Activities in Montreal
During the autumn, the desire to fly and escape November burns. It is the same in winter. Often, circumstances make it preferable to staying in Quebec.
To overwhelm the melody of staying back; I enjoy finding activities that will make me travel to Montreal. Here are ten activities that will take you elsewhere, if only for a few hours.
Restaurants of the World:
Traveling via a food menu is easy in Montreal. It’s a must to make beautiful finds. Personally, when I want the texture of India coursing through my touch, Dosa Pointe recreates that exact feeling. Captured in its essence is a kitchen built into a wardrobe. If that does not suffice, good Indian desserts abound at Punjab Sweets or Al-Hamra.
When I miss Vietnam, nothing beats a good crepe Banh Xeo Minh, eaten, wrapped in salad leaves. Except for the absence of the sound of horns, you feel at the heart of Ho Chi Minh.
Finally, one exotic spot that deserves a stop is the Salvadoran Cabanas restaurant.
These lists are in no way exhaustible. You can create your own dreamland.
Grocery stores elsewhere:
Perhaps the restaurant option is not an option for you. Want to get started on this Peru or Thailand recipe you stumbled upon online? You don’t need to travel out to get groceries elsewhere. Asian food is easily gotten at the Oriental Market. However, the Mecca of Asian groceries is Kim Phat , which has a huge branch in St-Michel. For South American food, it is the Sabor Latino that demands a visit. Lovers of Italian cuisine will love and enjoy Milano . Those who do not live in Montreal are not left out since there is the Indian online store Singal, which is full of treasures that can be delivered anywhere in Quebec.
World Music:
Unlike the many trips where I fail to see at least one musical concert–traditional or contemporary; the Quebec music scene is full of Quebec artists from elsewhere who make us feel the thrill of traveling. For example, Boogat transports you to Mexico, Pierre Kwenders takes you somewhere in Africa and Gemelan Giri Kedaton drops you in the middle of a traditional Indonesian celebration.
Of recent, many festivals are tailored to help discover foreign artistes. An example is the Arab festival which will take place soon.
Foreign Literature:
Reading makes travel fun and helps deepen knowledge of countries and cultures. Personally, I am a fan of Chetan Bhagat, a popular author in India for his light and contemporary novels. It is easy to get several of his books in electronic format for one or two dollars. Shantaram and The White Tiger are also two novels set in India that devoured each other. The Rainbow Warriors, a captivating and enthralling novel, is one of the few Indonesian novels to be translated into French. I also want to mention the Quebec authors who make us travel like Jean-René Dufort through his photos or Guy Delisle through his comics.
If you cannot afford these sometimes-expensive books, remember that they are available at the library.
Cinema:
Beyond Netflix, which is full of foreign films, many festivals afford you the luxury of discovering films and documentaries from all continents. Each suited for all tastes. In the near future, the Montreal International Documentary Rendez-Vous will surprise you, as will the small Southeast Asian Film Festival at Concordia University. Then, all year round, it’s possible to have fun at the Forum Cinema that always displays some Asian blockbusters (Chinese, Korean or Japanese) in addition to presenting Bollywood that you can watch alongside families from all over the world.
Montreal Museums Pass:
Not trippy by nature? Or at least interested in something else? Well, why not play tourist in Montreal by purchasing a Montréal museum pass? For $75, you will have access to all the museums in Montreal for 3 days, consecutively or not. A few years ago, I offered this to my boyfriend, as well as 2 nights at the hotel in the city center, and we really felt like traveling in our own city.
Neighborhood visits:
Very few people can boast of controlling the neighborhoods of Hochelaga, Côte-des-Neiges and Lachine. To discover a neighborhood known or unknown, why not do business with specialists who will guide you to unusual places and history borrowing? L’Autre Montréal, Kaleidoscope and Rando Plein Air are just a few examples of companies that organize interesting guided tours throughout Montreal.
Language Exchanges – Language Classes:
How about this: learn and perfect a language while meeting people from all over? This is what language exchanges allow you. The Saint-Louis Center, a Plateau Mont-Royal adult francization school, offers you the opportunity to practice English, Spanish, Portuguese or Mandarin with their students, most of whom are newcomers. Write to [email protected] for more information. In a more informal setting, Mundo Lingo and Intercultural Outdoor are two other organizations that promote language learning through meetings that take place in one bar for the first and in nature for the second.
Travelogues:
If you want to discover a new destination through the eyes of a traveler, consider watching the programming of the Great Explorers, whose films are broadcast throughout Quebec. The films are well made and the one who does it tells the story in front of the room, which makes the experience more personalized.
The films of Adventurers Travelers, though amateurish, can also be a good introduction to a possible trip, or just make you dream. Otherwise, in the comfort of your own home, the Departures series, available on Netflix, is not to be missed.
Welcoming a Traveler:
Are you nostalgic for those evenings where you meet other travelers from all over and during which you have rich discussions until the wee hours of the morning? Well, why not have this kind of meeting at home when you get a backpacker? To do this, there is the renowned Couch Surfing platform , but there is also Guest to Guest, which allows you to accumulate points when you receive people and you can then dispose of your earnings to sleep elsewhere. If you want to get someone for whom the goal is to practice a language, TalkTalk BnB is the option to consider. Finally, if you do not have the space to receive someone to sleep or it seems too restrictive, you can simply receive someone to eat and make you pay for it, via the platform EatWith .
Above are reasons to obsess while dreaming of more exotic lands. While waiting for your next flight, consider transporting yourself elsewhere through the diversity offered by our beautiful metropolis. And if all this seems too exotic,