I went somewhere - part deux

God I take crap pictures, but I at least had to take a pic of the biker (not the bus)!

I read somewhere that serious writers never stop writing. Why is that quote all of a sudden relevant to the hungry man blog? Well, it's taken me eight days to finish a blog article that should have been done immediately. Now I've re-read past articles I've written, and despite the babble I never said I was a professional writer. Anywhere. So I can forgive myself...sort of. And honestly, there were/are times when I think it's a miracle that I keep this blog going! Of course that statement alone might open up a serious box containing the question "Why DO you keep this going Steve?" Enough digression, I'll just finish my adventure in Montreal piece.

Right, so the last place I left off was the train, and in particular, the food. Again it must be repeated that, in my opinion, it was surprisingly tasty - but of course I KNOW if my (culinary) friends were with me, we'd have a great discussion about food, trains and the impediments that may be blocking the test kitchens from having a true gourmet menu worthy of business class travel..did that sound elitist?? Yikes, but no apologies -ha!

Ok, so the train arrived at Montreal's Central Station, a drab building (and may I just digress once again and say that Toronto's train station is so incredible - the architecture, the grandeur, it's a beautiful building and is currently receiving a far over-due restoration to it's true former glory!) but who cares, I wasn't moving into the place. So I grabbed a cab and heading to the hotel.

The cab ride to the hotel was great. It gave me a pretty good look at a city I haven't been to in five years and you know something? Montreal is kind of falling apart. The streets are patchy, the sidewalks need repairing, it's like looking at an aging drag queen; You knew that she was f*cking amazing and oh so glamorous at one point in her life, but then the oncoming years sort of took it's toll on her face and body but thankfully not her personality. That's what I think of Montreal.

I love this city. I love everything about it. The dirt, the cracks, the missing bits of pavement, but especially the men. I had forgotten how hot Quebecois men are, and I was given a very quick reminder:). Oh, and after I settled in I ended up having dinner at the hotel restaurant, Laurie Raphael. The restaurant is ultra cool in that gross, douchebaggy way. And it was a seriously unremarkable meal of bowtie pasta , pork belly, chanterelle mushrooms and green peas, drenched in olive oil. C'mon!! Blah. Thankfully the chocolate dessert trio (for the third time that day - I was having a chocolate overdose what with the train and now the hotel?!). The plate was dripping with chocolate goodies: a mini chocolate covered ice cream stick; a chocolate mousse, and; chocolate cake which was sooooo freaking incredibly good. Thank God. See, it was at this point that I was thinking "ok, the dessert made up for some things but that's it, I'm finished with these ultra modern hotels!"

It's fine. I ended up hanging out with sexy Phillipe at the hotel bar, passed out later after too many G&T's in my comfy bed, and left the next day, hungover but thinking about where I'd stay the next time I visit.

See, I think trips like that are ok every once and a while - single or couples (even if you have kids, no excuses, park them with Grandparents and give yourself a mini-holiday!). Yeah, maybe a longer stay might be better depending on budgets, but it's also perfectly fine to visit a place, see it, eat it, sleep it and leave it (I'm taking ownership of this: see it, eat it, sleep it, leave it - awesome!). There should absolutely be no limits/limitations to whatever your travel plans may be - one night or twelve. When you head off on holiday, do what you feel, when you feel with no apologies!

I love mini vacations, can you tell?

I went somewhere!

Alright so it was only Montreal, but hey, that is a huge deal considering I've gone nowhere so far this year (Ed: waaaah, cry me a river Steve - first world problems are the worst right?). You think the opening sentence was a shake of the head moment? Wait'll you see what I write next!

So I've decided, after a very nice stay at Le Germaine, that I'm over boutique hotels. There, I said it and it is now out on public record. I'm finished with ultra modern design. I'm tired of sleek furniture modelled after some futuristic crap, with tables that light up and all that annoying shit that comes with making sure you have a 'fabulous' hotel room. Of course it's my own damn fault for booking there, I mean what else did I expect? Look:

See what I mean?

Now hold up, I'm not saying I'm heading back to hostel life (which was awesome at the time - I stayed here for months when I lived in London! Awwww BUNAC hostel....good times). What I am saying, is that I think I find myself leaning towards the old fashioned hotels. You know the type - panelled walls, quiet hotel bars with a fireplace.. Yikes what's happening to me?

Ok that's enough about hotels. Can I just say, and I think I'm repeating myself here, how much I LOVE taking the train? Sure, it may take a little longer to get to your destination (i.e. Toronto to Montreal - about five hours by train, an hour and half by flight). But that's not the point. The point is that it's the MF train! C'mon, who doesn't get excited taking the train? VIA is awesome, and even better if you get yourself up to Business class (yup, here we go), 'cause you'll get the real deal there: loads of food, loads of liquor, and loads of space. Oh and since this is a hungry man travels, I suppose I should mention the food. I'll start with le cuisine de VIA train (I made that up, pretentious non?).

So I had this for lunch:


It was a "Malaysian" style black peppercorn chicken breast, with noodles and vegetables, and although presentation was strictly airline stylings, it was surprisingly tasty - salty, but tasty! The meat was very tender and I get the nod to the amazing Malaysian cuisine with the chicken, but I highly doubt this would be served to any Malaysian family or frankly anyone who loves Malaysian food, but I digress. The noodles were not overcooked (hooray - mushy noodles are awful) which is quite an accomplishment considering where this is being served. Even the veg still had a bit of crunch, no wilting or limping on my dining tray! Dessert was a chocolate mousse which was also very tasty; nice, light, and chocolatey, and not Nestle cheap chocolatey, but actual real dark chocolate tasty. Then they came around again with chocolate truffles on a tray and endless amounts of wine. I took the lunchtime train, and I would have been sh*t-faced by the time I got to Montreal if I had said yes every time they came around with wine and liquor! The older gentleman in the seat behind me was totally out of it after his fifth glass of chardonnay, God bless him. He was snoring away, missing out on the fantastic scenery going by...

To be continued...

The story so far...UPDATE

Had to smile at the original 'the story so far' post (here). It sounds like the musings (dare I say whingings?) of a man-child, and I swear to God some days I really feel like that extremely annoying, yet oddly catchy Avril Lavigne song "Here's to never growing up" - a life of perpetual "we'll see how the day goes" attitude. Now most people wouldn't complain about that. In fact, quite a few people would LOVE a life like that. I love my life, but I do have moments from time to time where I'm wondering if it's all going to catch up with me in some way. Oh well, if it does what can you do? Deal with it and move on right? Right.

Sooooo as an update to that original post, I AM going to Montreal, leaving next week (woo hoo) and staying at Le Germaine, but not sure if there's time to visit the restaurants I wanted to go too. I think it might be exploration/wander time and see where it takes me. Oh yeah, and I'm taking the train and I can't freaking wait - I LOVE train travel (although this particular trip from a previous post may have you questioning that declaration of love for train travel, but I swear that was just me at that place, at that time - it had nothing to do with the train itself!)

I STILL haven't made official plans for a Brazil/Argentina trip, and do you want to know what the real reason is as to why I'm slightly reluctant? Oh it's not fear or finances (although that should always be an area to keep in check), it's food! Crazy right? A food lover who's not thrilled to have Brazilian food "shakes head" - I think it's the too much meat thang but I'm sure I'll get over it. Now the other parts/sides of Brazil, haha well, I can't WAIT to explore/check it out!

Ive already said I graduated (seriously how many degrees/diplomas/certifications is too much?? Is it ever too much? He asks slightly rhetorically but yet is open to an answer?) and now I'm keeping my eye out for employment opportunities. I move into my new place in October. Hmmm, what else to add as an update? I guess that's pretty much it for the time being. Sorry but that post really needed updating. Oh, and as you will now see, my prejudice for including Toronto restaurants on this blog is now over :). Update accomplished!