Johnny Flynn

Last week was a wake-up call for me. I realized that I only have about 5 weeks left of my exchange before I go back home. Its time to talk less and do more. Inspired by this me and Natalie decided to go on a little adventure. We left Montreal with a local bus and got off at a little town. Originally the aim was to find a place to go trail riding, but we never found one. Instead we met two local girls who spent the rest of the afternoon by taking us to their house and later to a chocolate factory! These things rarely happen in Finland. 

It was also pretty cool to find out that our school has a group called  VIDA (Vivre Intensement D'Aventures!). This is a group of students interested in action sports. Tomorrow they will be showing Eye Trip, skimovie at our school! Looking forward to that.

+ Next weekend Johnny Flynn at the Cabaret Mile End!

GREYHOUND ADVENTURE

Whoa, I had no idea that greyhounds could have internet!? We"re right now sitting with Natalie on a night bus to Montreal. 43 Minutes down, 7 hours 57 minutes to go. I love the hour stop at Albany, where you have to get out of the bus in the  middle of the night and sit at the bus terminal"s benches. After that, in about three hours you get  to the border where you also have to get out to get your passport checked out, and in the worst case take all your luggage out of the bus as well (4.00 am).  


Getting to this particular bus wasn"t a very certain thing and caused some unnecessary panic. We were wise and bought "reserved" seating tickets for 5 dollars, which basically secured a seat for us in the NY-MTL bus. It also allowed us to show up at the terminal only 20 minutes prior to the departure (not hours before). 


Well, it sounds quite nice until you come to the bus when they"re already filling them up and one of them is already full. You get a super pissed off lady checking tickets who is basically saying "its not my problem that you miss the bus, get to the end of the line". Haha, she also said that "We're in NY and things don't work the same way here as they do in Montreal". Thats quite true. 


Now movie. Thanks Ana for a great trip! 

...

A nice week, end of midterms, super warm sunny 15C day (feeling like summer for a sec), biking with BIXI bikes for like almost 3 hours (awesome system by the way), visit to the Village Gai, Tahiti 3D (again, mm kelly slater) and hanging out at Le Plateu. Life here in Montreal is not so bad eh? 

Find more artists like Blip Blip Bleep at Myspace Music

Theres a really cool MILK campaign going on at Montreal. I was so happy to see one of these dudes hanging out at the top of a bus stop. http://www.reconfortant.com/
Now about to get ready for the GREYHOUND night bus. We re going to NY! 

East coast road tripping.

Last week was great getting to see dear guests from Finland, my parents decided to pay a visit. It was fun again to see Montreal and its surroundings as a visitor, a tourist. It seems like you dont consider yourself as much as a outsider anymore, but more of a local. You know how the busses work, where the grocery stores are and french doesnt sound too weird to hear anymore. It was funny to accidentally speak french at the US side, when youre so used to using it here. 


A bit more than a week passed in a flash, and soon we were sitting in a cafe at Harvard, Boston, waiting for my bus to leave back to Montreal, and a plane back to Finland. However, so much can be fit into day over a week: montreal sightseeing, mt. tremblant national park hike, biking in the eastern townships, winetasting, bed and breakfasts, cape cod + its beaches, boston outlets, and harvard uni. Thanks for a great trip guys ! See you again in couple of weeks.


However, getting back last Sunday was a fall back to reality. Time for a midterm week. Three down, one more to go. Next weekend time for another lovely guest and trip to NYC. If anyone knows any "must" places to visit let me know, I really dont know  much about the city! Below few pics and kings of convenience to suit the mood, enjoy!

Chocolat Triflé.

Last night it was finally time for our "girls night out", which really meant eating Natalie's Triflé (that she had promised to do us from the beginning of our exchange), stopping by at a house party at St. Denis (Natalies house, organized by her roommates) and checking out a new bar in the neighborhood. It was a lovely evening, thanks girls! 

Earlier that day I had gone to get my hair cut. The guy working on my hair told me couple of places to check out, and concerts that were coming up. One of the places he recommended was called Else's. This was the places we decided to go to, and it was a very nice surprise, especially to our Norwegian friend :) The founder of the place had in fact been from Norway (passed away couple years ago), but the Norwegian influence was quite evident in the interior as well as "under the bar menu" (with Linie Aquavit, some Norsk snaps). The place had really mellow music and cozy atmosphere, topped of with candles and Cidre Chaud. 

Maintenant, we re sitting at Café Névé, which seems to have turned into our regular place to get lunch, study, drink tea. Tonight my parents arrive here, and I cant wait for all the things we have planned starting from tomorrow. Next week its destination, Vermont, Cape Cod and Boston. If we re lucky we might get some windsurfing or surfing done at the beaches of Cape Cod. Although, couple days ago I saw an article about Great Whites appearing at the shore this time of the year, one had been about 3 meters long.. we ll see about surfing :D (Check out this awesome picture:  (Great white shark and Kayak)

Now, some french homework ! Ill be missing few classes next week..

Le vrai goût de la réglisse.

It was a nice surprise to find a box of Panda Réglisse tendre, at one of the local food stores.. <3

La Flambée des couleurs

I had been waiting a while for an opportunity and time to get up to the Laurentides, the mountains just north of Montreal. I had heard that it was really pretty to go there during the fall to see all the different colors painted over the mountains around you. I was also quite curious what would one of the biggest ski areas look like!


SO, with Natalie and her parents we decided to spend Saturday climbing up Mt. Tremblant. As you can see from the pictures, the trees had in fact turned yellow, orange, red and some had lost all of their leaves already. Maybe by next weekend many more trees will be without them. (Hopefully not! So Auli and Viki can enjoy them as well). The ski village of Tremblant, looked quite a bit like an ski resort from the Alps and was full of tourists. Although, it was understandable as it was a Saturday and the first sunny day we had seen in a while. In the link below you can see how Montreal looked like for couple of days in a row last week. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/620/3269075/5/caqc0363/plpcities?ref=ugc_city_thumbs


The hike up took about 4 hours, with occasional photo opportunities and snack breaks. A total of 6.5km, up about 250 meters, didnt go without difficulties (muddy paths, keds shoes, invasion of tourists, and lack of energy) BUT we all happily made it to the top. It was really strange to sit in the ski lodge and drink hot chocolate, with out all the ski gear and snow outside. However, the views were magnificent!


Now after a french study session, readings for tomorrows classes, plate of ratatouille, several cups of tea and good music, I think its time to finally go to bed. Tomorrow another 8.30-21.30 day. Below some pics from the Mountain!


Ohh and by the way, congrats NIPWITZ for the Best Webisode award at IF3 Annecy! 

The Carpet

Chairlifts waiting for the ski season! 

We didnt encounter any bears, unfortunately

View from Tremblant

Spikes