Where ever I may roam

The adventure started easily enough. I dropped the bike off at Air Canada Cargo in Vancouver on Sunday. The bike was weighed, which came in at 340kg with me on it and was shipped at 250kg. After paying and sorting out the paperwork, which included a bit of furious emailing as the dangerous goods documents I printed needed the color border, the bike was security inspected. The inspection took a while as everything was unpacked and looked at. I haven’t seen someone move so slowly before, however it was re-packed fairly well.

My flight was unremarkable. I got to the gate just as they started boarding, so there wasn’t much time spent waiting. I’d picked a exit row seat by the window when I booked the flight, which was a bonus as I’d forgotten about it. Shortly after take off I fell asleep and woke up just before landing.

Collecting the bike from Cargo in Montreal was fairly straight forward. After getting the address I took a taxi out there as it was on the other side of the airport and the roads that went between the two terminals are commonly referred to as landing strips. I got to the hostel easily enough and found parking for the bike in a secure parkade for $12.50 a day.

The bike, as received in Montreal

Most of Tuesday was spent wandering around Montreal, before and after checking into the hostel. I discovered that there was the Frankofolies music festival on, which I went back to that evening to listen to some music.

Way before the music started

I spent 3 hours on Wednesday wandering around the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Visiting the museum was the point of spending a full day in Montreal as I didn’t get a chance to take a look last time I was here. There was heaps to see throughout the various floors of the 4 pavilions. I found the Pompeii exhibit very interesting, not only for all the information they had on life there at the time, but how well the artifacts were preserved. After the museum I walked down to the river and along to the Old Port and Old Montreal, looking at the shops, restaurants and buildings down there.

A building in old Montreal

I’ve really enjoyed the time I spend in Montreal.