Off The Radar

I love this city. Everywhere I go, I meet people equally passionate about it as I am. They come from Toronto, Vancouver, New York, London, Norwich (!), France and from Montreal itself. They all say things like "Well, you can't put your finger on what it is..." "It's got a kind of atmosphere" "It's so relaxed", and it's always followed by "And it's so off the radar."

Which is all true. Montreal doesn't have many 'sights' as such. There's no big tower, like Toronto, no museums like London, no goverment buildings or palaces like Berlin. People never put it on their lists of 'five places in the world I really want to go to.'

And yet, it is truly amazing.

Take this weekend- I saw a gig in a tiny venue, then went dancing in a club where the seats were like the backseat of a 50s car in red leather, complete with metal footplates. We wandered out at 2 in the morning and the streets were bustling with people, eating 99 cent pizza slices. On Saturday we walked around St Denis (trendy shopping street) in the pouring rain, while I continued my mission to find cheap cufflinks (shirt needs them, I forgot them) in antique shops, and hippy markets. We drank beautiful hot chocolate in a place done like a French bistro from the 40s, then later ate noodles in a place where you chose your own combination of stir fry. In the evening, we went to a club that was basically like a house party if you had a friend who lived in a stately home, and danced til our feet ached. And everywhere we went, people talked to us, and shared their enthusiasm overwhelmingly with us.

The thing is, most people equate 'hip' with pretentious, but here it really isn't. There's no attitude at all. Everyone enjoys the variety and celebrates it. You don't need to see the 'landmarks' to have been here, you need to drink a coffee in a cafe overlooking the street and watch the world go by, you need to rummage in the 'fripperies' (antique/vintage cloth shops) and you need to stand on top of Mont Royal and gaze at the Manhatten-esque skyline surrounded by the changing colours of autumn. It's beautiful.

Had Thanksgiving yesterday at a British student's place that I randomly met a club. As someone who knows nothing about Thanksgiving, it was nice to learn it's mainly just about eating turkey, and stuffing, and creamed potatos and apple pie. I could get used to this! (I have another Thanksgiving tonight!). I love Canada.