Alright, so I had all but promised myself to make this posting about how much I hate Montreal, that it's because I hate big cities, blah, blah, blah.

But instead of being able to sincerely write that I am displeased with being here, I decided to go for a walk...

My first stop on my walk was going up St. Laurent street, home of some funky hang-outs and the Portuguese Quarter. Whilst there, I found a small boutique that sold what looked like ex-communist bloc army surplus supplies. After that, I needed a cup of coffee, so I hung a right down Rue du Rachel, and not even one block down, a row of windows began to advertise caffeinated beverages. I decided to go in. It ended up being not the funky coffee house I expected at all, but indeed, another dark pool-table bar with an espresso machine.

I ordered a coffee. "No coffee, espresso."
"Okay," I said, thinking to myself, "duh, I did the Italy thing already, I like espresso just fine."

All I have to say about that is, best-cup-of-espresso I've had back in North America.

So I kept walking, and decided not to stop again unless it has something to do with a personal passion. I have many personal passions, so this could have been a very busy walk, but I soon came upon a very "Busy World of Richard Scary" bicycle shop. The only sign advertising that it was a bike shop was a green and yellow giant fiberglass pair of handlebars with a working headlight. Totally sweet.

Inside, I met the lone person in the store, the on call mechanic, and began to have a conversation at length about all things bikes these days--fixed gears and bike theft. I soon noticed that his English was beyond impeccable, it was indeed regional. I asked him if he was from Montreal originally, to which he replied, "Tronno."
Which I understood to be his regional diction for "Toronto."

One block later, I saw the only sign in all of the city practically that had exclusively English written on it. Amazed, I moved in for closer examination, "Comedy OFF the Main. Wednesdays, 8:30, Beer $2.50"

Well this had to be an English stand-up gig, and even if not, there should be some interesting characters there; anyway, $2.50 beers? Why not?

On my walk back, I stopped at a Portuguese bakery and asked for the house specialty, which was a very charming little tort thing with an egg-creme filling--very good.

Back at the UQAM dorms, I settled in for the moment, unsure, but excited for what awaited me "OFF the Main" around 8:30.