Montreal - Little Italy and The Village

No riding Sunday, the low pressure system off the east coast continues to spin, sending undesirable weather our way. Instead we metro'ed in to two of the recommended walking tours in the Monteal guide book. First up was Little Italy.
There used to be a heavy concentration of Italian people living in the area. Over time, the Italian population has been diluted with other ethnicities.

This is a walking neighborhood. There are lots of stores surrounded by residential areas. People use the rolling carts for groceries and whatever.


This woman was doing a pretty good business.

There's a tradition every July 1st in Montreal: People move. Lots of them.

The city of 1.3 million people, as well as the whole province of Quebec, has a designated moving day. Based on a decades-old tradition, large numbers of leases begin and end on July 1, creating a kind of moving madness of jammed freight elevators, clogged driveways and overbooked movers. The official relocation day occurs after the area's harsh winters and during the summer break from school. It also falls on Canada Day, a national holiday, so most offices and stores are closed.

The way renting works here, one provides their own washing machine and refrigerator. These go with you when you move. The are many many many apartments with these outside stairs, many of them are spiral staircases. Can you imagine getting your washing machine down those stairs?

Big church in Little Italy.


There is a shopping area.


There was a fabulous grocery store there. They had the most amazing selections of pasta, olive oil, canned tomatoes from Italy, cheeses, and other interesting stuff. This is the kitchen gadget section.


Then it was off to the area known as The Village. Montreal prides itself on being a diverse and welcoming city. Unless you're an Anglophone. This is the area heavily populated by gay, lesbian and trans-gendered people. Notice the exterior of the metro station.


Every weekend during the summer they close St. Catherine street and turn it into a pedestrian walk way.


The Oscar Wilde Pub.



Not sure what this is. It's big.

I took this down one of the residential back streets. I love that they embedded a plate in the stucco.


So, that was Sunday. The low continues to fight off the high pressure system and the weather continues to be undesirable for riding. Today I believe we shall go to Mount Royal and do more walking.

On another note. When the virtues of digital over the air broadcast TV were being extolled, does anyone remember any mention of de-pixilating when the wind blows? Or that when it's raining hard, stations would just go off the air? Did anyone mention to the users of over the air broadcast that TV would only work when the weather is good? We're dependent on the antenna for most of the summer and I have to tell you, when the picture is good, it's stunning, but for the most part this is sub-par. Analog might not have been as crystal clear, but at least it stayed on. So, that's my report from TV land.