I can’t believe that it has already been 2 days since we arrived in Canada. It feels like it has gone quite quick although we have had alot done too. The weather is somewhat dampering, with lots of rain, but at the same time, if that stops you, you might as well have stayed at home in Sweden.
The day started out early, hello jet lag. But since we’re not really on a tight schedual, it’s ok. Nothing to worry about. It gives us more time to read our books and do other relaxing things. It seemed to be raining when I got up at 4 a.m. Andy was still sleeping and I didn’t want to wake him, so I climbed the stairs to the kitchen/living room area and sat there. After an hour Andy woke up and came upstairs.
Andy’s parents woke up and made their way downstairs and we made breakfast. It was not raining by the time it was time to sit down so we did eat our breakfast outside in the garden. Andy’s Dad started of to work and the rest of us enjoyed the non-rainy-weather for a while. Since the weather reports said that the rains and thunderstorms were to start again at 2 p.m. we decided to get going in to town and hopefully miss the rains. We got ready and hopped on the bus downtown. Our regular stop is right next to the Christ Church Anglican Cathedral – and as everyday, it is beautiful.
After lunch we went across the coart yard to the Dollarama store. A must when in Canada, I think. Lots of the things there are complete rubbish, but you can find some gems too. A really great thing this time is that we don’t have to think about the weight of our luggage or that we buy things that are fragile, since the In-laws are moving back to Sweden after we leave, and they are packing their container the day after we leave. That means that we can buy things and ship them in the cointainer and they will arrive in Sweden in August. Great huh? Did anyone say SHOPPING?
In Dollorama, we made sure to go up and down every aile to make sure that we didn’t miss anything, lots of things to see but also alot of crap. But we did buy quite a few items, the three of us, for a total of 35 dollars. Which is dirt cheap. But I’ll show you the shopping another day…
After Dollorama we made our way to the Indigo Bookstore, which was acturally the main store to visit for the day. It is a very large bookstore with all the books that you can think of, and then some. We spent quite a few hours there last time we were here, finding books and figureing out what books that we couldn’t get a hold of in Sweden. Books are quite heavy things, but we did end up filling out suitcases with heavy books, since there were such a variaty. This time, weight isn’t an issue and therefore we can buy any books we fancy. I made sure to look for more Kate Ellis books but also bought a book by a new author, Dan Waddell. The Blood Detective is his first novell, but he is quite an accomplished pop culture and self-help-books author. There is a second book and now I just had to start reading it so see if I’m interested in the second book as well. I’m also in the search for cookbooks and maybe some other books. Last time we were here we did buy a large Canada book, so we’re not really in the need for that, but maybe a book about Montreal would be nice.
When we had bought out 8 books, Andy’s Mom and I rushed out into the pouring rain to go to Eaton Center to find a jewelry store. I was looking for a pair of earrings and we found a beautiful pair at ALDO. Shaped like a leaf they were both beautiful and elegant, which is always nice. Andy went of to look at stuff at the FutureShop, an electronics store, but we were to meet up at the bus stop to make our way back home.
But before we got to the bus stop we accidentally fell upon something that we had said that we would look for one day, if we had the chance and that was the statue of Raoul Wallenberg, one of the most known Swedes for his tireless work with the underprivileged and the his humanitarian missions were legendary. He is the first Swede to be an honerery citizen of Canada. His death (?) is somewhat of a mystery, since he just disapeared, January 1945, never to be seen again. Unfortunetly my knowledge of Raoul Wallenberg is very limited so I feel like I have to read up on him. Anyway, his statue is placed on the Raoul Wallenberg Square behind the Christ Church Anglican Cathedral on Rue Ste-Catherine.
The rain kept falling and it seemed like it would never stop, but once we made out way back home with the bus, we stopped at the supermarket and did some shopping, since the store was to be closed on the 24-th June because of Jean-Baptist Day or National Holiday of Quebec.
Some last minute shopping that ended up being a lot more groceries than we thought in the beginning since we were to carry it all home. On the way home we grabbed a cache that we had missed last time we were here and Andy’s Mom had been trying to find for since we were here last. It was quite an easy cache but it was in a place that was totally pointless which is sad… Most people want the caches to show them something nice, beautiful or peaceful. But this one was just point less.
We made it back home, without becoming to wet since it was only drizzling. But as soon as we opened the front door it started raining cats and dogs. I was starting to get quite tired, so we decided to relax a little before the evenings farewell party.
At around 7 p.m. we rolled up at an apartment complex on the southern most point of Iles de Soeurs, where Andy’s Dads colleagues live in a beautiful apartment overlooking the St-Lawrence river, specifically the Bassin de La Prairie. The apartment is located on the 14th floor and has panorama windows along one side. What a view. Unfortunetly the weather was slightly boring, but the splendor just shown through anyway.
The view towards the Island of Motreal, beautiful sun mist and rain…
C & M apartment was extremely tastefully decorated with lots of design classics from all over the world, but mostly Scandinavia. Very beautiful pieces of art and design that were beautiful to look at. Artwork that changed every time you looked at it and those classic pieces of design that magazines write about. A truly beautiful home!
Once we arrived we were handed a glas of champagne and then we didn’t have to want for anything all evening. Snacks and champagne with mingle pre-dinner. Then we were invited to the table, for a four course meal of fantastic measures. The host C and the hostess M were fantastic hosts and made the In-laws farewell party the best ever.
Starter: Cold spicy melon soup with large prawns and chives. Served with a white alsace Hugel wine.
Entré: Roasted potatoes, green salad with walnuts, tomato, black olives and sun dried tomato-salad, served with beautiful pink Serloin and bearnaise sauce. Incredible food! Served with a Max Reserva from Errazuriz, red wine that complemented the meat perfectly.
Desert: Dark and milk chocolate pastry with homemade vanilla ice cream served with fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.
And then Coffee and biscotti and chocolate pralines. What an amazing feast and a beautiful Farewell party! Thank you C & M for inviting us!
Contact me at mail@karoleen.se .