OHHHLD Montreal

okaybee, here's MONTREAL! FINALLY! Check it out ~ the next FIVE posts are all about my August trip. hope ya Enjoy!
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Mmkay, I have absolutely no clue - ZERO CONTROL - as to how these photos will spread and position themselves on the page, so I'll just describe the photos and hopefully you can figure out which is which on your own... Our first day in Montreal, I was first introduced to the city from the water, then by horse-drawn carriage, and later that evening, by the use of my own two legs, walking the cobblestone streets of old Montreal. See the pic with the white clock tower with the strategically centered Canadian flag to the side? We were going up river and past this location, and I was taking, oh? a couple dozen or more shots? trying to get "the very best" angle! This one is it, I'm tellin' ya - the best I could get. You can even see old Montreal in the backdrop. The single spired church set behind a line of trees on the water = this is the marina where the boat of my honey-man's father is kept, where we spent 4 of our 7 nights' stay.

By no means "old" when compared to OLD Montreal, the oddly stacked cube-like building of sorts is called the "Habitat," built for the 1967 World's Fair Expo held in Montreal, now serving as private condos. The arrangement is way, way cool - can't think of any other way to describe it - very trippy.

The buildings in "old" Montreal are very much, indeed, quite OLD - the city was founded in 1642! Serving as a river port city, all the old building storefront "signs" were painted on the buildings themselves, intended to be visible from the river and they can still be seen. And the streets follow the crazy curve of the river. Sometime in the mid-1800s (sorry baby, I can't remember the year! -although you told me how many times? Edit: I've been informed once again - "sometime in the 1850s"), Montreal was nearly destroyed in a major city fire. Thereafter, the buildings were all built with staggered rooftops to prevent city fires from easily jumping from one wooden roof to another; structrually, everything but the buildings' rooftops are made of stone.

Montreal's "Notre Dame" cathedral - I love these old churches. The architectural design and the many decorative details are amazing. By the way, Montreal has loads and loads of Catholic churches!!! - the landscape is absolutely dotted with them, many topped with gleaming metal rootops that can be seen from far distances, shining in the sun. I know that on my next trip, I will want to take an afternoon alone (won't drag the boys along with me - I love them too much) so I can check out the local churches.