Day 165: Montréal, Québec … Canada

Tuesday, 20 June 2017
At Sea — St Lawrence River … En Route to Québec City

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:00p (EDT) … UTC 1:00a (21 June)
Temp: 66.9F (19.4C)
Position: 45.44.72N / 73.12.80W

Every exit is an entry somewhere else.
~ Tom Stoppard ~

Welcome to Montréal, Canada!  Today marked an end as well as a beginning … the end of the port-intensive segment of the RTW that began in Civitavecchia … and the beginning of Buoys & Baysides … the last segment that will end in Miami, where we started our adventure 165 days ago.  We’ve added another 6,209 NM to the distance we’ve sailed, bringing our grand total since leaving Miami to 41,537NM.  We’ll add some more miles to this total before all’s said and done, but considering we are not all that far from Florida, I don’t expect a huge jump in the numbers.

I woke up at 5:15a … way too early.  I was going to turn over and go back to sleep, but through the slit in the drapes I noticed the sky was a golden red with shades of oranges, pinks, and purples adding to the kaleidoscope of colors.  I can never resist such a brilliant sunrise, so I got up to take a few photos.

Good thing we enjoyed the sunrise when we did … by 6:30a it was pouring rain and the sun was in hiding behind thick clouds as Insignia continued its approach to Montréal.  It was still raining when we went up to the Terrace Café at 7:00a.  Our usual table on the outside deck was taken, but we found another one that was equally protected from the wet stuff … excellent.  The rain began to trickle off half way through breakfast.  But that did not last long.

Insignia tied up to its berth in what The Currents described as Section 34-35 of the port.  Between the pouring rain, and the thunder and lightning, getting the gangway set up took a while, so we did not have to rush through our morning meal.  When Ray made his announcement at 7:45a, it was to tell us that we were still awaiting clearance by the authorities … which took another 15 minutes.  It was pouring again by then, so we were in no hurry to get off.

When we made our way off the ship shortly after 9:00a, we found a long customs and taxi queue in the makeshift terminal that serves cruise ship passengers while the terminal in the heart of downtown is being renovated.  The port authority was operating a shuttle to the Old Port.  There was a short line for the shuttle, with the Gelmans at the head of it.  We knew that their sightseeing plans were similar to ours, so we joined them.  But after checking the map, we decided to share an Uber instead since our destination was in the opposite direction from the city center.

The Uber driver showed up promptly and off we went.  Except that since it started raining again, we decided to switch our destination to the Biodôme at Olympic Park.  This attraction — along with the Insectarium, Botanical Garden, and Planetarium — is part of Canada’s largest natural science complex … Montréal Space for Life.  The place is walking distance to the Botanical Garden, so we figured we could head there on foot when the weather cleared up … which the forecasts said would be around 11:00a.

At the Biodôme ticket desk, we bought the package that includes admission to multiple attractions — CDN $35/person.  We visited the Biodôme back in 1986 when we did an East Coast driving trip that included Montréal and Québec City.  I enjoyed it then … and I enjoyed it this time as well.  But our pleasure today was tempered by the busloads of kids who were running around, crazed with excitement.  We later found out that this is the last week of school.

The Biodôme is housed in the velodrome that was built for the 1976 Olympics.  Inside are a variety of ecosystems ranging from the tropical rainforest of South America, to the Laurentian Forest of North America, to the Saint Lawrence estuary habitat, to the sub-polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic.  A trail meanders through all of the ecosystems, moving visitors seamlessly from one to the next.  We took our time going through the exhibits, stopping to enjoy the critters found in each as well as the plants.

Marmoset	Atlantic Puffin

When we noticed through the glass dome that the weather had turned for the better, we headed over to the Botanical Garden.  The walk to get there was short — maybe 15 minutes on foot … with a slight uphill incline.  When we arrived at the gate, we had our tickets scanned and detoured to the Insectarium.  I don’t much care for insects, but the exhibits here were quite interesting and the leafcutter ants were a delight to watch.  Best of all, our timing was good …  we had the place to ourselves almost until the last when the school groups started showing up.  Our cue to leave.

Monarch Butterflies	Phyllium Giganteum (Malaysia)

Leafcutter Ants can carry more than three times their body weight.

By this time it was after 11:30a and at least three people in our party were more interested in eating than they were in sightseeing.  So, we walked through the Rose Garden to the Garden Restaurant just outside the property … a casual cafeteria type place … it did the trick.  The sun was out and it was nice enough to sit outdoors, though we did pick a table that had an umbrella … just in case.  Mui said his sausage lasagna was very good; my broccoli soup was meh … the chipotle chicken sandwich would have been better if it was hot.  We both got locally brewed beverages … mine was root beer, but not like any I’ve had before … Mui got something called Spruce … it smelled just like spruce trees and had an interesting taste.

On our way to lunch before we do some more sightseeing.

Before we resumed our sightseeing, Mui and I wandered over to check out some tile panels in the restaurant’s courtyard.  They looked distinctly Turkish from a distance.  Turns out they were installed in what the sign said was the Turkish Peace Garden, donated by the Turkish community living in the province and the İznik Tile Foundation.

These types of tiles are named after a town in western Anatolia.  These decorated ceramics were produced from the last quarter of the 15th century until the end of the 17th century.

We spent the rest of our time at the Botanical Garden strolling through the themed gardens and grounds, stopping to check out the art installed here and there.  Founded in 1931, during the height of the Depression, the garden was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008.  I had hoped to visit the Chinese Garden, but it was closed for restoration work.  The Japanese Garden was nice, but I’ve seen better.  There were lots of colorful blooms to make the stroll enjoyable.  Best of all, the grounds were so big that if there were crowds, we did not encounter them.

On the right is an art installation created by Patrick Dougherty from woven willow branches.

Ducklings napping under the watchful eye of mama Mallard.

Our last stop was the greenhouses … a series of 10 of them linked together, but closed off from each other by doors.  Each greenhouse represented a different climate zone and had flowers and plants endemic to that zone.  For me, this was the highlight of our visit to the Botanical Garden … especially the orchids.

We left the Botanical Garden around 3:00p, Ubering back to the port.  The ship was quieter than I expected it would be on a turnaround day.  The cabins were ready by this time, so I imagine most of the embarking passengers were getting settled in.  We went up to the Terrace Café for some ice cream, which we enjoyed on the outside deck as we watched the rainstorm moving across the river in the distance.  Where we were docked, the skies remained blue.  Screams rending the air drew our eyes to St Helen’s Island … home to the La Ronde Amusement Park.  Visitors seemed to be having a ball going nearly 70 mph (110 kph) riding the hyper-coaster Goliath.  Thanks, but I’ll pass.

This thrill ride is described by La Ronde …
“As far as roller coasters go, there are beasts, there are giants, and then there is Goliath.” 

At 5:15p we went down to the Grand Dining Room for what I am hoping is the last muster drill of our RTW voyage.  Technically, we should have another one at the 14-day mark since this is a 17-day segment.  With just three days to disembarkation, however, I have a feeling that might not happen.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

As I wrap up our day, I am looking through the glass door of the veranda.  The distant skies behind us are ominous and there’s the occasional lightning flashing in the night sky.  Looks like we left Montréal just in time.  The veranda is wet, but otherwise no signs of a storm near us.  Hopefully the bad weather in our wake will not follow us to Québec City … our port of call tomorrow.

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