messed up our reservation a little so the manager upgraded our rooms to ones with jacuzzi's on the balcony, which I enjoyed naked and with a glass of wine ;) Good times.

In the morning I floated in the light blue ocean, staring at my feet against a powder blue sky with perfectly white clouds; then napped a couple of hours under a palapa.

At the airport I spent too much for cigarettes and gum and beer, had an man with gold teeth hit on me, but I got an isle seat in the exit row ! Headed for Montreal, it was no surprise the people beside me were young and French and making out the entire trip. There were good-looking people everywhere! Speaking that great language.

The customs agent said, "welcome back home" which, after a year and a half of being out of my country was such a nice thing to hear. I was strangely touched. Especially after the last time I returned home to Toronto and was treated like a criminal for walking down the wrong hallway.

My French friend met me at the airport as planned, coming up behind me with a big hug that made me jump and the guy in front of us stare openly.

She'd gotten the guy from the hotel to drive her roundtrip, a man from Pakistan who talked too much for Marie; and he chatted the whole way, telling us about Montreal even though Marie had studied at McGill for 4 years....*shakes head* .

The hotel was horrible! But, it had a fantastic balcony right on a famous street and we had it all to ourselves with a wrought iron table. Marie had beers for us and we drank a while, then headed out to this pub with an outdoor garden where we could smoke. Vines crawled up stone walls and a huge tree swayed in the middle. Unprofessional waitresses who were too busy taking shots to take our order, so Marie had to head to the bar herself, again, waitresses and bartender too busy doing shots to even take money for the beers -- well, at least we got them for free!

Taxi back, back to the balcony; we watched the sky turn pink and then I had to sleep. Marie needed McDonalds, so I let her go. She came back wearing a "Bachlorette hat" (Lord knows where she got it from) and it was the best burger I'd ever had.

The next day, Jack is yelling, "Amanda!" from the hallway. I get up like a shot, thinking there is some emergency. Marie opens the door, our eyes barely open; "o, you're asleep sorry. I wanted to invite you to breakfast. (he continues to talk)"

Marie, "no. no." (closes door).

Then it was breakfast at a fantastic cafe (there are outdoor cafe's everywhere there!) followed by hiking up this great trail I thought I'd never make it up, being so hungover and exhausted from the flight. But, we took our time and chatted the whole way up, passing bikers and joggers, people walking their dogs. I was stopped in my tracks by a squirrel in the forest -- it having been such a long time since I'd seen one; forgot how cute they are.

We got to a clearin gwith a small lake, people on paddle boats, others having picnics and throwing footballs, lying on blankets in the green field, under trees. This is how people in Montreal spend their Sunday afternoons and I thought: "the French have got it right!"

Up a bit further to the lookout, we took pictures of the city from high up, grabbed some lebanese wraps and poutine (which, I was told I had to try) and ate it back on the balcony in a bit of a feeding frenzie. I'd tried poutine before, from the fast food restaurants but it was nothing like this -- really tasty stuff.

I hadn't seen my friend in 2 years since we taught together in Asia, but it was like we'd seen each other just last month. We drank more, played songs for each other, laughed our guts out and finally decided to head out again.

Ended up at this drag queen comedy show; which, was pretty damned funny. I got yelled at by the drag queen bartended for not tipping him one time. Then my friend told him off and a little while later he poured me a shot of whisky and we drank one together -- his apology. I hate whisky, but honesly, at 2 am, in a place that looks like Moulin Rouge -- who cares??

Stayed till closing and the next day it was pizza and beers and movies inside the room recouperating.

I took the train from Montreal to Toronto, it had wi-fi and great seats, I loved watching the scenery -- forgot how many trees are in Canada. The trip was just under 5 hours and I was sorry when it was over.

Montreal felt like a different country, but it's in Canada! I need to go there more often, they sell alcohol at the corner stores, everyone speaks French, the outdoor cafes, old buildings, new buildings, style, the way people dressed and spoke.
It was beautiful.
It was so good to see my friend again -- but kind of terrible since it just made me miss her more now that she's off to another country and I'll be off to China.
That's the double edged sword about traveling and meeting such fantastic people -- they're travelers too and we always move on.

I'm reminded of Judith Krantz book I read when I was a teenager: "'Till We Meet Again".