So we arrived in Montreal and made our way to the AirBnB, again a lovely place this time all to our selves. Montreal even on first arrival felt more liveable than Toronto or Ottawa, and a lot more European. This had much to do with all of the signage being in French, but the biggest was the Architecture which we are more used to from European cities. Still set out on a grid like most "New World" cities, but smaller duplexes, and more history.

After dropping our bags, we ventured to one of the local wine bar, which specialised in wine and desert. We got to practice our French, and I was impressed with how it went (Frankie has the edge when it comes to languages, so I let her do most of the talking). With most of the ordering done in French, our lovely waiter gave us recommendations for dinner thankfully in perfect English. The recommendation was great, and we even finished off the night with Limoncello (it was an Italian restaurant). The following day, with blue sky we headed out. We walked to city and up to a viewing point in Mount Royal (see above pic) after this we headed to the old town, where we walked around the historic buildings such as the Notre-Dame Basilica.

After the walk, we sat in a Coffee shop to refuel, prior to heading to the NHL game we had booked. Unfortunately, when we connected to the Wi-Fi we got an email from Ticketmaster, advising that the game had been "postponed". Upon further news reading we found out that the COVID-19 was kicking off more than we had realised in Canada and also around the globe, we found that our NBA had also been "postponed" for Saturday night along with many events around the world. This was the only time we had been effected on our journey. We headed home, after a bit more exploring.

The following day was foul weather, so we headed to the Canadian Centre for Architecture, where we were asked to read their COVID-19 policy before entering - as far as we could tell this was just - wash your hands and don't spit on people. There were some thought provoking displays especially about how tourism has changed the world. After this, and a bit deflated after all of the COVID-19 talk, we were at a bit of a lose end, so decided to jump on a train and head to a park 20 minutes out of the city. Fortunately this was the Olympic park, which we didn't really know existed which was actually really. Although it felt a bit like the apocalypse had come, as it was deserted, a little run down and very futuristic, once we found the entrance, there was a handy display and we were able to head up to the top for a most spectacular view of the city.

After leaving the Olympic Park, we made our way to mile end, where we bought some tasty local meat, cheese and bagels which Frankie made into a fine feast back at the flat.

Our plan had always been to eat at home, so we could sample some delicious local ingredients. Walking back from Mile End on a Friday night around 20:00 we felt a little sad peering into the restaurants, which looked empty. Our server in the butchers, had said it was great we were his last customers of the day, as we were the only ones who had been buying food for fun rather than to stock up. Hopefully all are well and safe, despite the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Joe and Frankie