Friday, August 15, 2008

Montreal

Two different views of downtown.
Across the street from each other.
I have mixed feelings about Montreal. I used to love coming here for a couple of days at a time, but when I lived here 20 odd years ago, I wasn't the happiest camper.
Today the sun was shining and I went on a long walk after checking out my favorite place for heart attack food in Canada.Day or night there's always a line at Schwartz's. At $5.25 for a massive smoked meat sandwich carved in front of you, its less than half the price of Katz's in NYC. I used to eat here every Sunday afternoon when I lived in the city and always make the trek when I'm in town.
Good old fashioned Jewish artery blasting food.
Across the street is another Montreal institution: The ONLY thing to eat at "The Main" is steak.
It comes coated in a garlic and spices and is as good as anything you can whip up on your own BBQ. They also give you a hot-dog and piece of liver as entrees. At least they did 20 years ago and as a result I developed a taste for liver. I don't know if they still do it.
Walking along St Laurent I was quite taken with how upmarket its become. It used to be host to dive bars and bohemian wannabes. Its pretty much yuppified now.
St Denis used to be the French rival and played up its Boho character. Its now a cross between gay village in the evening and Starbucks -Soya latte land in the daytime. Oh ya, its also where people walk their pet rats.Nestled within the gentrification, you can still find cheap digs.That's if for today.
Not an inspiring post I know but its all I saw of note today. Maybe the weekend will throw up something more interesting.
Stay well.
T

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ben the Two off us .... :) at first i thought it was a ferret :) they have more appeal ,it's the tail that puts me off , penny :) x

Unknown said...

Tune in and find a pet rat pic! Yuk. Thank God it hasn't caught up in London yet. How's life anyway? Care to catch up some time for a few martinis. I can't believe summer is almost over.