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Twosday XV: Montreal Edition

Published on April 29, 2014 By Emily. Updated on April 29, 2014

There’s been a bit of silence around here lately…but I have a good excuse!  Last Thursday my sister and I surprised my mother for lunch in Portsmouth, NH then whisked her off for a surprise milestone birthday trip to Montreal.   It was a trip we’d been planning along with the help of my dad for months and I’m so glad we made it happen.  My mom had no idea what we were up to and we had an awesome girl’s weekend in Canada.

family photo

Reasons I thought my mom might be suspicious that we were up to something
1. My dad’s insistence that exploring Portsmouth for 4 days in the off season would be really fun for he and mom.
2. My April 15th blog post which contained a half week of menu plans followed with “?” because I “wasn’t sure” what we’d be doing or eating.  I appreciate that she doesn’t think I’m that obsessed with menu planning, but when I make a menu plan I make it as complete as possible and breaks are the perfect time to try out new things.

poutine

“Traditional” Montreal foods I made sure I ate
1. Poutine, which was pretty darn tasty and I’d definitely order again
2. Crepes, which were also awesome, though the sweetness of the honey on my honey almond crepes ended up being a little overwhelming

basilica interior

Attractions I recommend, if you’re headed to Montreal
1. The Notre-Dame Basilica
2. The Biodome

Activities I don’t recommend
1. Walking all over the city in the pouring rain
2. Being too stubborn to use an umbrella

Things my mom experienced for the first time
1. Staying in an apartment my sister found on AirBnB
2. Going on a road trip with her daughters as drivers, complete with mix CDs

Emily and a butterfly

Moments luck was on our side
1. Getting to experience the “Butterflies Go Free” exhibit at the Botanical Gardens just days before it ended. It was a highlight of our trip that we didn’t even know about before we headed out to the Botanical Gardens on Friday morning.
2. Arriving at the Basilica just moments before a tour started. A tour that happened to be in English and also happened to be the last tour of the day.

Breakfasts I enjoyed, presented without comment

1.  breakfast in montreal

2.  croissant

Souvenirs I purchased for myself
1. Maple tea. I have no idea if it will be any good, but I couldn’t resist.
2. A tea towel with fall colored orange and brown maple leaves on it that says “Canada” in one corner. For some reason, I have a thing for tea towels.

Parts of Montreal I want to explore more, next time
1.  Old Montreal
2.  The shopping on rue Sainte-Catherine

sisters

Items on my 101 in 1001 list this trip allowed me to check off
1. #23: Go on a trip with my sister
2. #34: Go to Canada

As always, Twosday is inspired by Heather

Related Posts

Mom’s Blueberry Muffins
A Day in Hyde Park
Not-so-super markets
Many Words and Photos About Montreal
Did you enjoy this post? Share it!

Filed Under: travel Tagged With: Canada, family, travel

« Making My Menu Plans More Efficient
Investing in March and April »

Comments

  1. Heather says

    April 30, 2014 at 9:39 am

    such a fun birthday surprise! Sounds like a great trip :)

  2. Jen S. says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:00 am

    I’m so glad she was surprised!!! It looks like an awesome trip, even with the rain. :) Also, I love that you have a thing for tea towels. :)

    • Emily says

      May 1, 2014 at 8:11 pm

      Are you surprised that I have a thing for tea towels? I feel like that’s predictable :) Come over sometime, I’ll show you my collection. It may include towels that I don’t allow to be used for drying dishes, only decorative purposes. Because I’m one of those people.

  3. Lucy says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:55 am

    So much fun! I’m glad you had a successful minibreak with Mom and Sister. My family and I went to Montreal when I was in high school and your two highlights were two of my favorite places!

  4. Jessica says

    April 30, 2014 at 11:27 am

    This looks like a fun trip! Anytime I see Canadian Style Fries I order them! Who doesn’t love fried potatoes topped with mashed potatoes and gray..can you really have too much potato ANSWER: NO!
    Jessica

    • Emily says

      May 1, 2014 at 8:12 pm

      That is exactly my opinion on potatoes!

  5. Mom says

    April 30, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    It was a wonderful trip, and I was so surprised! Thank you so much!
    And just for the record, we would have used an umbrella if we had one with us. But we didn’t want to buy one.

Trackbacks

  1. Montreal, a 5k and This Week’s Plan (CSA Menu Plan #33) says:
    August 9, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    […] base and covered a lot of ground.  Brian had never been to Canada and I was in Montreal in the spring of 2014, so it was a really fun trip for both of us.  I’m looking forward to writing more about it […]

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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