Travel (Ridgeback Ramblings): WT

We had a two night stopover in Montreal before heading off to the UK and we only just found out that a couple of our social network friends actually live within 30 minutes of the CBD. We had originally become friends with Jack and Lori whilst looking for neighbours in "Farmville" less than a year ago. During the last few months we have had the pleasure of their support during our travels and have discovered that we have many interests in common. As we were about to leave Toronto, Jack and Lori invited us to contact them on our arrival in Montreal - this we did.

Our arrival in Montreal was not as straight forward as most other arrivals because most signage is in French and neither Ronnie or I speak a word of the language. We had a bit of difficulty finding an airport shuttle, there aren't any. We found that we had to catch a bus and to do that we needed a ticket which is dispensed by a machine at the airport - sounds simple hey! It only took us 2 hours to work this out and get on the bus. the bus driver was most helpful, calling out the stops in French, BTW there was not one French speaking passenger on the bus and we had a ball between all of us trying to figure out where we were and what the bus driver was saying. When we reached our stop ( the bus route had a left turn so we knew where to get off) we were only 2 blocks from our Hotel so I waited with the luggage while Ronnie went off to figure out which direction we should go (GPS was taking forever to update) - all part of the adventure!

Ronnie has come a long way in overcoming some of her fears and I am so proud of her. Her fear of height and flying, the last Helicopter flight she was in the co-pilot seat by her choice. Her fear of new places overcome with her going to look for our hotel, without prompting.

Once we had settled into our hotel and taken care of some mundane shopping, we called Lori and arranged to meet for dinner at about 18:00. We went downstairs once ready to await their arrival and recognised them instantly as we entered the lobby. they had just arrived.

Jack has a sound knowledge of Montreal Restaurant's due to his occupation which turned out to be very fortuitous for us - our own tour guide. Jack and Lori took us to "Old Montreal" and whilst they couldn't show us everything they wanted to, they certainly impressed us no end. We had a wonderful meal, not really surprising because Montreal is known for it's cuisine and Jack's knowledge of restaurant's just capped that off. The evening was such a relaxed joy, it was as though we had known each other for years and before we knew it the midnight hour was fast approaching and Jack had to work in the morning. Our hosts returned us to our Hotel and we parted hoping to one day return such a gracious favour.

Ronnie and I had planned to visit Quebec City but there were a few personal issues to deal with as well and since the weather turned to rain we decided to rather spend the time getting ourselves organised without the rush and so we spent most of the day in the hotel.