Canada

Devin Beliveau
Aug 26, 2017 · 3 min read

Having grown up in Maine with French Canadian roots on both sides of my family, Canada never really seemed that foreign or far away. I was with my eighth grade class the first time I traveled to Canada. We were headed for an educational trip to Old Quebec. When we stopped across the border we convinced our classmate it would be a good idea for him to jump in the Saint Lawerence, and he did. Our teachers were not impressed. Aside from that little distraction, we had fun making maple pops in the snow, watching the changing of the guards and running around narrow cobblestone streets. The Château de Frontenac looms above the city and was the closest thing I had ever seen to a castle. It’s still a dream I have to spend a vacation there. Maybe someday!

I went to Quebec a second time with my family when I was in high school. I somehow ended up getting Mono. I also traveled to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls with my family and a friend in high school. We did all the touristy things. Niagara, while exciting, is a pretty straightforward vacation and my guess is our trip wasn’t too different than most people’s. We did the museums, went on the Maid of the Mist boat ride and just stared in awe at the falls. I went back to Niagara as a real adult and had essentially the same vacation. It’s definitely fun and I would go back again, but I would probably try harder to find some more unique things to do. The hotel for my second trip there was actually on the American side, but there’s a foot bridge that takes you into Canada. When we showed our passports, I asked to have a Canada stamp and they gave me one. Usually American’s don’t get their passports stamped when entering Canada so I was happy that I remembered to ask. The most amusing thing about this footbridge is that it’s free to enter Canada, but if you want to take it and walk into America, there’s a turn-style you have to put 25 cents in.

Niagara Falls from the American side. 2012.

Now, for Montreal. I went to college in Burlington, Vermont which is less than two hours from Montreal. A bunch of girl friends and I spent a weekend there our Sophomore year. Again, we ended up doing all the touristy things like walk up and down Saint Catherine Street and explore Old Montreal. Two of my friends decided to get their belly button pierced while we were there and I’m pretty sure only one of them fainted. I wish I could remember more from this trip, but I really don’t. We ate a lot of poutine and drank alcohol, which was illegal for us to do two hours south, back in the US.

My second trip to Montreal was with a group of friends I had made after I moved to Boston. We went up for a long weekend and did an equal amount of sight seeing and drinking. We went to Olympic Park, part of which is now a Biodome. We walked up Mount Royal and had great views of the city. We went to a strip club that was nestled between a daycare center and a church. According to the internet, that strip club has since shut down. We stopped in Burlington for lunch on our way home and my friend realized she had forgotten her purse at a coffee shop in Montreal. We called the shop and they had it. We turned around and drove back to Montreal, picked it up and headed back toward Burlington. Needless to say, border patrol was a little weirded out by us, this being our third time through the border in less than five hours. We explained our situation and headed off. I have a lot of fond memories of this trip. While I’ve certainly had my fair share of adventures in Canada, there’s so much of it to explore and I’m hoping to visit both Nova Scotia and Vancouver sometime soon.

Montreal as seen from the top of Mount Royal. 2009.
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I code. I travel.

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