Visiting Montreal on Easter weekend - ideas?

Capitalism betrays Montreal yet again.

Oh, I forgot, my favourite dim sum joint:

http://www.restaurantlamaisonkamfung.com/

I've only been to the one in Chinatown (1111 St-Urbain), and it's a 10 minute walk for you.

But it'll be a 20 minute walk back. <chortle>

I second Unionist's endorsement of Kam Fung (again, the Chinatown location).

Mostly I came in to say that Fairmount Bagel is infinitely superior to St-Viateur. Anyone who tells you otherwise (say Maysie or Bacchus) is simply being a trouble-maker. The only thing St-Viateur has going for it is that it is across the street from Arahova.

*insert Homer Simpson moaning noises at the thought of Arahova, wipe drool off of keyboard*

[size=7]Dirty little secret: They're both incredibly good.[/size]

But I'll swear by St-Viateur (and at Fairmount) every time!

You won't be offensive at all.

I met Maysie and her sweetie! There was a launch of a book on women's self-defence stories (lagatta played a word-worrier part in that) at an utterly beautiful lecture hall in Mile End Library, which is located in a converted Anglican church. The little hall has a huge stained glass window with THREE depictions of a disturbingly blond Aryan Jeebus and his equally Waspy friends and fambly. This hall must have been the choir. Through glass, it looks over the main body of the library, with another big stained glass window at the other end. It is a lovely place to read.

Hope they are having, or have had, a wonderful time here despite our nasty Equinox snowstorm. Maysie, a year ago the student protests were in full swing and they took place in t-shirt weather starting from March, and the snow had all melted even up in the Saguenay!

You will weigh in with a little trip report. Mile End Library is also EXTREMELY close to the bagel places. It is one of the libraries with a multilingual vocation - there are many books in the main languages spoken in the vicinity (besides French and English). It is also the closest Mtl city library to my house, though I live in Petite-Italie in the Rosemont - Petite-Patrie district, not the Plateau district (which includes Mile End). Fortunately, my district (arrondissement) is building a community centre and library which will be close indeed, and include a swimming pool and other fitness facilities.

By the way, the Anglican congregation sold the lovely little church due to a declining number of members, but bought a nearby triplex with a storefront where they set up the Mile-End Mission. Despite gentrification, there are still many poor people in the area and the mission provides many services to all (whatever their creed).

The little church was far better preserved in its new use than the huge B'Nai Jacob synagogue nearby, which is now a building of the Collège Français, alas its impressive front was almost destroyed. People liked "modern" stuff in the 1960s whem the place of worship became a school building. Nowadays there is more respect for original architecture: http://www.imtl.org/edifices/Ancienne_Synagogue_B_Nai_Jacob.php

The lost façade: http://tracesofthepast.ca/articles/bnai-jacob-then-now/ I think there is an error in the text; I don't think the private high school "Collège français" is Catholic, there are students of all backgrounds and creeds, and certainly no shortage of Jews or Muslims.

As for Mtl tourism, I see that the NDP convention will be here very soon, in April - Yes, of course we can provide travel advice. The Convention Centre is in the oldest Chinatown and very close to Old Montreal as well, and it is very easy to access most of the places we've been talking about by métro, bus or Bixi bike.

That sounds like fun! A restaurant near me, Le Petit Alep (Syrian) has a great vegtarian plate (though it is not a veg restaurant - it is a good meeting place for vegetarians and "obligate carnivores") and many other vegetarian items. It is also the kind of place one can get a full meal or just a sandwich, salads, mezze things... On Jean-Talon, just opposite Jean-Talon Market.

Yes, I'm glad you mentioned the demo, because I didn't want to speak in your name - that particular one did not end in mass arrests - it was protesting those.

After our fun meet-up, I had some more errands to run on my bicycle and I espied, in front of a nearby supermarket, a big pickup truck with Ontario plates, and the following bumper sticker: marriage = (man symbol) + (woman symbol). Of course I left a note under jerk's windshield wipers, "ticketing" jerk for bigotry and homophobia, and asking why he hated my gay friends?

It was a very busy corner right by the Jean-Talon métro, so I wasn't really afraid of jerk swinging a punch at me.

I'm not very tall - had to stand on tiptoe to ticket jerk for homophobia, bigotry and general jerkdom.

It is snow crab season now and there was a lovely marine fragrance in the air at the market...

I'm a real public transport nerd too - in Toronto I'm quite capable of taking streetcars just to enjoy that transport mode, which alas we no longer have and have been trying to bring back.

Michelle and RR were staying in the same area where the NDP Convention will be, by the way - right next to our oldest Chinatown, and just north of the old city.

The only really recent addition to our métro system is the extension of the orange line up to Montmorency in Laval. That has proved extremely popular (there was a myth that the suburbanites up in Laval were wedded to their cars, but they've been taking the métro into Mtl in droves - and vice-versa). Alas that positive development means that the métro is always standing room only by the time I board it if I'm going to work at a conference at rush hour. We need parallel lines, and the best way to assure that (failing another métro line, far too costly now) would be a couple of parallel tramlines.

The blue line was completed in 1988, so it is 25 years old, but I could see that it wouldn't be on your radar if you weren't, say, attending a conference at Université de Montréal or going to the hospitals and such in Côte-des-neiges. It is very much incomplete as it was planned to extend eastwards to Ville d'Anjou, through St-Léonard, but alas, those funding problems (and some of the funding ending up in paper bags exchanged in cafés and engineers' offices...) There are plans to extend it westwards to the airport, but that would be very expensive. Different routes are disputed. There is far more transit use through NDG than in the more suburban, car-dependent areas towards the airport, but it is a story in itself, that. In the east, St-Léonard and parts of Anjou are densely populated and have high public transport use, as does Montréal-Nord.

Along with expansion, there is a need to retrofit stations to improve accessibility. There are lifts now in Berri-UQAM, Lionel-Groulx and Henri-Bourassa as well as all the new Laval stations, but so far none in the other two corresponding stations, Jean-Talon and Snowdon.

I don't see a GPS system, at least for public use, though there may be one to ensure better security for bus drivers.

Glad you've enjoyed your cider and beer.

As you can see, I'm suffering from a bout of that horrible early-morning insomnia, but I'm getting sleepy again and will be able to get a couple more hours' sleep. I turned in early, so I won't be sleep-deprived.

Of course you had a good time! You were in Montreal!

So glad you made it up to Jean Talon. It's a such a great market. And Dieu du Ciel's brewpubs is one of my old haunts, so I'm glad you got to taste the beer -- and some cider too! Add the bagels and you could scarcely do better on one weekend for Montreal staples!

Old Montreal is so lovely, especially in nice weather. It's too bad about Chinatown restaurants, though. I used to work at the English-language theatre in Old Montreal and I'm pretty sure we used to hit them up after shows for salt and pepper pork and squid, but I also feel an old nagging complaint rising up when you mention it (I've suppressed most bad memories about the town) so I'm not sure what to think.

Sounds like a great vacation. À bientôt!

Here is a report by Roger Annis on what seems to be the demo Michelle and RR came across: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article28320

Remember, this is for an international audience, which explains strange things such as "the neighbouring province of Ontario".

By the way, my tiny turkey meatballs are very good indeed. They incorporate cardamom, cumin, a bit of harissa, fresh parsley, red onion and dried onion, and other things I've forgotten.

Here is a recipe for general indications: http://www.wishfulchef.com/2012/01/baked-turkey-meatballs/ I made mine smaller, forming them with a teaspoon.

Oh, I thought that was about the demo before which was repressed with mass arrests.