We’re back in Canada! We visited Banff in the the western part of Canada in Episode 11, now it’s time to switch languages, head east and visit Montreal, the largest city in French-speaking Quebec, and the second-largest city, after Toronto, in Canada! But don’t worry, because this podcast is in English.
Hear about the city from a local, Sydney Wong, who will tell us all about Montreal: what the city is famous for, a food chain in an abandoned shopping centre, a church with elevators, the transportation in the city, and much more. You know that Canada is famous for its maple syrup, don’t you? After all, the maple leaf is on their flag. But did you know how the syrup is made and how it is collected? And when? That was a very curious bit for me. Hear about all this and more on Episode 21 of the Curious Pavel Podcast Sessions.
Want to listen? Here is the audio-only version of the podcast episode:
If you prefer your radio with pictures, this podcast about Montreal is also on YouTube:
Mentions in the Podcast about Montreal:
- Jean Drapeau – island made of garbage
- Atwater market and Jean Talon market – places to visit as one provides specialized items like local pates and cheese and the other feels like a European farmer’s market
- Sugar Shack (Cabin a Sucre)
- Poutine – La Banquise has 100 different poutines and is open 24 hours
- 5 a 7 – great way to try new “terraces”
- Schwartz – look for the line up on Boul. St Laurent.
- Kam Fung – in an abandoned mall in Chinatown!
- St Joseph Oratory – a church with elevators (so you can go to the vending machine)
Festivals:
- Fireworks festival (go to La Ronde to see it)
- Montreal en Lumiere
- Nuit Blanche
- Jazz Fest
- Just for Laughs Festivals
- Grand Prix
- Cirque de Soleil
About Sydney:
Sydney Wong is an author, female Canadian entrepreneur, and Founder and CEO of VenturX, a conduit for startups to track metrics. As a successful entrepreneur, Sydney likes to share the tips and tricks that she uses to be productive and efficient, while keeping an emphasis on the importance of having a balanced life.
Sydney’s book: How to Have a Good Day
Find Sydney and Venturx Team Online:
- Instagram: Venturx_team
- Website: https://venturx-team.medium.com/
- Youtube: VenturX Team
Bonus: More Curious Facts about Montreal
Thanks for reading this far. To reward your perseverance, here are some extra curious facts about Montreal, just for you:
- Montreal is one of the world’s 5 biggest French-speaking cities (Paris is first), although more than 59% of the population of Montreal are bilingual (fluent in both French and English).
- There are more than 350km of cycling tracks to enjoy throughout the city.
- Montreal shows signs of human habitation stretching back over 8000 years.
- Montreal is famous for its weather: hot in the summer and cold as in the winter. So it makes sense to use the Underground City, a series of tunnels that stretch for over 30km under the city centre, and contain shopping malls, museums, metro stations, hotels and banks.
- Speaking of cold weather, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Montreal was -37.8°C in January 1957. Wrap up well!
- The world’s first (ice) hockey game was played in Montreal in 1875… and ended in a fight.
- In 1990, 3 Montreal students created a search engine, which they named Archie. It was one of the first search engines, predating Google search by 7 years.
- John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their famous week-long 1969 “Bed in for Peace” at the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal. It was a protest against the Vietnam War. This is where they wrote the song: Give Peace a Chance.
I really hoped you enjoyed hearing about Montreal in this podcast. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact me. Your comments are my oxygen!
