Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Montreal, Canada

While not every city I go to will be a favorite, I was really surprised that Montreal didn't impress me more. It wasn't that I strongly disliked it, it was just that I wasn't blown away. I'm a very intuitive person and this city just didn't click with me. When you know, you know and Montreal wasn't a 'know' for me. There were beautiful parts of the city but overall it felt like any other major city to me. Disclaimer: It goes without saying, once again, travel is subjective and one man's trash is another man's treasure. Instead of talking about what I didn't like, I'm going to highlight the few parts of the city I did really enjoy!

Notre Dame Cathedral
I mean, this is kind of a no-brainer and while I didn't go inside (I got there too late because Canadian detours are the ACTUAL worst but that's for another post), the outside and open plaza in front of the cathedral is beautiful. A lone guitar player gave church-goers the soundtrack to their visit, the sun was out and beautiful and it really was a great day to walk around.

Old Montreal
A short walk from the Notre Dame you'll find Old Montreal. This was my favorite part. When I travel, I love to feel transported to a new place and this section of the city gave this to me. Cobblestone streets, adorable shops, and the gateway to the Port, Old Montreal is really where it's at as far as Montreal goes to me. Plus, there's a Ben and Jerry's there...win!

Port of Montreal
Adjacent to Old Montreal, the Port of Montreal was filled with grassy areas, food trucks, and plenty of waterfront to walk around. After walking almost 2 miles in my aging Converse, this was a perfect place to rest and relax and enjoy being out in the sun.

As you can see, there were parts of Montreal that I really enjoyed. However, not pictured was a lot of attitude. Ever shop I went into from small souvenir shops to Ben and Jerry's, when the vendor realized I spoke English and not French, the attitude was real. I was warned about this prior to going but I never judge a place, person, or thing without experiencing it for myself. It was really awkward and placed an uncomfortable shadow on my day. Correct me if I'm wrong but it's a bilingual province and everyone speaks English, it just seemed like they didn't want to. Oh, well. My next day in Quebec City more than made up my lack of love for Montreal. Stay tuned!

Don't forget to post on Instagram with the hashtag #WanderlustWednesday! It can be anything--a throwback travel photo of a place you've been, a Google image of where you want to go, an inspirational quote, a travel themed trinket you have, anything that inspires your wanderlust.