the last of the Canada trip posts

We returned to Montreal city on Sunday afternoon with time to regroup and nap and shower before the Superbowl. TJ wasn't too thrilled about watching the game in Canada and he was pretty nervous whatever bar we went to would only have it on one TV with no sound. He would have been content to watch in the apartment where he was guaranteed to hear all the plays but his sister had reserved us a table at La Station des Sports so we were going to give it a try.

The place was actually packed and every TV had the game on and the sound played throughout the restaurant. Who  knew there were so many NFL fans in Montreal? Unfortunately we did not get the American commercials and instead saw a lot of adverts for hockey and Tim Hortons. Oh well.

We are all big Peyton Manning fans around here- how can you not be? So we cheered for the Broncos. TJ's sister's boyfriend is French (from France, not French Canada) so we had a fun time explaining the rules of American football to him and reassuring him that this performance was not normal. It is not usually such a painful disappointing blowout. ugh.

Had Peyton not been in the game we probably would have cheered for the Seahawks and then it would have been much easier game to watch. I love that one of their players is a volunteer Young Life leader. And also...TJ and I have a few secrets involving Washington state that I have yet to divulge on this blog...

We actually left before the end of the game because it was over long before the 4th quarter and after we had cheered ourselves up with a few episodes of Netflix we called it a night. 

On our last and final day in Montreal we ventured into the older/original part of the city near the harbor. We used the really simple metro to take us there (much cheaper, less dark and dingy than DC). And then enjoyed a really pretty and really cold walk about. 

The architecture definitely looked and felt more European in this part of the city and I just love when old meets new. We couldn't bear the cold for too long so we hurried to Chinatown to Restaurant Ruby Rouge for dim sum. The servers wheeled around carts of steaming treats and we enjoyed shrimp dumplings, pork sticky rice wrapped in a big leaf, crispy duck, and a much needed cup of hot jasmine tea. It was fast and filling and really inexpensive. 

After lunch we sadly had to pack up our gear and head to the airport. TJ and I said goodbye to his sister and her boyfriend, our wonderful hosts, and shared a cab with his parents to the airport. Then more goodbyes and thank yous for a wonderful trip to his parents. TJ and I stayed together as long as airport security and boarding times would allow before he headed to his gate and I headed to mine.

This was really my first time travelling with TJ. Sure we've both flown back and forth, and met in the middle, and in general have done a heck of lot of travelling this past (almost) year. But you get a different experience when you plan a trip together, especially with family. I had so much fun getting to know his family better and I loved getting to dust off my passport and my rusty French skills (to which TJ would jokingly respond in Spanish hehe). 

You really get to see different side of someone when you travel together, like how they handle airport headaches and close quarters and language barriers. All of which we experienced. After this excursion to our Northern neighbor all I have to say is I am looking forward to many many many more adventures with that guy!