Tuesday April 5, 2011

We arrived at Montreal Airport at about 6:30 pm. Happy to see our luggage come down the chute after being sent on from Nanaimo.

Took a taxi to the Hyatt for a flat rate of $38 then got checked in. Not impressed with the hotel, generally shabby but it is undergoing a remodel. The room is fine though.

Wireless internet costs $12 a day in the room but there is free wi-fi in the food court of the attached shopping center so I will try it out.

Stayed up until midnight last night, late for us but Montreal is 3 hours ahead of Nanaimo so it was only 9 for us.

Wednesday April 6, 2011

After coffee and croissant in the food court we took a cab to Old Montreal. The day was clear but cool.

We started at the Basilica of Notre-Dame, built in 1839. We took a short tour and were very impressed with beauty of the church. It has very a high gothic arched ceiling and lots of stained glass windows.

After the tour we walked along Rue St. James and had a nice lunch at a little crepe café. We then continued up the street to the Place de Jacques Cartier where we took an hour long horse drawn carriage tour of the Old City. We were glad for the blankets provided because the wind was cold, we saw a few snow flakes but the sky was mostly clear. The driver was good, providing interesting descriptions of the old buildings. Lots of history here.

Karen fed some carrots to Mimi, the horse.

We took another taxi back to the hotel to rest our feet and get ready for the rest of our group arriving.

Tomorrow is the Telus Ambassadors convention , the reason we are here. It will be a boring day sitting in a meeting room but there is a dinner and awards Gala in the evening.