I can't remember where but I once read that Leonard Cohen lived in The Plateau near a park and that he would often be seen walking the sidewalks of St. Laurent Boulevard. I found that I kept thinking of this since that is the Montreal neighbourhood we are staying in for the summer.
We were stuck in the apartment one rainy afternoon and I decided to take that time to pound Google until I found out where his house was. I figured there must be some reference to his address somewhere.
After about an hour I did come up with this one photograph on Flickr. It did not include the address though. I could see the house number was 28. The foreground of the photo had a bench and wrought iron fence so I knew that it was taken from a park across the street. St. Laurent is the dividing line between East and West streets so the low house number matched as did the park location. I went back to Google and their maps with street view. I took a virtual "walk" around the parks on either side of St. Laurent. I found it on the third try.
It turns out this is in a smaller area within The Plateau known as Little Portugal and the park is a tiny one, hardly an acre in size, named Parc du Portugal. I made plans to go out the next day and take the twenty minute walk to check it out. However, Toni was skeptical and wanted some sort of proof that this was indeed the correct house. I went back to researching and came up with this video interview. I had my definitive proof in first 30 seconds. There was nothing to dispute. Check it out.
As you can see it is a modest house in an area that has not yet been gentrified. Now, with the address in hand I was able to find even more information. He bought the duplex and the adjoining building in the 1970s for only $7000 and he has never remodelled or renovated. It still has the original kitchen cabinets and claw foot tub. Being a Buddhist he lives very simply. He splits his time here with another house in Los Angeles and I have read that it is in a similar neighbourhood and just as modest. No Rock Star life for him. He even lets a Buddhist temple use the other building rent free.
Here are a few photos we took of the house and area including the next street "Marie-Anne Est" and his corner liquor store. Perhaps drawing different kinds of inspirations for songs from both. Just think of all the songs that came out of this little corner of the world.
This is just a quick post to update you. We have been in Montreal for just a little over two weeks. Just getting settled into our three month stay. We are in a hybrid apartment/hotel building. I think it is from the 1960s but it is being totally made over to meet today's standards. It is located in a neighbourhood of Montreal known as The Plateau which just east of McGill University and west of the St. Laurent entertainment district. We are on the 12th floor and have an outstanding view of the St. Lawrence River and from our rooftop we also have a great view of The Mount, Mont-Real. We are in one of the few midrises as most of the area is filled with walk ups that are very similar in style to what you see in Greenwich Village or the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They have an added characteristic of curving wrought iron staircases on the fronts of the buildings to directly access the upper floor apartments.
We have been spending most of our time setting up the household and communications, locating grocery stores, restaurants, bank, liquor store, etc. There have been a few bumps and we have found there are a couple of things we could use that are in storage in Toronto. But overall we have what we need and very little that we don't need. All in one suitcase, one carry-on, two briefcases.
We have less than a week to go before relocating to Montreal for the summer. We won't be back this way until October! I thought I should get one more post in to showcase Allan Gardens, a dominant feature of our neighbourhood. The current conservatory/greenhouse dates to 1910. It replaced an earlier one that was built in 1879 and burned to the ground just after the turn of the century.
I can't believe that in all my trips here and living here over two years I just now got around to visiting the gardens. There is no excuse as it is free and open seven days a week year 'round. It is a "must see" if you are ever in Toronto.
There are many more photos HERE. We didn't even go into the succulent wing as it was too hot! We'll save that for the cool months.
Two weeks ago we started our third year here and simultaneously moved into our second apartment. We are now pretty settled in and have managed to get through the learning curve. It is a bit larger and gives us a full second washroom and second bedroom. We enjoy an outstanding view of the CN Tower and a bit of Lake Ontario in the distance. We are right next to Allan Gardens which has sprawling greenhouse that is over 100 years old.
The neighborhood is completely different even though it is only about eight blocks straight north of the former condo. For Kansas City people I would compare it to moving from The Crossroads to Westport. There is a lot more activity day and night. We are across the street from the former Maple Leaf Gardens building. The street level has been converted to a huge grocery store. It is all state of the art as it just opened last year. The upper floors are occupied by Ryerson University and they still maintain an ice rink for their team. Ticket prices are about one tenth the price to see the Maple Leafs so that will do nicely when the season starts back up.
The condo owners still live in this unit four months out of the year so we have arranged with them to leave our belongings in their spare closets and locker area while we are away. This first year they need it from June through September so we will be spending the summer in Montreal and in September we will split between Brussels and The Hague before returning to Toronto in October.
Believe it or not by not having to pay Toronto rent for those four months we will end up with nearly the same expenses including the round trip airfare.
Here are a few photos from the new place.
You can see more photos HERE or the slideshow below:
Toni was apprehensive about taking a trip to Cuba. The embargo is still on and it remains illegal for Americans to spend any money there regardless of residency location. The fines on the books are substantial but my research showed that they are never imposed. Canada and Cuba have no interest in enforcing the US law. All we had to do was put the trip on our Canadian credit card and bring only Canadian currency. The Cuban officials don't even stamp your passport so there is no record of your trip in that document.
There are daily direct flights from Toronto to five different airports. I thought everything would go to a hub in Havana but not so. Canadian tourism is huge there and sought after. So much so that Canadians can get a visitor's visa for up to six months while citizens of other countries are limited to three months. We booked seven nights at the eight year old Blau Varadero Hotel. It is a beautiful four star facility and it is all inclusive. We felt like we were kids at summer camp. They have a huge open air lobby with a main lobby bar, evening piano bar, poolside bar, and finally a beach bar. In addition to the daily buffet meals they included three sit down dinners with wait service and table side musicians. There was a variety of evening entertainment as well.
We hired cars to take us on a couple of excursions. One to the old town of Varadero and another to Old Havana which is two hours away. Our Havana driver was a professional tour guide moonlighting with his own privately owned taxi service. We enjoyed a local's perspective on the current politics as well as the history from Columbus' landing through today.
The weather couldn't have been better. Around 80 in the day dipping to just below 70 at night. When we weren't on our day trips we were just relaxing without phones and internet. I called this our "hammock vacation". This also made two trips in one year to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Old Havana and Old Quebec City.
A privately owned 1959 Buick parked near the harbour in Havana. Most of the vintage cars are government owned taxis.
The National Capitol Building. It is said to be modelled after the US Capitol. It has never been used as a government building since the overthrow of Batista. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
This church is in the town of Varadero
The statue is dwarfed by the 359 foot tower. It is from this stage that Castro gave his speeches to a million people in Revolution Square. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
Our view from the taxi as we pulled into Havana
I found a certain charm in the neglected building exteriors
Interior shots of The Ambos Mundos. This hotel was the home of Ernest Hemingway for years— in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
This is a typical street scene in Old Havana
Part of the water ballet entertainment our last full day at the resort
Pure white sand beaches
At one of the old squares
This was our live Christmas Tree this year
1959 Ford in downtown Varadero
Slide show of the best of our photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/blavery00/BestOfCuba?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJb_qa6E9dLXigE&feat=directlink
Early in June Toni and I went on our first vacation in four years. Of course we have been living in new locales but that is different from a vacation. For this trip we went to Quebec City. I was there only once before when I was eight years old so I have just vague memories of it. It was an easy decision to go there as it is just a one hour flight on the best regional airline in the world, Porter Airlines. Upon landing we grabbed our luggage and went straight to the taxi stand. The driver spoke no English at all but we expected that as only 1/3 of the population is bilingual. We got settled in and gave him the hotel location on paper. I noticed the catchy music coming from the radio. It was in French of course but I quickly realized that I knew the song even though that seemed impossible. It took a minute but I finally recognized it as Michael Pagliaro. He was well known in Canada but not the States. The song I was hearing was one of his best, “What the Hell I Got”, which I used to have on a single but that version was sung in English. What are the odds that I would hear a 1975 French recording that I would know the minute I set foot in Quebec? Here it is in English. What a welcome to the city.
We loved our lodging at Hotel du Vieux-Quebec.
I would never consider staying anywhere else. They start the day of right with breakfast basket hanging on the door every morning. The hotel is located right in the thick of Old Quebec and within walking distance of dozens of restaurants and shops. We definitely took advantage of the restaurants. Although less than a third of the population speaks English we were able to fumble through with our vocabulary of about thirty words.
Quebec City is over 400 years old, the only city north of Mexico that still has its ramparts intact. It has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site so if you visit keep your camera charged up and have a fresh memory card. They say it is the most European city in North America and between the language and architecture I have to agree. I will let the photos we took tell most of the story.
There were only a couple of things on my ‘must see’ list. The first place was The Plains of Abraham. This was the only thing I really remembered from my childhood visit. I didn’t know it when I was little but this was the site of the most famous battle in Canada. As part of the French and Indian War in 1759 the British defeated the French here in a 30 minute attack that lead to the French losing control of Quebec and eventually all of Canada. Today it is acres of rolling grassland used as a park with scenic views of the St. Lawrence River valley.
The other place was the St. Matthews Anglican Church where my Grandpa Nosworthy was baptized. After I booked our hotel I looked up the church and was on the same street, rue St-Jean, less than a meter west…a ten minute walk!!
With this Google street map you can stroll around the grounds.
I have mentioned my family trip a few times in this blog. It was my only travel as a kid but we covered a lot of territory in three weeks. We had stops in Chicago, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Portland Maine, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg. It was a true marathon and all by car with three adults and three kids in a Chevy Impala station wagon. Most of the places we just spent an afternoon. Sometimes they were simply pointing out sites from the car without even stopping, especially towards the last part of the trip. Without setting out to do so I have suddenly realized that I have been going back to most of these same places as an adult and seeing them properly. In a couple of cases I have been actually living there. It was not intentional but there are only four places left on that list that have not been revisited.
Santol is on duty at the lobby of the Chateau Frontenac. He is always ready for a walk with the guests.
The baptismal fount in St Matthews Church. Grandpa Nosworthy was baptised here nearly 100 years ago.
The Plains of Abraham were just as I remember them as a kid
The Funiculaire that takes you from the upper part of Old Quebec to the lower part of Old Quebec. It is an elevator that goes at a 45 degree angle.
Perhaps our favourite restaurant located in the lower section
Another photo from dusk at the centre of town
Toni's hair seemed to blend right into the sculpture behind her.
If you haven't seen enough already check this LINK for a panoramic view of the city showing the upper and lower parts and the Funiculaire that links them. It is a large photo so give it some time to load.
