An Afternoon in the City

First I must apologize, because there are a lot of pictures!  I took the metro and met Paul at one of the stops.  I took my camera, and wore my running shoes....Since I'm not used to the city anymore, I took photos of things that were mostly beautiful but sometimes unusual, as you will see.

 I met Paul under this metro sign.  What is unusual to me, are the three telephone booths beside each other.  I used to see this years ago, but am hard pressed to even find one phone booth these days.

Do you notice all the empty booze bottles?  We were walking by a street that was full of sidewalk cafes and bars. 

Don't need to say anything about this.

This is Lafontaine Parc.  We used to go to a zoo here when I was little.  The zoo is gone now.

We used to go ice skating here when I was a little girl.

I thought the children were cute.  I see little daycares like this all over the city.  Sometimes the workers push them in strollers that hold 9 children.  It looks backbreaking! The children are all wearing hats with neon vests so they will be clearly visible (I guess).

I love the architecture in Montreal.

The old against the new.

I love this building!  I took a photo of it last time....The colors remind me of a quilt.  The red building has red cars in front of it, the blue building has a blue crane in front of it, just like sashing on a quilt!

These circular stairs are very "Quebec".

Don't know what happened to this poor truck, but I thought it was interesting.....

We met Mom at a bus stop.  This is the building across the street.  It really needs some repair, but will probably be torn down instead.  Notice the ragged curtains in the top floor window?

My favorite smoked meat restaurant is Scwartz'.  The only drawback is that they pack you in like sardines because it is such a little place.  You have to share a table with other people.  We went to The Main across the street, they smoked meat is super delicious also!

Heh diet Coke lovers, french Diet Coke!  It doesn't taste the same at all.  It is really bubbly.  

This is what I waited for the whole trip!  Smoked meat, medium fat with coleslaw, a kosher dill pickle and greasy fries with salt and lots of vinegar.  Yum!  It looks a little like Pastrami but is oh so much better.

A better close up of this savory treat.  Just rye bread with a little mustard, and smoked meat.

Mom and Paul are watching me in wonderment as I devour my greasy yumminess.  ha ha ha!!!

This is what Paul ordered.....A big slab of beef liver, Carolina style!

When we walked out of "The Main", we saw the normal long line of lunch patrons at Schwartz.  We also saw an ambulance parked in front.  Do you think someone had a heart attack from all the fat?  By the way, you can also order your smoked meat lean.....I would recommend medium fat though.

Next to the restaurant, we saw this really old sign, worth a photo.  They make tombstones here, must have been there before the area was very populated.

We walked into this oh so interesting vintage store.  I really loved it but wasn't able to relax.  There were random photos of half naked women and the shop had a creepy feel to it.

Now that I'm looking at the photos, it does look really interesting.  Why didn't I buy something?  Too hard going through customs, etc.

Then I turned around and saw this and it really startled me......

Imagine being the salesgirl?  She seems oblivious.

Mom found something she liked!

Okay, enough of the vintage store.  We walked around the corner and saw so much ethniticity.  I don't think that is a word, but you will get my drift as you scroll through the photos.

Paul walking in front of Mom and I.  Look up, way up......in the next photo is a close up!

This alley was a little different because of all the foliage.

Paul left us at this point, because he had to get ready for work.
Mom and I walked quite a few blocks to the bus stop, and of course we saw some intereting things.....

A tomato vine right next to the street.

A garbage can lid chained to the window.  Don't know if it was because of theft or the wind.....probably the wind.

This is the armory.  
We took the bus ride back to Mom's apartment.  There it is, next to some tall buildings.  The 4 storey red building.  It is over 80 years old.

Look at the ivy growing on the side of the building. This is just the front, Mom's apartment is at the back, away from all the street noise. There are 16 or 20 apartments, each one is very big.

This is the front door.  Next to the building is a really pretty park with a playground, and park benches and lots of grass and trees.  Mom and I ate our lunch there one day but a giant squirrel wouldn't leave us alone.  I had to throw him bits of my sandwich so he would be distracted and let us escape to safety.  I think I might have run over one of his relatives on the way to church today. I heard a litle "Thwack" but didn't see any evidence in the rear view mirror.  When I got to church (a 30 minute drive today for ward conference in another ward) I was afraid to look at the front tire.  I can't imagine he would have held on for that long at 70 miles per hour.  He was probably just teasing me, you know how resilient squirrels are......I hope you enjoyed my little tour of part of Montreal.  Thanks for being my tour guide Paul :)