On July 4th, 2014, Pete and I left Saratoga Springs, NY for our international destination of Montreal, Canada via Amtrak. It was during this second leg, when I learned how important it is to be an observant traveler because, let’s face it, sometimes things go wrong.
Very wrong.
Traveling was and still is, a luxury for us. My very part time job paid for 99% of our travel expenses each year. When I splurged for the “Romance Package '' at the Omni Mont-Royale in Montreal, it was a big deal, expense wise.
I chose the Omni for two reasons. As Omni members, we could accrue points and you can easily walk to the hotel from the Montreal Central train station. When we arrived, I was gratified to see that our hotel lived up to the beautiful photos online. Check in was easy and the staff greeted us with a warm welcome. Included in our package was a bottle of bubbly, sitting on ice when we arrived at our lovely high floor room with a wonderful view. Once settled in, as it was late, we strolled down to the lobby to ask the concierge where we could find a nice meal.
He suggested Ferreira Cafe. I did not question the concierge’s suggestion by inquiring about food, cost, or ambiance —-big mistake.
Traveler’s Tip - Concierge’s often have wonderful suggestions but since the person may not know your tastes or budget, I suggest you do some research on your own.
Pete and I were in for two surprises; the restaurant was tres expensive and our meal was totally ruined by an impossibly loud new type of “music” to us called “techno trance”. Look it up, you can still find examples of techno trance (dance) on Youtube when the genre reached its pinnacle in the early 1990’s and early 2000’s. We should have left right away, but we were starving. After paying for what I wrote down in my notes as an “average” meal, we hurried out with our ears ringing. Unfortunately, the evening went downhill from there. In fact, Pete thought I had actually died during the night.
That's right, died.
When I woke early on the morning of July 5th, Pete was staring at me, wide eyed, barely breathing.
“What’s the matter?”, I asked him, sitting up in a hurry.
“Oh my God, I woke during the night and thought you had died” (though he apparently didn’t try to wake me).
“What?” I asked, wondering if he’d inexplicably lost his mind.
“Ellen, something smells horrible. I thought it was you, that maybe you were dead”.
As a nurse, I knew that it would be highly improbable to start reeking of decay so quickly even if I had expired in my sleep.
Pete went on to explain that during the night, he turned to his right, and moved closer to the middle of our king sized bed. That was when he encountered a horrible smell and he wondered if it was emanating from (out of) me? That’s romance!
After hearing his story, I moved more to the center of the bed to check out his concern.
“Ew, you’re right. It smells horrible! It’s urine, like a whole lot of it! What the heck?", I asked Pete quizzically. Jumping out of the bed, I continued in disbelief, "We slept in this? Pete, This is disgusting!”. Upon closer examination, we discovered that even the throw pillows had an odor to them. What to do?
Call Housekeeping and hotel management.
I guess because it was a Saturday, no one from management ever came up to our room. Instead, two uniformed women arrived from housekeeping. Quickly we showed them the now stripped mattress, asking them to please inspect for themselves (with their own noses) the foul odor. They flatly refused. In fact, they remained blase as we continued to show them sheets, a mattress pad, and pillows that smelled like perhaps an incontinent dog had made our bed his personal fire hydrant (the hotel allowed pets). There was no apology. Instead the two women acted like we had sprayed the bedding ourselves with au de urine.
At our insistence because the smell was embedded in our mattress, the housekeeping staff eventually agreed to change everything completely out. When we pursued even further with hotel management later, we were given a discount on our room and a free breakfast the next morning. But it was too late. The incident clouded our good moods for the rest of our time in Montreal. We had no idea what (or whom) wet our bed, but we chose to go with the pet theory. From this never to be forgotten experience, we learned a valuable lesson we’ve remembered ever since —-
Traveler’s Tip - Before unpacking your suitcase, take a whiff around your room and be sure to thoroughly check out your bedding. It tends to kill romance when your bed partner believes you smell like "death".
Mask up!
Montreal is a beautiful city! It’s so walkable and rich with history. In my notes, we meandered for our one full day, returning to a favorite watering hole, Les 3 Brasseurs. We discovered this charming bar in 2013 when we visited with Henrik during a ski trip to Mont Tremblant in 2013.
Montreal’s architecture is so varied; simply marvelous to the eye. Be sure to stroll through Marche Bonsecours located at 350 Saint Paul where the shopping opportunities are plentiful and quite fabulous.
Traveler’s Tip - Even If short on time while visiting Montreal, make the pilgrimage to St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mont-Royal. You can’t help but leave with a great sense of something we all could use more of ……hope.
On our trip with Henrik, we stumbled upon the L’oratoire Saint Joseph du Mont-Royal,located at 3800 Queen Mary Road, an easy walk from the metro . Though Pete and I did not revisit Saint Joseph’s in 2014, this is a must see destination for everyone, regardless of religious background.
The story of Andre Bessette (1845-1937) is incredible. Beginning his religious life as a humble monk, Andre went on to be credited for thousands of spontaneous healings and true miracles. It is at this minor basilica, you can still see the thousands of crutches left behind by the tens of thousands who were healed by Brother Andre (he never became a priest) through the apparent power of prayer. Though he died in 1937, Andre was later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and is now remembered as Saint Brother Andre.
Montreal hosted the Olympic games in 1976 when Nadia Comaneci won gold with the first ever Olympic perfect 10 and pre-Caitlyn Bruce Jenner won gold in the decathlon. If you have the time, it’s worth the short train ride to stroll the sometimes haunted looking grounds where these remarkable games were held 47 years ago.
On a gloomy Sunday, July 6th, Pete and I happily checked out of the Omni. Pulling our rolling bags, we entered the nearby VIA rail station, eager to start our journey to Quebec City, Canada. Would the Canadian rail system live up to its reputation? Would our hotel feel like staying in a castle? With no guidebooks, would we find enough to do?
Let me tell ya…. Quebec ROCKED,.... I mean, it literally rocked.
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