29th Day - Montreal

Up early so we could have our Brekky before leaving the ship - can't forego any of those meals! Because we were willing and able to carry all our own baggage, we were allowed off as soon as we docked. We caught a taxi about 7.30 for our hotel near the airport. This proved to be a $50 trip. Our room was ready to our surprise so we settled in and then had to get to the city for our tour. There was no shuttle bus or train from here so we had to call a cab again ($40). The first stop was the Grayline depot where we picked up our tour voucher and, as we were right in the city, we wandered around looking at the shops as well as having a coffee and finding an ATM. As our tour was to be 3 1/2hours, we had some soup and a drink before boarding. Just as well, as there wasn't anywhere to buy a snack at our tour stops. Our tour guide was a real mine of information and easy to listen to, making it very interesting with his little jokes etc. we really felt the tour was well worth it as we saw such a lot of the area. There are some 3million people with tourism and education some of the major income earners. Some of the highlights were the Olympic Stadium which has an "arm like" support 50stories high, the Casino, Notre Dame Cathedral (where Celine Dion got married with 3000 guests ), St. Joseph Oratory, the Royal Park, a massive bridge structure, a Fun Park, McGill University and lots of other landmarks It was hard to believe that the streets often are under 10ft of snow and the tourist season can be as short as May to September with snow in the streets in Sept. Summer, or spring, has come late this year and the tulips are just ready to open. The council workers can be seen planting out all the seedlings on the roundabouts and parkland. There should be a good showing in a few weeks. After the tour we found the entrance to the massive underground shopping centre and had a look around there and had a meal before getting a cab back to our hotel ($45). We have booked a cab for 5am tomorrow for airport. As I ( Eric) forgot his camera today ,no photos were taken so purchased a few post cards and these are attached .