Road tripping to Montreal in less than a week for Brand New. Definitely want to check out the Botanical Garden. Gonna have a few days to explore, any recommendations for first time visitors?
I liked the biodome, which I think you can package with the gardens at a discounted rate. The Old Port was cool too, I went in October so I bet it's way nicer now.
Food: La Banquise (legendary poutine), Lesters/Snowdon Deli/many others (amazing smoked meat), fairmount bagels for the best bagels in the world. Bars: Foufounes Electriques (landmark punk bar), St Sulpicr, Casa Del Poppolo (amazing veg food too), Grumpy's (good pub) Activities: spend an afternoon in a park. The best are Girouard park, Lafontaine park and Mount Royal. If you're in town all weekend, hit up the mountain for Tams (massive drum circle) and Piknik Electronik. Olympia (where BN is playing) is in the Gay Village which in the summer is completely blocked off to vehicular traffic, so you can pretty much bar hop and eat at a ton of great places. Depending on what you're into and how long you're here, there's tons you can do.
I've spent less than 24 hours in Edmonton and based on my small sample it's the worst big city I've visited in Canada. The first thing I saw at West Ed Mall was a guy running to a garbage bin to start puking, which I felt was pretty apt. It's got a pretty poor reputation where I live in Jasper, mostly because the people that come to ski in the winter and think they own the town they visit on the weekends.
Haha, i dont think i have hit that. ive done sunshine and farmont, i think thats it. Even if i did though, im not like a crazy party guy. i mean, i dont go rampaging through through the streets ever, i dont even drink.
Hiked the the Johnston Canyon trail in Banff yesterday which was great. My god the drive though in from Calgary. Absolutely beautiful. First time seeing the Rockies and man my friend and I want to go back, only having about 5 hours was not enough. Putzed around Kanmore a bit too. Basically ate and drank exclusively in Kensington in Calgary as well. Hard not to love the city when it's 22 and sunny though.
If you thought the Calgary-Banff drive was beautiful, it's a shame you aren't doing the Banff-Jasper drive.
Rental car had to be back by 6 unfortunately lol. If my funding would have covered me another night we probably would have stayed somewhere in Banff so we could have done the drive to Jasper, but it'll have to wait till next time.
Jealous! I'm still angry they're skipping Winnipeg. If I end up coming back to Canada after my Australian visa expires I'm totally going to move to Alberta. Still going to be cold. But at least I'll have mountains and some decent tours. I'm totally over Winnipeg and desperately need a change.
Definitely go for it. Calgary is pretty hopping right now and only getting more exciting. If I ever decide to stay in Alberta that's where I'll be.
Going to Montreal next weekend for Brand New. I'll be staying on the plateau. Anyone here have recs of fun things to do/cool spots to check out? Thx.
Vancouver was wonderful and I was sad to leave it on Thursday. Saw Brand New while I was in town--always wanted to see a band I liked outside the US. Crowd was great--no cellphones and mostly lighters in the air ha.
Check my post a couple posts up, but you should be hanging out around Ave Mt. Royal, Rue St Denis + St. Laurent which are pretty much the main arteries on the plateau. Tons of bars, clothing stores, cheap restaurants, etc. Lot of nice parks too.
Edmonton isn't that bad. My cousin is moving up there because his girlfriend got her dream job there and there seems to be lots to offer. Its music scene is quietly amazing. So many good local acts.
living in minneapolis and only about four hours from the border i have never ventured up to canada yet (aside from flying), kinda debating driving up to thunder bay later this summer. has anyone been there that it would be worthwhile to drive up for a weekend?
Who do you recommend? Aside from Fire Next Time because I already know about those guys. The one good thing about Winnipeg and the one thing that I will sorta miss when I move will be the local punk scene. There's so many talented bands here and I'm not just saying that because I'm from here.