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CanadaPAX (June 15, 2018) - Discord and a Vague Schedule on Page 7
Cello
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
@Simben, @Psykoma and I proudly present: a reason for all you jerks to come visit Canada and save us airfare!
Where is it?
Because it's a beautiful city (and also we don't want to travel too far for once), we've chosen Montreal as our destination.
From Wikipedia:
What are we going to do there?
Short answer: eat too much, walk some places, see old buildings, probably get drunk??
Long answer: There is so much to choose from. Options include:
Food: Montreal is famous for Montreal smoked meat, Montreal-style bagels, and of course, poutine. We have a lot to choose from here, but generally the local favourites include Schwartz's, St-Viateur, and La Banquise (they're open 24 hours!). There's also a thriving restaurant scene, we're not going to be starved for options here.
Activities: Axe throwing is a must. There's also the Montreal Biodome, where you can see penguins and otters and plan a heist to take one home, the local Six Flags park La Ronde, or just wandering and shopping and seeing the sights of the Old Port, St-Catherine, etc.
When is this happening?
We're proposing three potential weekends: May 20 (Victoria Day Weekend), June 16, or Canada Day (July 1). Canada Day is less of a thing in Montreal, it's really just a moving day, but, you know, it's an option. We're hoping to pick the best of these three for people to attend; the date will be finalized by February 28 to reduce hotel and flight costs.
Fill out the form here to help us decide: https://goo.gl/forms/bSrRRHgjTgvTlNr52
Where can we stay?
To be determined! We'll either look at hotels or AirBnBs once we have a weekend picked out.
Where is it?
Because it's a beautiful city (and also we don't want to travel too far for once), we've chosen Montreal as our destination.
From Wikipedia:
Montreal (officially Montréal) is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the second-most populous municipality in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters.
...
Historically the commercial capital of Canada, Montréal was surpassed in population and in economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, transport, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, art, culture, tourism, food, fashion, gaming, film and world affairs. Montreal has the second-highest number of consulates in the continent, serves as the location of the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and was named a UNESCO City of Design in 2006. In 2017, Montreal was ranked the 12th most liveable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit in its annual Global Liveability Ranking, and the best city in the world to be a university student in the QS World University Rankings.
Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events, including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympics. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics. As of 2016 the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival[35] and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta-plus world city.
What are we going to do there?
Short answer: eat too much, walk some places, see old buildings, probably get drunk??
Long answer: There is so much to choose from. Options include:
Food: Montreal is famous for Montreal smoked meat, Montreal-style bagels, and of course, poutine. We have a lot to choose from here, but generally the local favourites include Schwartz's, St-Viateur, and La Banquise (they're open 24 hours!). There's also a thriving restaurant scene, we're not going to be starved for options here.
Activities: Axe throwing is a must. There's also the Montreal Biodome, where you can see penguins and otters and plan a heist to take one home, the local Six Flags park La Ronde, or just wandering and shopping and seeing the sights of the Old Port, St-Catherine, etc.
When is this happening?
We're proposing three potential weekends: May 20 (Victoria Day Weekend), June 16, or Canada Day (July 1). Canada Day is less of a thing in Montreal, it's really just a moving day, but, you know, it's an option. We're hoping to pick the best of these three for people to attend; the date will be finalized by February 28 to reduce hotel and flight costs.
Fill out the form here to help us decide: https://goo.gl/forms/bSrRRHgjTgvTlNr52
Where can we stay?
To be determined! We'll either look at hotels or AirBnBs once we have a weekend picked out.
Cello on
+11
Posts
La Ronde
Notable rides at La Ronde include Le Monstre, one of the largest wooden rollercoasters in the world, and the Goliath, which was the largest rollercoaster in Canada from 2006 to 2008. Aside from that, it also has its own rebranded version of the Batman rollercoaster (here called the Vampire), the Boomerang, a rollercoaster with two drops that makes you go back through it backwards, and a dwindling number of vintage rides considering the park's origin at the 1967 World's Fair (though the most beloved one of those, the classic Pitoune, was closed down last year). It's a heckin' good time at an amusement park, what more could you ask for?
Pros:
-A heckin' good time
-Easily enough fun to fill out a whole day
-Saturday nights usually end with a showcase from the international fireworks festival
-Open from like 10 in the morning to midnight-ish
Cons:
-Expensive: like 50 bucks per person for a day ticket I think? Maybe more? Unfortunately since the tickets for the upcoming season aren't yet on sale it seems impossible to Google any information like how expensive the tickets were last year
-Weather dependent. Not all summer days are sunny in Montreal, and if the weather's shitty, we're gonna have a bad time
-Likely crowded, expect teens
-Not a ton there for you if you're not into rollercoasters
Biodome
Pros:
-Cheap
-Capybaras, piranhas, a lynx, bats, some pretty birds and penguins!
Cons:
-Short (probably less than 2 hours to see everything, so that's at most an after-lunch outing)
-No large animals since it's interior
Randolph
Pros:
-They got a bunch of games you can try for free and have game sommeliers that will suggest games to you if you're out of inspiration
-They will let you bring your own games and play whatever
-Alcohol makes everything better, try their black velvets
-Located at Berri-UQAM station, right in the middle of the city, way easy to get there
Cons:
-A lot of games there are in French, which isn't a problem for ALL games but does limit the playable pool for this crowd
-Frequently crowded, might be a line-up depending on when we go
The Olympic Stadium
Pros:
-Swords in your arms
-X-ray eyes
-Lots of XP to be gained from hacking computers and crawling in vents
-Very nice view, and I called the mayor and she said she'll make sure we don't have to hold against waves of enemies while waiting for the funicular
Cons:
-Evil conspiracy mercenaries will try to shoot you
-There's something fishy about Eliza Cassan
Mont Royal
Pros:
-It's literally just a mountain we can go to. It's free.
-Very nice view
-Close to the city so not a big detour
Cons:
-It's literally just a mountain we can go to
The Old Port
Pros:
-Probably the nicest place in town to just chill
-Lots of touristy activities
-Rich people have boats you can gawk at
Cons:
-Lots of tourists
-Can get expensive if you try to do all the touristy stuff
FAQ
Isn't Canada like, cold all the time?
That's why we're doing this in the summer. It's nice in the summer. There are even a bunch of obnoxious heatwaves sometimes! You can walk around in a t-shirt and bermudas and sandals. It's fine. Even at nighttime. It's not always sunny, however. There are nasty cloudy days, shitty rain and some bad storms. It's pretty hard to predict how lucky we'll be but when it's nice, it's nice.
Can we get poutine?
Anyone who comes is obligated to come to La Banquise, the place where you can get the best poutine in the world. I'll also recommend getting some smoked meat while you're here, another local specialty that doesn't get as much press but is nevertheless super delicious (Schwartz's on St-Laurent is the classical recommendation to get that, but considering how crowded it can get, you can pretty much get a decent smoked meat at any respectable deli up here).
I don't speak French, how hard is it gonna be to be there?
French in Quebec is a... complicated matter. There are laws forcing all public services to be available in French, but absolutely no guarantee that anything is in English. All public signage is in French only. However, Montreal is by far the most cosmopolitan place in Quebec, and the one place in the province where you won't get weird looks if you address someone in English. You can absolutely get served in English at restaurants, bars, stores, and most Montrealers will almost psychotically insist on switching their conversation to broken English if a single anglophone enters it, even if that person also speaks French. It should be fine. If it's not fine, send a panicked stare and whimper at your nearest Simon and I'll rush in to be your interpreter.
I'll be driving up there, what do I need to know?
As stated above, all public signage is in French only. However, pictograms are mostly the same and shouldn't be that hard to decipher. Another thing to note is that the metric system is used; make sure you set your dashboard to show kilometers per hour (or look at the km/h units if you have a traditional speed dial). The speed limit on highways is 100 km/h (62 mph), and in the city itself it's 40 on main arteries and 30 on smaller streets (signage will be present to remind you). Also: turning right on red lights is legal in Quebec, but it is illegal on the entirety of Montreal island. That being said, try to avoid driving in the city itself as much as possible. The traffic is bad and the drivers are worse. Which brings us to the next point:
How do I move around?
The best way to get around in Montreal is by public transit. Full stop. It should be your first option and the way you use the most during your stay here. Almost all major streets have a bus line and they pretty much all pass within 30 minutes of each other, dipping down to sub-10 minutes on rush hours. There is also a very good subway, the Metro. The fares are fully transferrable from bus to metro and back, so a typical Montreal transit itinerary will be bus to metro station, possibly a metro transfer, then transfer to bus until you get to where you're going, all on a single fare. The regular fare is $3.25 (payable in cash in the bus or at the metro station), or you can get a day pass for 10 dollars, or a 3-day pass for 18. Basically: 18 bucks, you can go anywhere you want for your entire stay here. That's what I'd do. I think there are points of sale for those passes at the airport, but if not, taking a bus from the airport to the nearest metro station you'll find one there.
MONEY
That's not a question. But here: while most businesses here accept American currency, they will screw you over on the exchange rate and you'll end up paying far more than it's worth for everything if you pay with US cash. Your credit or debit card should work at most businesses; check with your bank for fees. Or, just exchange some cash for our cash. Our cash is cool!
Don't you live there? Can I crash?
I do. I have a couch and an inflatable mattress I can offer to up to three freeloaders, as long as two of them are okay with cuddling, and all three are okay with the fact that there will be a by-then two-year-old running around the apartment at 7 in the morning. I live fairly close to the aforementioned Biodome and Olympic Stadium (which are themselves at stations Pie-IX and Viau on that metro map I just linked), if that matters to you. PM me if interested.
If anybody can think of anything else to ask I should add to this post, let me know!
Steam
eta: May would work best for me, June is iffy b/c I'm visiting my bro, and I will be on a farm in the BC interior for Canada Day
Steam
I’ll have to do some research and get back to you on that
However
Chinatown is probably where we want to aim
I will totally come!
Canada Day Weekend would be pretty good I think? Dunno what travel costs look like for the different times compared.
Also, July 1 is when I get my vacation accrual again
Thats insane to me
Can I go to the old Forum? Or did they tear that down?
The building has a movie theatre, a bowling/pool hall, I think there's an arcade in there? Also a gym and a comed club. The center of it still has some of the original seating.
Will look into dates and fill out the survey accordingly
I also appreciate the movie theatre there because they keep films long after they disappear from every other cinema around.
I'm at least interested in going either way if y'all don't mind me there. Never been to Canada.
But I'll try to make this, if only to escape the 110+ weather down here
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I feel like the Olympic stadium might be on my to do list.
Steam
Up to 800 credits worth.
I don't know how financially feasible it'll be
But I'm going to try
Also I have a Six Flags Gold Pass, so I would be totally down to ride some coasters.
I'd check with Six Flags if that pass includes La Ronde, considering the weird history of the park, it might not be counted as a "canon" Six Flags. Just make sure before you go.
Randolph's is a solid suggestion, and just down the block there's a smaller, quieter cafe version of the same idea if boozahol ain't your thing. There's also ArcadeMTL and an esports bar right in between the two.
There's also a cat cafe! And a kinda expensive VR arcade! Both less than a half hour walk up from randolph's. And a chess cafe full of people ready to utterly destroy you if that's your thing. Chess is kinda a big thing here?
Anyway I'm super down, whenever y'all decide you want to do this!
Edit: also we could add the Bixis to the transit options.. Montréal has a pretty extensive network of automated rent-a-bikes, where you can grab one, bike somewhere, and usually pretty easily find a spot to leave it near there.
Too many trips too close together, it’ll be hard to take any time off, and I’d kinda like to spend more than a couple days in Canada the first time I go there.
No, Montreal is way closer than Manitoba actually.
But I REALLY want to do this
You can blame Échec & Math. (It's a pun on the French expression for checkmate.) My dad works for them. They organize extracurricular chess activities for "the youth". It's supposed to make their brains bigger, or something.
Protip: Book rooms in advance. Do not attend Montreal for Osheaga unless you like overpaying for a hotel.
Also, bars in Montreal let the liquor flow free. Getting a shot of anything isn't that expensive, and they tend to make it a double.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
should I come to this?