Montreal Je T'aime

[trip style = sightseeing] {more pics below}

As part of my get-to-know-Canada-better trip, conquering Montreal was my most recent feat. I use the word conquering because I was there during the recent (and ongoing) Eastern Seaboard heat wave. Even though the heat was intense, I pressed on.  Only being in Montreal for two days, I couldn’t let the sauna-like conditions stop me, after all, how can a Vancouver girl complain about sunny, hot weather? She can't and won't.  Despite the heat, we walked and biked to all the sights we wanted to see...with lots of water on-hand.

Love Bixi bikes and the bike-friendly nature of the city. For a great bixi smartphone app, download Bixou Lite.

Iconic Bagels {Montreal's bagel scene is famous, so I biked to Fairmount Bagels---the city's original bagelry---to eat a $0.70 breakfast. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to enjoy our bagels since the store is literally as small as it looks.}

Restaurant scene {Holt Renfrew Cafe. Apres bixi'ing around the city, I retreated to the air conditioned bliss of the Holts Cafe. Unfortunately, I was a tad bit sweaty and everyone else eating designer lunches just-so-happened to be decked-out in Prada, Halston and LV. Either way, I had the best open-faced sandwich I've ever eaten in my life: poilane bread, topped with thinly-sliced tandoori chicken, cauliflower, broccoli and drizzled with tzatziki-like sauce.}

{It was love at first sight when I sauntered past Le Pois Penche one afternoon. I knew I had to come back for dinner. The outdoor dining scene was anchored by cute bistro tables, complemented by Louis Ghost chairs. Thankfully, the food matched the lovely decor. Our french dining experience seemed all the more meant to be when we learned our server was from Monaco!}

{This pic was taken at about 10pm. When we checked the temperature at that time, it noted 26 degrees, ‘feels like 32.’}

Museum Scene {A quick stop at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to view the free mid-century modern furniture exhibition.}

Vieux Montreal

St. Laurent surfers

Habitat 67 {an iconic housing development built for Expo '67}

Cathedral Marie-Reine-Du-Monde beside our hotel

{Cool design inside of the Cathedral}

{Inside the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth lobby. See my review of the hotel here.}

Travel Trend :: Visual Flight Search

Need visual inspiration for your next trip?  Want to browse flights leaving from your home airport within a specific price-range? The geniuses at Kayak have done it again. I already love and use their meta travel search engine, and recently they've come out with a new feature called Kayak Explore that visual learners will l-o-v-e.

Using Kayak's travel search technology superimposed on google maps, means finding a flight to your next destination just got easier. But it's the travel web application's suggestive nature that I love.  It's like a web-based version of going to the airport with no destination in mind and asking a check-in agent to show you options for the next flight out.

How it Works The level of customization offered in Kayak Explore is nuts (see a full list below). When you enter your preferences, Kayak advises what areas match your request. One nice feature I call show me the money intuitively indicates how far you can fly from your home airport based on your budget preference.  It helps to keep the budget in-check.

Customizations The level of granularity offered in Kayak's Explore is impressive. I suggest starting your visual flight search with fewer customizations, then narrowing your search from there. If you try to over-customize at the get-go, you may find the results too specific. The available customizations are: - Home airport - Budget range - Where you want to fly - When you want to fly - Activities of interest - Temperature range - Preferred language spoken - Flight duration and stops

Kayak Explore is already a game-changer, but it could be even more amazing if search parameters like vacations and cruises could be added.  We'll wait and see!

Vancouverites: Get your Tourist on!

[trip style = staycation + sightseeing] {more pics below}

Sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in your own city. It provides the sense of getting away and getting lost in the beat of your own city without a road or plane trip. I get it, staycations seem lame, but they don't have to. If you want to make the experience seem all-the-more authentic, strap on a fanny pack, grab a map, showcase your camera, and sport some sunglasses, a hat and runners. With this in mind, I've compiled a list of summer activities that will re-invigorate your love for Vancouver.

[Note to actual Vancouver tourists: most Vancouverites don't escape from the city in the summer. Unless they head for the mountains, lakes or islands nearby, the city is too beautiful and too fun to leave when the weather heats up.]

Whether you're an actual tourist or a local, here are some neat things locals do in the summer:

Do

• Start your day off right at Granville Island. Drink freshly squeezed juice, sip a cappuccino, grab a croissant or doughnut and become part of the weekend-visit-to-Granville-Island ritual.
• Vancouverites are known for embracing an outdoor lifestyle. That's why we live in a place with the ocean and mountains within 15 minutes of the city. Stanley Park's seawall is a big part of this. Take advantage of the park's 400 hectares and cycle or walk oceanside past marinas, lakes, totem poles, forest, boats and beaches. Muster-up a little extra energy and go past Stanley Park into Coal Harbour toward the new Vancouver Convention Centre to check out the green roof and gaze at the larger-than-life art pieces {see pics below}.
• If you're an arty type, or just want to dip your toes into the city's blooming art scene, check out the Vancouver Art Gallery, gallery row on South Granville Street or real estate mogul Bob Rennie's personal art collection (free) in historic Chinatown.  Richard Jackson is the current featured artist showing until September 25, 2010 (you must sign up ahead online). Apparently, Rennie's collected enough art to host continual, unique 3-month shows for the next 20 years.  The gallery design alone will blow your socks off.
• If all you want to do is relax, spend a day at the Vancouver's newest and most fabulous hotel spa at the Fairmont Pacific Rim.
• After a long day of traipsing all over the city, chill out and catch a flick at the Scotiabank Theatre downtown, or indulge in a free outdoor movie experience on Fridays at the Hastings Race Track, where 80s blockbuster movies will be resurrected for the occasion.

Eat

• Breakfast
  • The irrefutable local faves are brunch at Yaletown's oceanfront Provence or breakfast at Crosstown's Cafe Medina.
  • For something a little more casual, visit Thomas Haas in Kits or North Van.  Famous for his chocolates, this chef extraordinaire also makes the best pastries I've ever tasted. Channel your inner Parisian and sip a cappuccino and savor a flaky croissant, then walk it off....
• Lunch
  • Combine art gazing and eating at The Vancouver Art Gallery's cafe with a beautiful outdoor patio.
• Dinner
  • Located in historic (and in Vancouver that means 120 years old) Gastown, Boneta offers an open, funky space and excellent fare.
• Dessert
  • This is a bold statement, but potentially rivaling Italy's gelato, locals flock to Mondo Gelato (recently renamed "Gelarmony"... weird) for their dose of heaven - I mean gelato. You just must.

Pictures (pardon the cell phone pics!) New Vancouver Convention Centre Walkway

The Lego-like orca at the new Vancouver Convention Centre

The slightly ironic rain drop at the new Vancouver Convention Centre

The Richard Jackson art installation at the Rennie Gallery

Another Richard Jackson installation at the Rennie Gallery

Boneta Restaurant in Vancouver

Travel Apps :: enRoute Dining Guide

Seek and you shall find tasty and trendy Canadian restaurants from coast to coast recommended by enRoute’s expert panel. Searching through Air Canada's enRoute dining guide app's Vancouver options, the selections are mostly bang-on and remind me of some local eateries I need to visit or re-visit.  My challenge with this app is it only allows you to search by region, not city.  For example, if you are looking for restaurants in Montreal, the restaurant list is only for the Province of Quebec, so you have to click into each selection to see where it is.  Also, given the restaurants are recommended by enRoute, you'd think there would be a write-up for each, but there isn't; all that's listed is the type of food, address, tel, website and map.  Either way, it's nice to have a free restaurant app which inspires your taste buds.

enroute App Details

• free
• works with iPhone, iTouch, iPad and Blackberry (no word on if/when it will be available for Android)
• directory of enRoute recommended restaurants across Canada
• mapping functions to help you get there
• push-to-talk feature to call the restaurant directly
• quick links to learn more about select restaurants
• featured wines presented by Penfolds

Other Travel Apps we’ve Reviewed

• Epicurious
• BorderWait
• OpenWays
• TripIt
• Trip Advisor
• StayHIP
• Trip Journal
• Bug Spray
• CameraBag
• Convert Everything
• GateGuru
• Kindle for iPhone
• Packing Pro
• Skype
• World Fact Book
• AAA/CAA Savings
• Royal Caribbean
• Medical Concierge
• Tourism British Columbia :: Near Me BC
• Postman Postcard
• 2010 Guide
• Nat’l Geo World Atlas
• hostelworld.com
• kayak first class
• flight control (game)

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Canada Day in Ottawa

[trip style = urban] The Canadian patriotism I experienced at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics gave a whole new meaning to Canada Day this year. The Olympics reminded me of my deep love and appreciation for the true north strong and free as well as the freedoms we often take for granted.

I had the honour of spending July 1st in Ottawa--the official epicentre of Canada. Watching the Canada Day celebrations in front of Parliament, something changed, I felt Canadian things more deeply. Every sight turned into an exciting and heartfelt experience.   The speeches given by Harper and the Queen weren't just rhetoric, they were meaningful, and the whole celebration beginning with the Musical Ride (sadly I didn't get any pics) brought me to tears.  But I suppose I should feel emotion for a country where my roots grow deep and the maple leaf is more than just something that falls from trees.

Pictures of Ottawa's Canada Day 2010 Celebrations [by a BC gal]

The Queen's prelude into the Canada Day celebrations.  She followed in a horse-drawn carriage sporting a red suit with a maple leaf broach for the event.

The stage where the festivities took place.

Parliament's East Block.

Canadian Snowbirds doing a fly-by.

Me in front of a Snowbird; not the kind that goes South for the whole winter.

Parliament's library, refurbished in 2002.

Ottawa river overlooking Gatineau, Quebec.

Beside Parliament. The Rideau Canal looking up towards the Fairmont Chateau Laurier.  Above the lochs you see in this pic, in winter you can skate along this canal for 8km.  Puts a whole new spin on commuting.

Me in front of 24 Sussex (PM's residence).  Since I came unannounced, Stevo wasn't able to have lemonade with me on his balcony.

Having a break at Planet Coffee.

Grabbing a croissant at the bakery where Obama stopped to pick up some 'Canada cookies' for his girls during his initial visit to Ottawa in February 2010. PS - I Highly recommend the aforementioned Moulin de Provence bakery in Ottawa's Byward Market.

Ending the day with a literal bang. We were so close that our hair and clothes were speckled with ash.