hola amigos and welcome back to Montreal! I'm right next to a main road, oh f**k! Let's try that again shall
we!
INTRO MUSIC
hola amigos and welcome back to Montreal in Quebec in Canada this video is the
third part of my seven part series coming from Montreal in addition to the
one I did seven months ago in the winter. so far in this Montreal series we have
been here near Christmas in freezing cold temperatures, we have seen the artwork
down Boulevard Saint Laurent, we've been up Mont Royal and we've explored old Montreal
but today we've come to an area that may be slightly lesser known in terms of
tourism, you know, this is my second time in Montreal now and I didn't know this
area existed up until a few weeks ago I'm in an area called
hochelaga-maisonneuve which is very much part of Montreal's origins story, it's an
area that's slightly residential it's less known as I said in terms of tourism
it's close to the Olympic Park it's close to the Botanic Gardens a
planetarium and Insectarium, I've never said that word before that's a first,
and today we're going to have a look around so on that note let's get going
MUSIC
now you might notice that I'm looking a bit flushed today at least I feel it
because Summer in Montreal is scorching and it's one similarity another
similarity actually with the UK you know it's not that heat that you would have
in Asia or even Mexico because obviously Montreal is on a similar latitude to the
UK and it's just that sticky horrible who you made eat so my Mexico tan may be
going but my Canada tan is coming, so the thing about Hochelaga, I said origin
story and this is effectively the old village the original village that
Jacques Cartier stumbled across and the locals took him up to Mont Royal
so it's a huge part of Montreal's history and I've got to say thank you to Dan
who is a patreon from Vancouver who recommended this area which is the theme
of this video and I'll come back to it later not Dan isn't the theme I mean
involving viewers we'll see that later! now for those who follow me on instagram
you'll know that if this was an Instagram story I would be doing a
dramatic superzoom right now it's a taco place
tacos mexicanos, oh I can't say it in french but you know what i mean
authentic mexican food um I'm not gonna go there today because I'm not hungry so
we might go there in another video, okay it's time to walk and talk amigos and I've got a challenge
for you during this scene I want you to count how many Canadians glare at the
camera because it's weird that I'm doing this let me know in the comments so this
area very much is very residential and the thing I love about it it's very
similar to Verdun which is an area I stayed in last time in terms of
independent businesses and independent shops it feels like it's a part, well
Montreal is a city in the world where independent businesses can still thrive
so you have salons you have barbers with the red white and blue pole thing at the
front you have old-style greengrocers news agents you name it and because of
that it feels like I've gone back in time 30 years to the UK because that's
what it was like back in the day yeah yes there are Tim Hortons yes there's a
Subway but those places are quite few and far between you know compare it to
someone like Mexico with an Oxxo on every corner
or Tokyo with a Family Mart everywhere that is not the case in Montreal so it
has that homely feel and it allows you to really feel what the real Montreal
is liked because it's not just about Old Montreal and the tourist areas. And to
illustrate my point to add to the places you've seen already you know there's a
bag shop over there there's Gerry's delicatessen there
there's a bistro there's a cafe over there yes there's a dollar store let's
forget about that I'm not quite sure what that yellow shop is but yeah
there's no like franchises they're all independent shops that you wouldn't see
anywhere else and in addition there's a lot of clothing places well down here
with you know providing clothing that you wouldn't get in like H&M or
something. I've come off Ontario now I'm walking down to the st. Lawrence
yes Montreal is effectively an island with the st. Lawrence River and behind
me can we just point out some of the awesome houses down here you know the
architecture is very different from other cities I've seen in the world you
know you've got these columns and what I love about houses in Montreal you know
particularly like houses that I like flats you know they have a top and a
bottom and they have the stairs out the front going up and I always remember
when I was in the last time in the window you know grit and shovels outside
the front of the house to put on the steps because the snow is just
diabolical and that's one thing the Montreal does really good in the in the
winter is dealing with the snow which if any of you from the UK people know the
UK does not do snow very well it's diabolical the country grinds to a halt
I've walked down a bit further now to near the water and I've got a carton of
milk from Couche-Tard yes I drink milk out of the bottle I
know it's weird but it's not like a grain silo or something some kind of
silo it's absolutely huge I love those kinds of buildings like the industrial
style you know and it looks a bit old as well in terms of like it was too
dilapidated on the brickwork and down they got shipping containers and the
distance, docks. right we are now heading to
the OlympicPark and also the Botanic Gardens there's so much to see there I'm
walking down Sainte Catherine, you'll notice I've been practicing my French Rs to
no avail as you've just heard, apologies to any French speakers but it's better
than Saint Catherine right? anyway let's be real you know this channel
isn't always about just saying that everywhere is amazing all the time and
seeming like I'm working for the Montreal tourist board I'm not by the
way although if you want to work with me send me a message
anyway yeah so there is a lot of homelessness in Montreal more than I
expected particularly when you come out to areas like Hochelaga, more
residential and even in tourist areas you know and I have walked out of metro
stations been offered various drugs which does happen and it it was weird in
a way because I was in Mexico for so long how many times did that happen
never the I come to Canada and it happens almost on a daily basis I'm not
bashing Canada anyway for that because a lot of countries are like that in the
world the UK is even worse and it just it doesn't surprise me in a way but I'm
just talking about you know the stereotypes and prejudices about
countries a lot of people think that someone like Mexico because of cartel
crime and everything is full of drugs everywhere eV and actually when you come
to a country like this or a city like this you do find that it is full of it
because unfortunately you know things like that are transported from countries
in Central America South America to places like Canada because people have
more money to buy them so that's just my thought of the day
so here we are at the Olympic Park or the park all in peak as you can see from
this map there are so many places to go those cafes as I said earlier there's a
planetarium a biodome a botanical garden and Insectarium as I mentioned before so
just take a look at this map and see where you can go so the stadium football
stadium up there. we're in the Olympic Park as I said and I'm drinking again
the reason for that is because I almost passed out while I was filming last week
dehydration is not good and I've got to say this Olympic Park I think is a good
use of a former Olympic site because what I think of others that I've been to
one in Calgary wants Sydney Australia that just felt like it was very barren
and abandoned and the one in London I believe has been converted into
properties the residential area but there's so many different activities you
can do here you ould easily spend you know a day here going to all these different
places
jardin botanique jardin botanico i'm guessing as the spanish botanical garden
let's go okay if you're watching this video in 2021
you can visit the Insectarium because it's closed for renovation until then
and the biodome is also closed but more importantly I refuse to pay $20 to enter
a garden I have not been to any place in the entire world Sydney, Chapultepec
Park in Mexico City where there's botanical garden and you have
to pay I'm outraged I probably should look this up beforehand but you know you
don't expect it to pay to enter a garden
ridiculous that's atrocious it really is and I might be coming across as a
entitled millennial traveler but $20 to enter a garden really $5 yeah I would
pay and considering half things closed shush
I don't know if you have pay extra to get into them as well but who knows you
know and the thing is I'm not a one week vacation tourist I've been traveling for
three years and I work online so I have to budget with these things you know
I've got a video coming up very soon which is a food video which is going to
be expensive so I have to prioritize in terms of recommendations which brings be
nicely for my final point okay all righty let's go
I've got keep this to two minutes because my memory is running out my
phone and just to preempt any inevitable hate comments that I do get from idiots
that are gonna say you know oh why did you go to Montreal we haven't got any
money why do you go there on vacation I'm not
on vacation as I just said you know I have a budget and just like you in your
life you know you have a budget that you stick to and those things it would
rather spend money on so today is a perfect example of that that's like so
in terms of the theme recommendations and prioritizing you know when I was in
Mexico I used to receive so many recommendations from local zone just
Mexicans in general about places where I should go and I love obviously thinking
that were coming to Canada that wouldn't be the same
the videos that I've uploaded so far have been inundated with so many
recommendations from people in Montreal and Canada in general so thank you very
much today and today is a perfect time for that because I would not have known
about hochelaga-maisonneuve if it wasn't for Dan and he knows and viewers know
that I'd like to experience places that are the real city you know rather than
those tourist places however it can be a blessing and a curse in terms of a
blessing you know it's great having all those recommendations because it opens
me up to so many different pages in a different side of the country or city
but it can be a curse because it puts a lot of pressure on me and I know that's
my job as a youtuber and I should try and do as much as possible but the
reality is it's impossible today's a perfect sample in terms of money and you
know filming a video is not like sightseeing you know because it can take
all day to film a video I can film things over and over again to get them
right and I just simply don't have enough time but regardless of that I try
to take all of these recommendations in the best way possible and try to satisfy
you one way or the other so on that note thank you for watching stay tuned for
the next couple of videos jazz festival food and more don't forget to subscribe
and I'll catch you later oh I've got that done quite quickly well done me!