We just got back from watching Brick with CBGB. It’s just as good the second time.
.:.
We (Nellie and I) had dinner at Fieramosca first. Damn, that place is good. I had orecchiette with sausage, chicken, rapini and sundried tomatoes; Nellie had the gnocchi with porcini mushrooms and zucchini. We were pretty stuffed by the end, too full even for dessert. Not too full for the limoncello though…
Montreal beat Boston tonight, so they’re that much closer to the playoffs. Atlanta and Toronto both won as well, though, so a playoff berth isn’t assured quite yet. We were at The Rebel House when the Leafs scored in OT to win the game, and some yahoo yelled, “Bring on the cup!” Uh, make the playoffs first, pal, then win a playoff round or two. Then we’ll talk.
.:.
Speaking of The Rebel House, je suis tres full.
.:.
Je suis tres sleepy aussi. I couldn’t sleep last night , what with the cats doing the Lindy Hop on my head. Gonna try to watch the latest Sopranos episode before I crash. So early on a (pseudo) Friday night, but I just can’t stay awake.
The 72% cocoa chocolate we got from Suite 88 (the chocolate boutique we visited in Montreal) might just be the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
.:.
Montreal lost again tonight, for the second time in three nights. I’m not too worried; they can basically clinch a spot with one win in their three remaining games or a loss by Atlanta. Still, I wish they’d just get it over with so I can breathe a little easier. And I’d almost rather see them finish in 8th if it means playing the Senators in the first round instead of the Hurricanes…
.:.
I’m still waiting for the 2006 album that blows me away.
I’m going to ignore my splitting headache long enough to tell you about our last ~18 hours.
After we arrived last night the staff recommended a place just around the corner where we could find something to eat. It was a great recommendation, too: a resto-bar (a concept that Toronto really needs more of) called Holder. We had some good food, a nice cold bottle of pinot gris (Nellie’s first wine in almost a month) and some crème brûlée, all in a pretty cool setting…great architecture, lots of energy, and so many young gorgeous women that it was like we’d strolled into a set piece for The O.C.. Ony downside: you can still smoke everywhere in Quebec, so we get a bit smoky. But that’s to be expected.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was after midnight; a few minutes into one of the DVDs we brought with us we both zonked in the king bed.
This morning we got up around 9:00 for some simple breakfast downstairs before heading out to explore Vieux Montreal. It’s beautiful down here, something we could tell last night in the dark but confirmed today in the light, and we walked down rue Notre-Dame for a bit…past Place D’Armes, down to the park along the river, back up, along St. Paul and then turned north. Since we were now comprehending the scale of the city (small, compared to Toronto and New York) we realized we could walk around a lot more before lunch. He wandered north up St. Denis toward the Quartier Latin, stopped at a cafe to warm up a bit (it was freezing!), and checked an email from Nellie’s friend JR. JR had lived in Montreal for some time and recommended a place for the best poutine in the world, a greasy little diner called Chez Claudette. It was quite a bit north, near the north end of the Plateau Mont-Royal, but Nellie claims it was worth it.
Along the way we also stopped at this beautiful little chocolate lounge (seriously) called Suite88…and ohmygod. First of all, I would like to live there. Second, they had just about every kind of interesting flavoured chocolate you could imagine, in a ton of forms (like cone-shaped chocolate shooters with different liquor/liqueurs in them). We bought a dozen small bars of chocolate, some for us and some for friends and family.
Finally, after all this decadent eating, we walked back down St. Denis and cut across St. Catherine toward the hotel. We got back here around 2:00 to relax for a bit, and get rid of this headache (possibly by consuming some chocolate), before the hockey game ce soir. And trust me, relaxing in this room is like a vacation all by itself.
For the second meal in a row, we couldn’t bear the thought of the cafeteria food (our choices were veal, lamb, fish and leek soup) so eight of us ordered pizza and just finished scarfing it down. They even brought us some free pop so I snagged a dp on my way out. Score. I’m just settling in to do some more pseudo-studying and listen to the Canadiens game on streaming radio.
.:.
The Modern Mod (or WineBoffin, as he’s sometimes known) points out Slingbox’s announcement that they’ll bring their product to Canada. Sweet.
A few of us couldn’t bear the thought of what we were offered for lunch, so we made a trip to Wendy’s. Now I’m all full and salty, but satisfied.
.:.
This afternoon’s gonna be very weird. I have little left to study, so I’m just going to review a few extra things and…I don’t know, relax I guess. Maybe catch up on some work or some emails. I guess I should be thankful that we’re getting it easy, but…I don’t know, I just feel like I’m being lazy. But we’re all in this boat.
Apple & cinnamon might just be the best flavour combination in the world.
Also: lemon pepper.
What else?
We just had our second amazing meal in as many nights. Triomphe, a newish restaurant next door to our hotel, was reaaallllllly good. Check out what I had:
We made it home just in time to watch the Daily Show, which is surreal. 5 hours ago we were watching this live. Weird.
Our flight was delayed by about an hour, so we got to Newark airport around 8:00. Our cab driver, a very friendly Egyptian guy, got us through Jersey and the Lincoln tunnel in 15 minutes and we were checked into our midtown hotel 5 minutes later. Our hotel — The Sofitel — is very nice; clean, nice, friendly staff, good location, comfy bed. I can see why it’s rated #1 on TripAdvisor.
Our speedy cab ride also made it possible to keep our 9:00 reservation at Smith + Wollensky. We were so full of steak, cheesecake and Zinfandel at the end that it was painful to move. Why, I could barely finish my scotch in the hotel bar…
I’m encouraged by this story in the Globe about Stephen Harper’s intention to talk about credentials for recent immigrants. There are entirely too many skilled professionals in this country who’re caught in a quagmire of bureaucracy, unable to work in their field.
.:.
We tried Veda last night, the new Indian takeout place just up the street. Not very impressive at all; I tend to agree with Steven Davey’s review in Now. I mean, it’s pretty hard to mess up butter chicken, but it was pretty bad. Don’t think we’ll be going back. Trouble is, our local indian options are dropping off now that Banjara‘s closed up shop.
.:.
The Olympic closing ceremonies might be more painful to sit through than the Oscars. Yeesh. Still, pretty exciting to see Vancouver get the handoff and get ready for their day in the sun. Or snow, as it were.
