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Feb. 17th, 2016 09:13 pmChuckro hit most of the main points from the weekend. A couple random thoughts:
- As we were walking through the (terribly romantic, snow-covered, historic) streets of Old Montreal on the way to dinner, we heard a weird air-horn-like sound. We climbed up a little snowbank and looked down on the next street, where there was some kind of protest going on in front of a big building. We couldn't actually see or hear what they were protesting, though. So we went on to dinner. A little while into dinner, cop cars start streaming past the restaurant (just lights though, no sirens). Five, ten, twenty...they ran out of room and backed up the street, just sitting there. I finally pulled my phone to find out what was up. Apparently the mayor and the Secretary General of the UN were at a function in that fancy building, and the unions were protesting...something? Maybe Uber? It's still kind of unclear to me.
- While on the wine tour, one place had syrup they had made of condensing alcoholic cider all the way down. They warmed it up to pourable, then took us all outside and poured it out in a trough of freshly fallen snow. You twirled it around popsicle sticks as it turned into taffy. It was amazing.
- The Underground City is really impressive--entire malls beneath the streets and office buildings. I very intentionally chose a hotel that hooked directly into the tunnel system, which meant when it was -12F and Chuckro had a cold of doom, we could get to stores, restaurants, and even a movie theater without ever setting foot outside.
- I'm so glad Chuckro called Avis from the customer service line of death. Because by the time we got to the counter in person, they'd ceased letting people borrow cars to cross the border and were recommending people take a taxi to Plattsburgh and try to get a car there. That's more than an hour south.
- The drive between Montreal and Plattsburg at night is deeply weird. It's like being in a tunnel. Or a sensory deprivation chamber. There are absolutely no lights or buildings. All you can see is a little bit of road in front of you and the other few cars on the road. I cannot tell you whether the land is wooded or plains--I literally could not see beyond the shoulder. We were there around 7 or 8, so there were cars on the road. I can't help but think that driving there at midnight would be terrifying. Once the snow started a little, the visibility actually improved--having something for the light to reflect off of actually made it easier to see the contours of the road.
- We had to stop at one point just to chip the ice off the windshield wipers and the headlights. There was probably a solid inch of ice built up. (The road surface actually wasn't as bad--when we stopped, the rain was just rain on the windshield. But while we were driving, the wind chill was just enough to freeze the ice. I wish I'd gotten pictures of the rearview mirrors - the ice would melt and reform so we actually had sideways icicles sticking off the sides. All poky bits. Looked like DC Comics' Doomsday.)
- As we were walking through the (terribly romantic, snow-covered, historic) streets of Old Montreal on the way to dinner, we heard a weird air-horn-like sound. We climbed up a little snowbank and looked down on the next street, where there was some kind of protest going on in front of a big building. We couldn't actually see or hear what they were protesting, though. So we went on to dinner. A little while into dinner, cop cars start streaming past the restaurant (just lights though, no sirens). Five, ten, twenty...they ran out of room and backed up the street, just sitting there. I finally pulled my phone to find out what was up. Apparently the mayor and the Secretary General of the UN were at a function in that fancy building, and the unions were protesting...something? Maybe Uber? It's still kind of unclear to me.
- While on the wine tour, one place had syrup they had made of condensing alcoholic cider all the way down. They warmed it up to pourable, then took us all outside and poured it out in a trough of freshly fallen snow. You twirled it around popsicle sticks as it turned into taffy. It was amazing.
- The Underground City is really impressive--entire malls beneath the streets and office buildings. I very intentionally chose a hotel that hooked directly into the tunnel system, which meant when it was -12F and Chuckro had a cold of doom, we could get to stores, restaurants, and even a movie theater without ever setting foot outside.
- I'm so glad Chuckro called Avis from the customer service line of death. Because by the time we got to the counter in person, they'd ceased letting people borrow cars to cross the border and were recommending people take a taxi to Plattsburgh and try to get a car there. That's more than an hour south.
- The drive between Montreal and Plattsburg at night is deeply weird. It's like being in a tunnel. Or a sensory deprivation chamber. There are absolutely no lights or buildings. All you can see is a little bit of road in front of you and the other few cars on the road. I cannot tell you whether the land is wooded or plains--I literally could not see beyond the shoulder. We were there around 7 or 8, so there were cars on the road. I can't help but think that driving there at midnight would be terrifying. Once the snow started a little, the visibility actually improved--having something for the light to reflect off of actually made it easier to see the contours of the road.
- We had to stop at one point just to chip the ice off the windshield wipers and the headlights. There was probably a solid inch of ice built up. (The road surface actually wasn't as bad--when we stopped, the rain was just rain on the windshield. But while we were driving, the wind chill was just enough to freeze the ice. I wish I'd gotten pictures of the rearview mirrors - the ice would melt and reform so we actually had sideways icicles sticking off the sides. All poky bits. Looked like DC Comics' Doomsday.)
