My father used to do a bunch of traveling. He earned plenty of miles, hotel rewards, and other such perks. He gave me a hotel certificate good for a three day stay at any Sheraton.
At the time, I was working in Boston in a research position that I didn’t really enjoy, but it was a stepping stone to graduate school. Taking a break from that was a welcome relief.
My then-boyfriend and I decided to go to Montreal. We drove up without a plan, other than our hotel reservations.
It is amazing how as we entered the city (I believe we crossed a bridge,) the whole world changed. I’ve never been to Europe, but I’ve heard many describe Montreal as being European.
I was hooked!
I don’t speak French at all, but my then-boyfriend was able to translate. I think in a way it was cooler not to understand the beautiful announcements over the subway loudspeaker or read the signs. It was fun to be plunked into a place where everything was similar to my ordinary life, and yet not.
Most of our trip was spent walking up and down streets, discovering various shops or attraction on the fly. One such find was a hockey museum. The place was deserted, and yet had amazing riches inside: sticks to try out, various memorabilia from the NHL, old equipment, history-of-the-sport explanations, and so forth. It was an amazing adventure.
Our other fantastic hockey-related good luck occurred when we were strolling outside the Molson Center and realized a preseason game was going on that very night against the Leafs.
A Canadiens versus Leafs game? I was stunned at our luck.
We bought tickets at face value from a guy hanging outside the arena. I was worried they might be counterfeit, but my then-boyfriend was annoyed by my hesitancy. People are nice in Canada, remember? Honest people. Swell people.
And he was right. The tickets were genuine.
It was such a fun experience, and I kept the little rally signs until they disintegrated.
My then-boyfriend and I had a fight while in Montreal, but the experience as a whole was amazing. I promised myself I would someday go back, but I haven’t yet. That boyfriend, however, ended up marrying a woman from Montreal, so he certainly has!
