Montreal--Last Day !!!

Rain today after 4 days of sunshine.  The rain was too heavy to take a stroll in, so we got in our car to see Montreal from the streets.  Our first "drive by" was the 1976 Olympic venues.  Impressive even in the rain.  We headed to "Old Montreal" located on the water.  We visited a museum, which was housed in former firehouse, showcasing the history of Montreal.  Early in our trip, I asked the question about why the colonists north of Maine did not join the efforts to break away from the British crown.  I did find part of the answer in this museum.  In the spring of 1776, Ben Franklin was sent by the men meeting in Philadelphia to Montreal to try and convince Montreal and Quebec to join with the other colonies and be part of the rebellion.  Although these colonists were not happy with the British either, they chose not to join with their compatriots to the south and Ben Franklin came home empty handed.

Old Montreal is bigger than Old Quebec and is a working part of the city, unlike Old Quebec which was mostly a place for tourists.  But there were still lots of tourists on the wet streets and no place to park, so we left and found an Irish pub for a late lunch.

One of the special things about Montreal is the network of biking trails and bikes available for rent for $5 for 24 hours.  There are many bikes ready for riding all around the city.  If it hadn't been raining, we would have rented them ourselves.

Tomorrow we head back to the USA.  After 25 days in Canada we have gotten a much better perspective on our neighbors to our north.  Each province has its own personality, just like each state in the US.  Although we share much of the same historical development, Canada is its own country and has its own identity.  The picture below shows only one of the differences between us.

Thanks for following us.  We enjoyed knowing you were there every night when we went to bed!

Diane

We have now come to an end to a wonderful, post retirement, 3+ week trip together. The best thing we said tonight is that we don't have to go back to work tomorrow! We have enjoyed our time together and enjoyed learning more about our neighbors to the North. 

We are now ready to begin our long trek down to Virgina Beach, and begin our new life together. Thanks for all your comments and thoughts as we have proceeded along our journey.

Joe