Who currently holds the ashes?

MP3 track of the day: Smile - Lilly Allen

Weather: overcast and light showers

Okay lets go back to Wednesday night after my last blog. Once I'd done the blog I met up with the two British guy's I was sharing my dorm with; Montreal were playing in an ice hockey final against Pittsburgh, and so we decided to go to a bar to watch part of the game. After the first period (one of three) the two Brits went back to the hostel where as I went to find food. I went to a place called the 'Hard Rock Cafe' and had the biggest burger on the planet (see below ... are you happy now sis?).

The burger was good, it was like steak in a bun. Luckily for me 'Hard Rock Cafe' also had the ice hockey game on, and I watched Montreal cruise to a 5-2 win. I had (and still have) no idea what the rules are for ice hockey; it seems you don't need to pay much attention to the puck and just smash the opposing players into the barrier, or the goal.

The day after was pretty boring; I used the internet to look up places I might fancy visiting in Canada; I've decided not to go to Churchill as it's mega expensive (around $1,000.00 for flights and B+B) and I'm not in Polar Bear season. Finally it was time to depart; I said good luck to the other two Brits and made my way to the bus station.

The bus ride was only 2hrs so that was good. A good looking French woman sat next to me; I turned to my right (the window) to contemplate whether I would use all my charm and looks to impress her. I then turned back towards her and she was asleep ... plenty more fish and all that.

Once in Montreal I decided to walk to the hostel as the instructions said the hostel was only a 15 minute walk away (It failed to mention that there was huge hill in the middle of that 15 min hike). The hostels nice (though reception closes at 6pm), but a little difficult to find as there is only a door on the street. All 20 beds are up in the roof and mattresses are replaced by air beds (which are surprisingly comfortable). Once up in the room I had to find a bed with my name on it, however I couldn't find one (two others guys helped me look with no success). Eventually I gave up and just took a bunk that was empty.

The following morning I spoke to the owner and, as luck would have it, I had chosen the empty bunk I was supposed to have. I then went for breakfast (toast) where I met the first Aussies of my tour so far. I love Aussies; they are the most balanced people on earth because they have a chip on both shoulders. Part way through breakfast the discussion turned to sport in which one Aussie proclaimed that 'The Australians have the best cricket team in the world' which I replied with asking 'who currently holds the Ashes?' ... don't think I made a friend there, still it was worth it.

After a great start to the day I headed out into the overcast rainy city of Montreal. Unless you like art (in which there are loads of art museums) there isn't allot to do; so I decided to take a walk. During the walk I had to find a supermarket and an ATM; the latter is now easy to find. I had trouble finding ATM's at the start however now it's pretty easy ... head to the part of town with the tallest buildings. Once there find a bank and actually go in it. There are no ATM's on the street; instead they are in foyer's of banks; this is a brilliant idea because you feel so much more safer withdrawing money from inside a building than from on the street (the banks foyer's are open 24hrs a day).

Finally I finished my walk around, took allot of photos, and headed back to the hostel early. I'm not massively fond of Montreal; there is only a very small section which is pretty. The rest of Montreal is either run down or being re-built. I think the problem with Montreal is that both of the things it's got (skyscrapers and beautiful old buildings) I had seen better in Toronto (Skyscrapers) and in Ottawa (old buildings).

Anyway tonight I think I'm going to head to Chinatown for food; I went through here on my walk (looked like a WW2 ghetto but smelt really good) and then have an early night. Tomorrow I plan to head to the island on Montreal to see the bio-dome (the famous see-through dome on most pictures of Montreal ... I have a few far away pics on my Flickr account).

Until then