Montreal – Part 3

While walking around Montreal on St Laurent Blvd we discovered quite a bit of street art in the form of some rather large murals. We later learned that Montreal hosts the Festival Mural – Festival d’Art Urbain. Some of these murals are quite amazing. Makes the case for visiting Montreal again as I would imagine witnessing these murals actually being created would be a real treat

Street Art Montreal

Street Art Montreal

Street Art Montreal

Vaughn Bod? Street Art Montreal

Montreal – Part 2

While in Montreal we visited the Notre-Dame Basilica. It is a thing of beauty and by getting there early, I was able to take some nice photographs using a tripod and my full frame fisheye lens

Notre-Dame Basilica Montreal

In the evening we walked about Montreal and stopped by the Miracle Montreal: Pop-up Christmas-themed bar for some holiday themed beverages

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We did not have much snow in Montreal, but there was a light dusting on Christmas Eve which made our walk back to the hotel after dinner very nice

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While walking around Montreal in the evening we noticed these interesting light displays on the sides of buildings and in the alleyways which we later learned was an art installation called Cité Mémoire

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Montreal is an amazing city and magical in the winter.

Montreal – Part 1

Bound For Canada

We decided to go someplace very cold for Christmas. Montreal and Quebec City! It’s a relatively short flight from Houston to Montreal where we plan to spend a few days before taking the train to Quebec City. Temperatures are consistently well below freezing this time of year so we stocked up on parkas, hats and long underwear and made our way to the Great White North.

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The thing Cynthia most wanted to see in Montreal was the Insectarium. We caught an Uber our to the site of the museum and had a great time wandering around looking bugs

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Cynthia even got to hold a walking stick!

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While in Montreal, I wanted to grab a smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz’s Deli.

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Cynthia also enjoyed immersing herself in the French language as she has been studying French for the last few years

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Norway – Day 13 – Lilihammer Back To Oslo

Short drive today through a rather unremarkable part of Norway. We arrived in Oslo pretty early and had to wait a few hours to get checked into our hotel. Temps are in the mid 80s and our hotel has no A/C so that’s a bit of a downer. The main thing we wanted to do this day was visit the Vigeland Sculpture Park. We decided to take the 30 minute walk from the hotel and hoped we wouldn’t get overwhelmed by the heat. We have a 6:30 am flight back to Houston tomorrow so this would our last hurrah. We took it slow and were able to make it without collapsing. Once we were there we were in great shape and enjoyed the park immensely, despite the heat. Tomorrow we catch a 6:30 am flight back to Houston. All in all, this has been a great adventure.

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Oslo, Norway