We all slept in this morning, 7:45am to 8:15am depending on who you were. We awoke to heavy snow. I had found a nearby restaurant for breakfast but we did not come equipped for trudging through the snow. So we settled for the expensive hotel breakfast again. I can't risk pushing Dinah and Rose an hour or more without finding breakfast. They get too cranky and it isn't worth it. Weekdays are a little disappointing in the hotel restaurant. There was no omelet station ad no capers for my lox. But I am really starting to like Brie cheese on bread, something I started in Germany.
We decided that with the weather we would stay inside and try our way through the Underground City. We can access it just outside, without going outside, of the hotel. Here we found a food court that may be our breakfast tomorrow. We have a map and hope to make it to Place Ville Marie.
The Underground is great. No jackets, very clean, well lit. Nicer than any tunnel network I've seen in the US. The hard part was there are no elevators and seemingly escalators that only go up. It was brutal carrying the stroller up and down stairs. Dinah lost it twice and my good humor never recovered. If it weren't for that, it is a great way to get around. Rose did really enjoy riding up and down the escalators in her stroller. She would hold on to the sides of her stroller with her head pushed back looking like a shuttle astronaut during take off, all smiles. Nothing fazes her. We did a little window shopping and ate at the food courts at the Gare Centrale (train station). Dinah had the best Pad Thai she has had in a long time. Rose felt it was too spicy. I had another smoked meat sandwich but it was not nearly as good as Briskets. The Pepsi was phenomenal though. What a difference sugar makes.
We decided not to push further and head back. I think we were all exhausted. Rose was and refused to nap which is typical when so much is going around her. I stopped one place and bought a very bad cup of coffee for a buck. Threw it away. I followed that up with a can of Perrier. I think Perrier is best out of a can for some reason and of all drinks, it has become my favorite to the point where I don't sip it anymore.
We got back to the hotel at about 2:30pm, it felt like 8:00pm. Everyone went down for a nap. With the snow I don't think we will venture out. It is still coming down hard and blowing. There is at least half a foot. I wish I brought boots but that would have been too much to pack. I did buy a scarf though while we were out and a black hat to wear instead of my hunter orange ski hat. The food courts below close with the business day so I bet we eat in the hotel tonight.
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For dinner we did eat in the hotel. Rather than the expensive restaurant Les Continents, we went to the slightly less expensive Chez Plume. This is the hotel's sports bar. You have to be careful here because many places that have a bar will not allow children at all, but they would allow Rose here. An interesting observation was that nearly all of the patrons came from outside and were not hotel guests. Service was a little slow because all of the food has to come from the main kitchen at Les Continents.
We had an appetizer of marinated olives. They were fantastic and nice to have something radically different than what you would eat in a sports bar back home. Rose had a few but seemed to gag on each one. Dinah and I each had the fish and chips. It was better than anything I've had in the US but not as good as what we had in Charlottetown. It was not greasy, rather light and more similar to a breading than a batter thought it was neither. The fries were standard McDonald-clone style. Dinah noted the ketchup to be more sweet and less salty. Probably made with real sugar and not HFCS. We also enjoyed several local beers from McAuslan Brewery, I believe the St. Ambroise Pale Ale and the Griffon Rousse. Dinah had the Rickard's Red. I did finish with a Molson Dry. All were tasty. Rose had some mashed potatoes specially prepared by the chef who recently had a child and thus a soft spot to prepare something not on the menu. We ended with crème brûlée again. This one was not as tasty as the one at Vieux Port. Plain rather than vanilla, Dinah said. But how can you say no to crème brûlée? Once again Rose wanted none though she did have one bite.
Before we left, Rose threw her toy elephant on the floor. We looked all around, under the tables and could not find it. I said we should put her down and see if she could find it. Sure enough, I put Rose down and she went straight to it.
I've been able to figure out two of the songs that Rose sings. One she sings a lot has bits and pieces that sound like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She sings it over and over clapping her hands with “bees” and “baas” for syllables. I started singing Twinkle Twinkle to her and she looked at me stunned that I knew it. Now she claps a little when we sing it and says “more” at the end. The other song she makes some hand motions with. I figured it had to be Itsy Bitsy Spider. It was. She makes some really cute hand motions when you sing it. There's a third song that I have not figured out yet.
Snow!:
Small shopping mall in lower level of building connected to ours:
Beautiful reflection pool at one end:
There was a neat display of historical Santa figures. This was my favorite:
Entering the Underground underneath the shopping center:
What we were avoiding by going underground:
Rose going up an escalator:
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