My Trip to Montreal

On February 15th of this year my amazing friend Fadzai and I took an excursion to Montreal, Quebec. This trip was by far one of the best I've ever been on to date. Despite their consistently below zero winter weather, that stayed this way from the moment we arrived I truthfully could not have enjoyed my stay in downtown Montreal more than I did. The experience in itself was by far one of the best I've ever had and I will always remember it for various reasons.

Besides the fact that Montreal is one of the most architecturally stunning cities in Canada, what also made my excursion so flawless was that I experienced quite a few "firsts" during my stay. The complete range of new experiences I encountered made every passing moment totally worth the frivolously spent money. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, let me further explain.

One really awesome component about the trip was that both my friend and I went with our university. The trip was organized with the school making it essentially a college based experience. Our first night there we went to a night club called 'Lights' which was my first clubbing experience ever. Keep in mind that I am 18 years old and in Montreal this is the legal age for getting into clubs and drinking. I can't lie, Lights Night Club really did not live up to my expectations but it wasn't bad. I ordered my first drink from the bar, my drink of choice being a Long Island ice-tea which I found unnecessarily exciting but soon after, I got bored of their continuous playlists of non-stop House and Dub-step, which led to us leaving and arriving to our next stop at 'Xo Bar and Lounge'. This place was so bomb and the music they played was amazing! Everything I love, from old school hip-hop to 80's hits, some new age pop here and there but I couldn't complain. Over all the crowd and the variety of music selection was really good.

The second day in Montreal became the highlight of the trip very quickly. From about 10 am that day, my friend and I were already up and at it touring the city. The first thing we did was taxi down to the Montreal version of Toronto's Eaton Center. Man let me tell you, this place was LAVISH. I mean, it was then that I realized French people must have very expensive taste because everything looked so flawlessly structured and to an exquisiteness beyond my comprehension. Like everything had been polished with 50 carrot gold flex just before we arrived. It was amazing. Well, at least in my eyes. So of course we walked around like tourist, goggling at almost everything we saw. We took lot of photographs, got a bite to eat, and once we had reached the entire perimeter of the mall we made our way to the Montreal Metro Station. This subway station put me in such awe I nearly dropped dead. Okay, not actually. But being there was so surreal. I've only ever imagined traveling the Metro subway station in New York, so physically being in the Montreal Metro station was like a little taste of a dream. I like to think the Montreal version was close enough.

After doing some shopping and taking some more pictures there we made our way back to our hotel passing through some more shopping malls: Complexe Ailes and Complexe Desjardins and then back out to catch a taxi.

Later that same day Fadzai had mentioned to me that she had some guy friends from back home visiting in Montreal as well. We came to the conclusion that we may as well meet up with them since there wasn't much else to do at that point and made our way to their hotel. Once we got there and up to their room, Fadzia introduced me to all of them, we chilled and made some small talk. One of the guys proposed we go along with them to the Casino later that day. Now usually if someone were to make that kind of request from me back at home, I would not have hesitated to conjure up some lame excuse as to why I wouldn't be able to go (I am a little far from outgoing) but, something about the experience of just being away from home on my own to exploring a completely foreign city made me reject the idea of reacting that way and I agreed to go. This was probably one of the best decisions I'd ever made on impulse. As you've probably already guessed, this was also my first time going to a Casino and it was bad of course. "Bad" meaning amazing. (Excuse my lingo).
Although I didn't gamble, I did get to watch the guys play some poker, checked out the slot machines and over all just soaked up every amazing second of my Casino experience and its dopeness. Really though, being there with friends was just fun! And you already know I took photos too but hey, when else am I ever gonna get to walk into a Casino legally? Well probably not for at least another year as long as I'm in Toronto. I took pictures for the memories of course. Being there was just too sickening. I loved it.

After sometime my friend and I decided to leave. We said our thank you's and good-bye's to our old and new friends and then made our way back to our hotel area. Once we got back, we did some grocery shopping at the IGD so we wouldn't have to buy takeout for the next few days. Eating takeout everyday can really leave you feeling dirty so I was without a doubt more than happy about getting some sort of nutritional produce in my system after that shopping trip.

Fadzai and I  got back to our hotel and watched some TV, chatted each other up about our life philosophies and experiences like girls do, and overall just enjoyed each other's company. This still remains one of my fondest memories of the trip as well.

The next day was our last full day to explore Montreal so by this time we knew we'd have to make our last day the best. Since we hadn't done much sight seeing to begin with, we decided to go with the rest of our college members to the event they'd planned to visit Old Montreal. It was just a few blocks away from the hotel so we decided to go along and enjoy the view of Montreal's old architecture.
In exploring that area of the city, I saw a lady not too far in the distance with a horse and carriage. I probably sound wack saying this but I was almost petrified. I had never come into such close contact with a horse, at least not to my recollection and I had never even thought that I ever would. But of course, being in the city that I already have tried so many new things, fate would have it that   I'd make the conscious decision to at least move closer to it. We made our way to the horse and carriage and the closer I got the more panicked I became but still, I kept walking forward. Really, I'd never had an appreciation for animals until that day. Fadzai's non-stop laughing at how frightened I was to at least touch the horse (once I got close enough) didn't make the situation any easier but, as cheesy as this sounds, as it turned its head towards my face I quickly felt a little more relaxed. I remember sheepishly gazing into its eyes only to feel my heart jerk a little bit. There was something so humanistic about its eyes and its facial expressions that made it alot easier to connect to it on certain level. In those few moments I'd learned how to appreciate the existence of an animal. I don't mean to sound insensitive but I'd never had this appreciation before that day. Weirdly enough that first experience was really moving.

After walking around for a little while more, we hit the souvenir shops to do a little more shopping, stopped for some lunch at a The Montreal Poutinery (Montreal poutines are so bomb), took some more pictures of course, and then made our way back to our hotel until we came across the liquor store. Now I'm not too sure about liquor stores in the states but in Toronto CA the LCBO is a very well known liquor store franchise. In Montreal their SAQ is apparently the equivalent to our LCBO and because I am of legal drinking age in Quebec, yes, I didn't hesitate at the chance to purchase my first bottle. I mean why would I?! I had made it my new goal to try as many new things as possible.
I won't go into depth on my choice of beverage but the money was well worth it.

That same night we did some more club hopping on your own and ended up at this hip-hop night club called Musiq which was dope! This was by far the best night of the entire trip. It was flawless. Everything ended up being so perfect. It was really one of my top best experiences I've ever had in my life.
 
All in all, due to the complete realm of ever new experiences I endured, my trip to Montreal ended up being complete perfection. I could have never done a large majority of the things I did in Montreal, Quebec here in my home in Toronto and that is what made the trip especially amazing. The sequence of events that took place during my excursion all fell into a seemingly flawless order and each day always ended up being better than the last. I am so thankful to God that I had as much fun as I did and more importantly, in a completely safe manner. I can completely appreciate the experience and cherish it even more knowing that I had done something so rare and out of character to only come back home to none of the same things. No more clubbing, no more drinking, no more Casino, no more IGD, no more Metro subway rides, no more lavish malls with overly-friendly yet slightly creepy French people, and that's exactly what allows for me to get back to business and work 10X harder at my craft in school, because I had that miniature vacation filled new things that I can't have at the palm of my hands to take advantage of when I am here at home. You know?! ... Hopefully you do understand what it is I'm trying to communicate.

My trip to Montreal this year was an excursion to remember for a life time for that exact reason. As you've probably noticed reading this blog post, each event I've shared with you guys I also shared physically with an amazing new friend. Traveling to Quebec with Fadzai was amazing and everything we did together in Montreal was the same. I couldn't have asked to spend a better time in such an astonishing city with a better companion. She is so dope and I love her. I will never forget the memories we built together in such a beautiful city, and with my amazing college family!

ONE LOVE MONTREAL! <3