Montreal - the Arrival

Boonie land Montreal.

I arrived in Montreal early. Darryl's Hard Liquor and Porn party (the 6th edition) was to take place at 9pm. (BTW, There's no time zone difference.) My 12:41 arrival would give me plenty of time to check into my hotel, charge the assortment of camera batteries, get something to eat and maybe even rest or see some sights before the show. As with any good plans there always seems to be something that throws a wrench in it. The place I had booked was on Prince-Arthur West. I asked someone getting out of the train station directions and they told me to take a bus east along Sherbrooke.

East? what? Wasn't the address west? I looked on the map and sure enough it was east. It got cut off by 32nd street and continued west of that. That little part of the street was west. Seemed logical enough. I decided to walk the distance. It's easier to see the sights on foot. Personally I find I have a better sense of location and direction if I walk. Eventually the novelty wore off. I was getting tired, looked at the map and noticed I had only walked half way. I checked my watch. Three and a half hours went by. Holy Cow! I suppose taking a better look at the maps scales might have given me a better sense of timing. That's when I decided to get on the bus.

Was the hotel that far from downtown because it was cheap? Next time I'd pay the extra few bucks to get a place closer to the downtown area. I figured a taxi would cost about $50 each way if they had he same rate as in Toronto. Finally a half hour, two bus rides and a ten minute walk later I found myself on Prince-Arthur. My bag was starting to become heavy and my tripod was diggng into my shoulder so much so that my left hand wasn't getting enough blood. I approched the closest house on the corner to see the address and figure out which way to go. Eeek! The address was in the thirteen thousands. The Bed and Breakfast was in the six hundreds. I decided to call the bed and breakfast.

As fate would have it the bed and breakfast was a fifteen minute walk, maybe twenty, from the train station. The same train station I initially came out of at 12:41. D'oh! I decided to take the bus back but ran out of change on the way to the boonies. To break a ten I purchased two post cards at the local dollar store, then made my way to the nearest bus stop. By this point it was 4:30. I looked at the bus schedule. I had nine minutes to wait for the last bus. The last bus or be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. The idea of walking back who knows how long in order to try to get to the porn party didn't sound very tempting. I must have checked the map and the bus schedule 10 or 15 times, memorizing the bus routes back. Was the bus early? Did I miss the bus? Why was I standing there in the middle of nowhere again? I noticed it would tkae three buses to take to get back downtown.

The 186 bus ended up going past the subway. Montreal has a subway? Right on! Taking the green line, there was only one way to go as I was at the station furthest out, I made it to the bed and breafast by 6pm. Checked in, dropped off my stuff then went to grab food.

to be continued....