Montreal - Winter

A few days after returning from Egypt I found my company had gone through layoffs. I fortunately kept my job, but got a new manager and a new assignment. I was soon sent to Montreal to get up to speed on a new project. The native language of Montreal is French, but everyone is fluent in English so I had no trouble working with project's team. More notable was how cold it gets in Montreal. The highs never got above freezing and the lows sometimes dropped into the negative teens (Fahrenheit). Fortunately the city has a decent subway and a large network of underground walkways and stores so I didn't suffer much from the cold.

On the weekend I decided to brave the elements and explore the town. On my first day I walked around the old part of town (Old Port) for a couple hours before getting too cold. I thought it seemed a bit chilly, but was surprised to find out it was only 6F during my walk. It was the coldest I had ever experienced outside of a windy ski slope and this time I was only wearing street clothes. I went out the next day and it had warmed up to the 20s, but was snowing heavily. I walked up Mount Royal, the ciy's 764 foot "Mountain". Due to the heavy snow I felt like I was navigating my up a real mountain. Through the whiteout I eventually made it up to the mountain's viewpoint only to see fog. I trudged my way back down through the deepening snow and was very happy to make it back to my hotel. It ended up snowing around two feet that day.

After two weeks I went back home just before Christmas, but I returned a month later. This time the weather was much better, though still below freezing. I hiked up Mount Royal once again to find the summit I had missed last time. Not only did I find the summit, but got great views of the city. I headed down the back side of the mountain and wandered though the huge Montreal Cemetery. It was strange to see hundreds of gravestones buried in the snow, but it also was quite beautiful.

So far I've been to Montreal twice and I've found it to be a very nice city. Hopefully I'll return during warmer times to see what it looks like not covered in snow.