We got up around 7 and fed Jasper took showers then about 9
went downstairs to breakfast. Gita had prepared it and it was delicious. We had
granola, corn flakes, fresh strawberries and currants. We also had coffee toast
and Nutella. The currants were from her back yard. After having a leisurely
breakfast on her back deck we packed up and got ready to meet Lyn’s family at
the park for a picnic. We left at 11AM and headed towards the park on the way
there we stopped at a local area that was primarily Filipino stores. They had
several grocery stores and restaurants. Lyn referred to it as little Manila. It
was fun seeing all of the goodies from her homeland. Next we went to the park
to meet her family and have a picnic. When we got there every picnic area was filled
and it looked like the whole Filipino community was there. We found our area
and were greeted by Maribel and her family. They had come at 10 to reserve a
spot. After awhile other family members came and the next thing you know we had
a feast in front of us! We sent about three hours enjoying the company and also
the great food. It was so nice for Lyn to be able to speak in her home dialect.
Most of these family members she had not seen in over 10 years so they had a
lot t catch up on. Thanks again for all of the food and fellowship! Around 3 we
decided we better hit the road as we needed to be at our next Air BnB by 9PM
and we had about 6 hours of driving to do. For the most part the driving was
very easy and we zipped along at about 120 the entire time. The speed limit was
100 but everyone seemed to go about 120. Now for those of you who are wondering
how in the world our fully loaded Prius can go 120 well that was really no
problem as the 120 was in kilometers. We were actually going about 77 MPH.
It did kind of surprise me from time to time to look down at the speedometer
and see that we were going 120. It was actually kind of fun. Anyway as we approached
the city traffic increased 10 fold and the closer we got to our destination the
more it looked like our GPS was taking us to the wrong place. Finally we
arrived in a neighborhood outside of Montreal in the middle of nowhere. It was
kid of a tough situation because we were tired and now we were late and with no
cell service we did not have an easy access to information. Finally we saw a
McDonalds and hoped that maybe we could jump on the wifi there and figure this
thing out. Now remember in Montreal they speak French so everything gets a
little tricky. I went in and pointed to my phone for the wifi password and of
course they gave it to me in French and I had no idea what to put in. Finally I
handed them my phone. He entered it into my phone and Wa la we were connected to
the Internet. After doing some research I finally found out that it was not the
GPS at fault but the owner of the GPS was at fault. I had put in everything
correctly except the word quest was supposed to be put in after the street name.
Once I did that it said we were 30 minutes away. We followed the GPS again ad
this time it looked at least like we were possibly headed in the right
direction. Now we were tired and trying to find this little coffee shop with
our room above it. I did not know what to expect since we were late and could
not call our host on the phone. As luck would have it our host Benoit was
sitting on our balcony waiting on us playing his guitar. We pulled up and he came down and helped
us with our luggage and gave us the lay of the land. Wow did it feel good to
find our home in Montreal. You can see the place we are staying here. https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/583162 It very basic
but has everything we need. It is in the Mile End neighborhood which is a very
artsy area and only 5k from Old Town. For the first time Jasper struggled a
little bit as he had to get use to the sounds of the city which caused him to
bark at first. But typical Jasper style he adapted and is sitting with me on
the balcony as I write this. Tomorrow we will go explore old town and what ever
else catches our eye.
Little Manila!
Family
Jasper making friends!
Feast
Fun times!
Wow!
Pretty ladies!
Jasper has it made!
Family!
Family!
Family!
Home sweet home Montreal!
