For the great writer Pietro Trassi Montreal was a place that he would discuss a lot and having visited multiple times myself, I can completely understand why a creative mind would absolutely love such a place. I first went to Montreal around 7 years ago right in the middle of one of the worst winters that they have ever had, naturally I didn’t get to see much more than the open fire of our hotel lobby, I as determined therefore to get back to Montreal and so the following summer we made a trip to both Toronto and Montreal, and this was when the city really showed off her true colors.
I have since returned multiple times and here is exactly why I keep on going back.
Culture
As anyone who has previously visited a French area of Canada you will know that the culture is this beautiful combination of old and new, a clash of cultures which works in this perfect symbiotic relationship. You can feel this when you speak with the people, when you look at the buildings and also when you see certain scenes, the wine bar and cafe scenes here in Montreal clearly comes from the French inspiration, delivered in a very Canadien way.
Calm
This is by far and away the calmest city that I have ever spent time in and the best way that I can describe it is that it feels like 50% of the population upped and left, except it is always like this, calm and spacious. I love the sense of space here in the city and whilst there may be less people, it operates as though there are more. Trains and buses are regular and of course rarely full, stores are easy to get around and wandering the streets is a delight.
Events
The art scene here in Montreal is a really cool and there are many public events on which you can check out during your visit here. On top of this the summer months are absolutely alive with the number of public events that are on from music festivals to outdoor markets and carnivals, this is very much a city which knows how to let it all hang out and enjoy themselves. Even during the cold winter months this dynamic city is able to react and continues the fun with winter sports and icy events.
Bagels
It may seem rather arbitrary but the bagels in this city are like nowhere that I ave ever eaten before, and I am including New York in that list. There is something about the way in which the bagels are in this city that just blows my mind and I always try to grab at least 10 or 20 to take home with me after I have been here.
Have you been to Montreal before? Let us know what your thoughts were on it in the comments below, did you love it as much as I did?