WHERE ARE THE TACO STANDS?

The end of my stay in Montreal is near. This is a good time to give my ‘review’ of the city and it’s contents—keep in mind, I've experienced very little. I never feel like leaving Old Montreal. This is my second time in the city. We were here last year for the opening of Cirque’s KOOZA show (I wasn’t blogging then). The City: Old Montreal is wonderful. The historic stone buildings make it a pleasure to walk through all day. This part of the city is easy to get around by foot. The streets are stone bricked and narrow, making it difficult for vehicles to get through. It doesn’t change much around here. The exact same shops and artisans are in the same exact places. I get the feeling the French don’t like change very much. There is a great plaza nearby with street performers, caricature artists and the like. Once outside of ‘Vieux Montreal,’ it is a typical big city that looks much like any city in northeast USA with architecture that accommodates what I’m assuming is a long snowy winter. The historic architecture in the downtown area is beautiful. Outside of downtown, there are very few high rise buildings. Two to three story row housing is the norm. I haven’t been out to the suburbs but once so I speak only of downtown and the surrounding area. What is so charming about the housing, and is portrayed in postcards, are the stairways and floral colors that front all the row homes. The People: The best words to describe them are hardworking, efficient, punctual, and task based. For example: Breakfast is served continental style here at the hotel. At 10:25 each day (I’ve been here for 5 days now) the waitress makes her rounds to each table letting them know there are 2-3 minutes before the buffet will be closed. Promptly at 10:30 the staff comes out in unison to collect the buffet and by 10:40 everything is back in its place looking untouched. Everyone has a task and they don’t cross the lines. If there is a spill, the waitress promptly calls housekeeping because picking up spills, even if in the restaurant which could be considered waitress territory, is not her job. She would be insulting the housekeeper if she were to do the task herself. The shopkeepers are wonderful. Everyone is helpful and eager to please their Montreal guests. They aren’t big talkers here. It’s generally very quiet. Television: Now I know why people are so thin and well read here. No one is on the couch watching TV. The television viewing is horrible and boring. I hate to sound so harsh. There are a few English speaking channels, most are understandably in French. What’s interesting is they mix US stations on one channel. ESPN is the only English speaking channel that stays ESPN all day. Maybe CNN too. Food: I don’t think Montreal is known for outstanding food. Hence my question, “Where’s the taco stand?” Being from Texas, I’m missing the one constant we have there. I would take a taco stand and a cold Dr. Pepper over any of the food I’ve eaten here in Montreal—upscale restaurants included. (The upscale here reminds me of bad country club food.) Although, I have to say, I had the best pizza ever yesterday. I finally asked a few of the locals where they eat after picking too many losers on my own. ‘Pizzedelic’ was the suggestion for the day. No meal is inexpensive. Each meal I’ve eaten, good or bad, has cost at least 20$CAN (they put the $ sign after the number here). That’s for one entrée and one drink—no dessert. Skip the food here if you can. By the way, are Americans the only ones who eat sliced bread? No sandwiches are served on sliced bread. The baguettes, although delicious, are killing the roof of my mouth. I keep getting strange looks because I keep asking for a glass of ice to go along with my drink. I have to emphasize a FULL glass of ice. Are Southerners the only ones who need lots of ice with their drinks? Fashion: Not much fashion to speak of here. After observing this week, it makes complete sense (!) why French Couture is straight line. All the size zeros live here!—and in France I guess. The native women are so thin. They must be 10” wide (okay I’m exaggerating a little). I’ve concluded anyone who isn’t that small isn’t truly French Canadian. No rap influence, no goth, maybe 2 guys with tattoos all week-and the lady watering the hotel plants today, few piercings. Final note: NO obsession with Hollywood stars, fame and the like. I haven’t missed seeing or hearing any of that stuff this week. It’s becoming clearer to me why outsiders think Americans are so over the top. Tidbits: No IPods. I’m surprised there aren’t more scooters or motorbikes. Public transportation is clean enough. You pay 3$CAN for a soda. There are plenty of tourist sites to keep you occupied for a weekend. I’m spoiled in that the big city I live in has a lot of what they have here. Still, I get to enjoy it here whereas at home I don’t always make the time. Side note: I ran into a few teens from Jordan while waiting in line to see U2. They had been to 3 museums during their short stay and more were on their list. I suddenly realized how I take for granted that museums are relatively abundant in the US. They went on to talk about books I should read, etc. It seemed backward that they were telling me about the culture I should be including in my life. Americans have it in front of them all the time. Unfortunately, we don’t appreciate the gift that it is.