Here are the rest of the pictures from our trip, if you're interested...
We stayed in a beautiful studio apartment via airbnb, in the neighborhood of Little Italy. We loved it's minimalistic charm, but boy was it small! This whole trip was a learning experience for us, being our first big trip with a baby. The moment we arrived, we decided to try to keep a positive outlook on everything. We want our kids to be flexible, so that means we have to lead by example! This was a chance to put that into practice :)
It was so very cold in Montreal (good thing we stopped at that LL Bean outlet... I would have been frozen otherwise!), but we had some absolutely beautiful days! Our first full day in town, we visited the historic part of the city, Old Montreal. We visited the impressively gorgeous Notre Dame Basilica (my favorite part was the teal and gold ceiling!), ate lunch in China Town, walked the cobblestone streets, and strolled by the river.
So, the jacket I got at LL Bean was a little loud for my already colorful pants. But you do what you've gotta do, and sometimes that means looking like a pack of skittles :)
We had one rainy day in Montreal, and we decided to check out the art museum. It's free for adults under 30, and was a very fun but relaxing escape from the cold rain. I loved the art, but I was also a little enamored with the architecture. We could have spent the entire day browsing each amazing painting, but a 3.5 month old does not permit such leisure...
Once the weather cleared up the next day, we enjoyed some crepes for breakfast in the hip Mile-End neighborhood, and then hiked the long, steep, winding, paved trail to the top of Mont-Royal. Side note: You can take a bus to the top. I think we might go for that next time...
We got Haitian food for dinner from an authentic hole-in-the-wall Haitian-run grocery store. It was full of Haitians, so we had fun spitting out some Creole in a French-speaking city. Plus, they let us cut to the front of the line since we had a baby :)
On our last full day in Canada, we visited the infamous Jean-Talon Marche. This was one of my favorite days. We didn't leave the apartment until mid-afternoon, strolled to the market, picked up some fresh pastries, and browsed for a couple hours. Then we traveled to the place that a few people recommended for poutine and had our fair share of gravy/cheese/french fry gluttony. I know it's all the rage, but we couldn't get into and threw it out before we even finished half :)
We were sad to leave the following day, but after such a long trip and a small space, were ready to be home. Before flying out of Boston, we stopped in New Hampshire for the night to enjoy some more lovely fall foliage and also made a pit stop at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont!
All in all, what an exciting and fun trip! We loved seeing both new and familiar sights, and were happy to cross off one more country from our list. It's a wonderful city with so much to see, do, and taste. It's cheap, convenient, and it feels like you're a world away! One of the best things we did was buy a three-day bus pass, which gave us unlimited rides for three days for only $18 Canadian. Had we been sans-baby, we would have really been able to enjoy the restaurants and night life. But, the little guy brought a different kind of joy to our trip :)
We most of all enjoyed being together as a family of three. This was the most time Andrew has ever been able to spend with baby AT, and the bonding was so special and memorable. Even if it's just a weekend at home, time spent with family and those you love is always rewarding.
xo
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