Monday 26^th November

  

The VIA train arrived in Montreal at 8.30 am, so we took a taxi ride to meet our hosts from ATC Heide and Francis who live in a close-by suburb to the city.  

Heide recognized that we had travelled overnight and that we would appreciate a shower first before doing any sightseeing.  She armed us with maps and plenty of instructions for seeing the city before Francis took us to the subway and saw us on our way. “Old Montreal” sits aside the harbour and reminded us both of Sydney and Hobart in that there were many older buildings which we could see had been warehouses to accommodate trade and shipping. 

They are preserved and in very good condition, and like many other port buildings have been converted into trendy restaurants and boutiques.
Our next stop was the World Trade Centre on recommendation from Heide. 

This building features a wonderful water feature, serene and very calming.  Overlooking the feature is a statue of Amphrotite, wife of Poseidon, God of the sea. The feature is a large black marble slab with water seemingly just floating on top of it.  The centre was festively groomed and provided an attractive photo opportunity.

From here we visited the Basilica of Notre Dame and while it would have been interesting to visit, we were not amused at having to pay to enter – truly – churches charging a fee!!!

Not that far away is the Basilica of St. Patrick which was fee-free. It is a beautiful church inside with so many details it was difficult to pick one on which to concentrate.  A feeling of great reverence and awe within this building and I would have to say my pick of the churches in Monreal.

The Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church however was not interested in our money and we were able to walk in and around and be inspired at the story behind the more recent building project which took place underneath this church.   In Montreal, the Anglican Cathedral is known as the "church on stilts". In the '80's the cathedral was in dire need of money and sold the land so that a skyscraper and mall could be built. Since the agreement was to leave the cathedral standing in its original position, a hold was dug all around the base so that the cathedral could be elevated on stilts while the work was being completed. The addendum to all the building and renovations was that not one single service was ever compromised. It was not the first brush of the cathedral with modernity. Since the church was built on unstable grounds the belfry was too heavy and was putting undue stress on the whole structure in the 30's. So the stone steeple was removed (it still stands in the garden) and a much lighter steeple constructed of aluminium but made to look like stone was erected.