So just to let you know we are feeling much better about Montreal this evening.
We were rudely awaken this morning by the alarm which M had forgotten to turn off but after a fairly turbulent nights sleep (for M anyway as S had stolen the blankets) we decided to head off to find some breakfast and head to the biodome. It was still pouring with rain, as it had been doing all night and we were still finding it hard to find other living people let alone restaurants until we headed into a nearby office block in the hope of finding the entrance to the underground city of shops and food places. When we entered the office block it was all quite dark but with large groups of people stood around all of the place talking quietly, we soon realised that something was amiss which we think was a power cut so all the office and shop employees were hanging around in the communal spaces waiting for all to return to normal. This situation did not make Montreal any more endearing, it made it more spooky! We finally found the subway station (we have discovered that just because there is a sign saying that it is the metro station, it doesn't necessarily mean that the platforms and station itself are anywhere near) and went to Pie-IX (pronounced Pee Nerf) which is the station stop for the 1976 Olympic plaza. The biodome is actually built within the velodrome that was originally built for the olympics and luckily had an open cafe so we grabbed a panini and a coffee and began to feel a little more human.
We then started on the first of the four ecosystems covered by the site, all of which include plants, animals, fish, birds etc. The first was the tropical rain forest which included the following creatures of interest,
- there were also golden, black and black and white monkeys
- crocodiles
- a terrapin
- an anaconda
- fish
- a real bat cave
- lots of birds, including humming birds
Next was the pine woodland and included,
- beavers (all were asleep but we had seen them already)
- ducks and birds
- some very large trout
- a pair of very gorgeous linx who were asleep in the tinniest space right at the back of their enclosure.
- and another otter (see the second video at the end of the blog)!
Then was the ecosystem of the St Lawrence River (which runs around Montreal) and included the following,
- a rockpool complete with sea urchins (which M avoided the first time and managed some of the second time), starfish, crabs and the like
- Sea gulls, ducks, waders and other water foul like these two
- also a lower level where you could see under the water and watch the ducks and other birds dive for food which was fascinating to watch (see the first video at the end of the blog).
- again there were several different types of penguin with an underwater section so that you could watch them swimming as well as waddling!
We finally headed home after a productive tour of the shop and by this time M was beginning to feel a little under the weather so we spent most of the afternoon in our cabin with the light snow falling around us. By 8pm M was beginning to feel much better so we headed out for some food. It turns out that we were headed in the right direction last night but had just given up too early, this time we made it all the way to the Latin Quarter and had a meal which seems to typify Montreal, a French burger! S had a double burger with Gruyer cheese and a dipping sauce for his frittes of dijonaise and M had a goats cheese and bacon burger with a dipping sauce of aioli, and very nice it was too. All washed down with a pint of the local blonde beer and a spot of ice hockey on the telly. The snow is still falling but it hasn't stuck to the roads and pavements (yet).
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