A Day in Montreal, Canada

While up at Lake Placid, we headed out to Montreal, Canada, a mere 2 hours away.  It was a very cold and snowy day, but we enjoyed driving around Montreal and visiting a couple of sites.  It was especially helpful that my sister spoke French, so we did not seem like complete stupid tourists.. even though we were since we didn't know where to go most of the time. :) 

Our first stop was the Jean-Talon market, where we visited the fromagerie for some yummy cheese, ate crepes for lunch and had Turkish Delights for dessert!

   

Then, we headed out to the Vieux Montreal to check out the Notre Dame Basilique.  It has been 15 years since I last saw this place and I forgot  how beautiful and unique this place was.

  

When we finally got our fill of beautiful architecture, we headed out in search of a good place for beer.  We wandered into a nice restaurant/bar called L'Assomoir.  It was kind of pricey, but we needed to warm up and ended up lingering for a couple of glasses of beer and plantain chips.  We ended the night by heading over to Boulevard Saint-Laurent in search of cheaper eats.  Somehow, we made a wrong turn and ended up in the more shady part of the street with sex shops and strip clubs.  But, once we headed in the other direction, there were many quaint little restaurants and shops.  We wandered for a bit in the cold, searching for a perfect place, but for a Friday night, the restaurants seemed to empty and not at all the boisterous, lively type of places we thought they would be.  So we decided to eat sushi, in Montreal.  All in all, it was a fun mini-adventure.  After dinner, we headed out for some coffee and went back on our merry way to the land of freedom fries, freedom poodles and freedom air. =P

Winter Wonderland

While most people choose warm, balmy beaches for their winter getaway, my friends and I decided to defy the masses and head up north!

It's been a week since I came back from a nice, relaxing, get outta the city trip to Lake Placid, NY.  We rented a quaint cabin in nearby Jay, NY that was perfectly situated in a secluded area near a creek.  This cabin was so warm and cozy, which was perfect in the freezing temperatures up there! If you are interested in renting this cabin, click here.

Down a short path, was a creek that was partially frozen, so my friends and I frolicked on the ice. 

In nearby Lake Placid, we decided to spend the $29 on their Olympic Passport to check out some cool stuff at the Olympic Village.  But first, we felt the need to frolic on yet another frozen body of water.  Mirror Lake was frozen solid and we went running, sliding, and simply enjoyed the fact that we were over a frozen lake.  We even saw some people on dogsleds!

By then, it was so very cold and we were so very cold and hungry, so it was time to check out the local brewery, Lake Placid Pub & Brewery.  Since we couldn't decide on which beer to choose, we first tried the sampler with 6 of their brews before deciding on one to order in a pitcher. :) 

Then, when our tummies were stuffed with beer, food and some 'smores (yep, 'smores!), we headed out for some ice skating on the speed skating track! There were no railings for me to rely on, so this time, I actually had to buck up and learn to ice skate.  

Other things on the Passport: visiting the ski jump! It was crazy getting to see the ski jumpers up close and personal. That thing was high!

 

Then we checked out the bobsled complex.  There was a koala bobsledding :)

 At the end of that day, we saw this awesome sunset/snowy mountain view.

Last but not least, what is a winter visit to Lake Placid without some snow sports on Whiteface Mountain! I got to snowboard for the first time this season in the freezing, windy, snowy cold. But it was a blast!