Montreal Memorial Day 2006
Rachele and I went to Montreal for the day this past weekend. It was the longest time we’ve ever left our one year old daughter Esther—just over twelve hours with my parents. Remarkably, she survived, and didn’t even miss us.
Every time I go to Montreal I’m reminded of just how much better Canada is.
For example, Senzala, a Brazilian breakfast place in Mile End, served the most delicious gourmet poached eggs (pictured here with Rachele):
We also had a great time visiting the Botanical Garden, a vast park that dwarfs anything Boston has to offer. Here are a few examples of the flora—click on the image to see the full size version.
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Along with poached eggs, beautiful gardens, and socialized healthcare, what more could one ask for?
nobody Jan 28
Don’t miss the Biodome! It’s an enclosed space divided into different biospheres (antarctic with penguins, rain forest with those animals, etc.) It’s amazing to wander freely inside and see the animals living their lives. I enjoyed watching purple gallinules (birds) walk on lily pads on the water, tiny bear-like creatures in trees look at me and grimace and run away, the sea otters, the king eider ducks, etc. They live in their proper environments separated by air-lock double-doors you go through.
also there is the Insectarium full of amazing bugs, a honeycomb with transparent walls so you can watch bees gather pollen outside and come in and make honey, etc.
When my wife and I went, tickets for the Insectarium, Biodome and Botanical Gardens could be had together for some deal.
Hub Jan 28
Sometime I really miss Montreal (I’m still in Canada however).
As for the socialized healthcare, don’t be mistaken. It is here, but whether it works well is another story. Just that last time I was sick I couldn’t see a doctor because to clinic was accepted new patients…. that shortly describe the problem.
(the grass is always greener elsewhere :-) )
Jamie Jan 28
Hahahahahaha. Adam, remember when we went to the Biodome in 1997?
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
Hub: Although I have top rate health insurance here in the U.S., I was unable to get my top five picks for primary care physicians–none of them accepted new patients! Not all that different.
Jamie: Of course I remember that. I remember everything!
Mick Jan 28
U went for the day? Did you drive or fly?
And how’s goes the battle against blog-spam? I see you’ve implemented the hidden text-box thingy.
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
Mick: we drove to Vermont (about 4 hours) and left our daughter there. The next morning, we drove to Montreal (about another 2 hours). It would be too much to do the roundtrip from Boston in one day, but from Vermont it’s manageable.
Comment spam is very well under control. I get about 100-150 spams every day that are correctly filtered. It’s very rare that a spam gets through or that a non-spam gets filtered.
Simon Law Jan 28
Hey, the next time you’re in Montréal, you should let fellow developers know!
Glad you had a great time.
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
Thanks for the note, Simon… It happened to be our wedding anniversary, so my wife might not have taken so well to beer-drinking and key-signing with other developers, but next time I’m in the area I will circulate an email!