Touring Montreal- Day1

Our first venture was to the Old Montreal, a historic part of the city bordering the St. Lawrence river. This part of the city was so European with its cobblestone roads, people eating and drinking on restaurant patios, and artistic fare on sale by the roadside.The weather was great and we had lunch outdoors at Montreal Poutine. I really enjoyed my highly anticipated dish of Poutine (french fries with curd cheese and gravy)and Nelson had smoked meat sandwich, another Montreal staple. We walked by the lake towards Bonsecours Market, adjacent to the chapel which were impressive buildings from the 1900 era. I expected the market to be like Boston Commons but it was pretty empty except for some drab touristy shops. Our next stop was the majestic Notre Dame Basilica. We were lucky that a private ceremony was going on as we managed to sneak in for a few minutes and take in the breath taking architecture without having to pay a fee. Being a Saturday evening, we saw at least three couples who were getting married on the Old Montreal area.

The Underground City which is the largest in the world was quite impressive. It is a shopping haven in the winter months. But because we were there late on a Saturday evening, all the shops were closed. We walked through many interconnected building and then crossed a bridge to enter Montreal's Chinatown. Wherever you are, the Chinatown offers the same familiar atmosphere. We got some of our usual favorites, bubble tea for me, custard bun for Nelson and some cake for later. It is impossible to resist these deliciously cheap snack options.

Walking further downtown past another beautiful church, we passed by Cathdrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde. We ended up Rue Crescent, a busy street with lots of shopping, bars and restaurants in a Victorian architecture setting. It had a mix of upscale and collegetown like feel. We decided to eat at Sir Winston Churchill Pub, one of the many places with patio seating. The food was good but it was strange to not have unlimited soda refills. Tired from all the walking, we took the metro back to our hotel.

On Route to Montreal: Saratoga Springs & Lake George

On Friday, we left YKT around 6pm and headed North towards Albany. We arrived in Saratoga Springs just in time for dinner. It was a charming town with a large number of spas on either sides of the main road. The downtown was relatively busy with several clothing, antique and souvenir stores, along with many restaurants. We wandered past nice park in the middle of town on the way to Wheatfields, Nelson's pick for dinner. This was an Italian restaurant that supported local farmers and we really enjoyed our dinner. My five cheese ravioli was to die for! It really is one of the best I've ever eaten. This was also one of the cheaper options and completely worth every dollar.

We headed back North to Travelodge in Lake George where were spending the night. Next morning, we wandered around the lake and Fort William Henry as I got a mini history lesson about the French & Indian war. The town was already busy with visitors for the long weekend. Towards mid morning we were on our way to the Canadian border. Crossing the border was a painfully slow process and took more than an hour. We finally arrived in Montreal early afternoon and checked into Hotel Le Saint-Andre our cheap but nice, clean and centrally located hotel.

SATC 2

I was eagerly awaiting this movie despite the lukewarm reviews. In short, I was disappointed. I didn't learn anything substantial about the characters. Perhaps due to the poor story line, I paid more attention to the costumes. The Abu Dhabi story line could have been done much better. The big gay wedding was the best part for me. But still, I'm glad I saw it as early as I possibly could. Nelson was such a sport for taking me :)) Love him!

Image courtesy of http://untamedmedia.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sex-and-the-city-2.jpg

Settling In

After a week of unpacking and arranging things in place, we were finally beginning to feel at home. This weekend was quite busy for us as I was in NYC on Friday night, spending time with my friend practicing a dance for her upcoming wedding. It was alos my first visit to her new apt on the Upper East side. After some serious dance practice, we headed out for some Indian food at Amma, a little restaurant with great reviews. Though it was a long wait for first our table and then for our food, it was worth it. The food great though a bit too spicy for us. So we cooled off with some Pinkberry on the way. Next morning, I was heading out of Grand central when I noticed a Magnolia's opened at the dining concourse. I dashed over and got a cupcake for my train ride back. It was great not having to wait in line and I simply loved their butter cream frosting but found the cake a little too dry.

On Saturday evening, we welcomed our first house guests. My in-laws came for a visit from MA. Late evening, we all headed out to dinner. Our first stop was at the Boathouse in Ossining, but the wait was too long. So we decided on Amalfi, an Italian restaurant in Briarcliff. It offered typical Italian pasta and meat dishes, a little pricey at about $20-25 per plate. The restaurant was specious and not too crowded. We had a leisurely meal and enjoyed the food. The clams in my mother -in-laws dish may have been undercooked as she was feeling quite sick on the following day :(

On Sunday, we did more shopping for houseware and had our first BBQ to kick of the summer. Despite predictions of rain, the weather cooporated.

Moving Day(s)

This weekend was our official moving into the new place. We are excited & exhausted. Packing & unpacking was our entire to-do list along with visits to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Even though we moved a few blocks it seems like a whole different atmosphere in the condo community. Looking forward to having our home setup soon and entertaining family & friends :))

In Preparation

Last Friday we were celebrating the issuing of Nelson's first patent for IBM! Even though we had known about it for a while, it was exciting to see the framed certificate along with the prize money. So Nelson took me to a nice Italian eatery, Mediterraneo in Pleasantville to celebrate. The service was great and we were offered a complimentary bread basket that was really fresh. This seemed to be a family run restaurant with the owners coming up to greet many of their regular guests. Towards the middle of our meal, the restaurant was bustling with the city crowd coming in after work. We had two plates of antipasti to start with and ordered a pizza to share. The food and the atmosphere were great so we didn't mind the particularly long wait for our pizza.

On Saturday, the weather was gloomy with strong winds and thunder storms. After my literacy volunteer training in Mount Vernon, we headed to White Plains to do some shopping for house ware. We shopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond & The Container Store. It was hard buying things for our house since I didn't remember the details of the place. I was craving for some bubble tea later on, when we discovered that Juicy Sushi, a small sushi & bubble tea place that opened in White Plains last year was already closed. So we settled on getting some Indian takeout from Ambadi's and yummy cookies from Iron Tomato as we went home to pack.

Finding Good Food

This was an busy weekend for us. On Saturday, I had training in Mount Vernon for a literacy volunteer program that I'm interested pursuing. Afterwards, we stopped by the Yonkers Cross County Center for a respite of retail therapy before furniture shopping. We starting in Yonkers and then headed over the Tappan Zee Bridge to Spring Valley. Our venture was definitely successful as we found the items that were in line with our taste and vision. Tired from a busy day, we decided to take advantage of being in Indian neighborhood by ordering some take out from Ponmony Indian Cuisine, a small restaurant adjoining the Maveli Cinema. The menu offered a range of Kerala cuisine at very affordable prices. The service was great and our food was ready within 30mins. Though I'm new to Kerala dishes, they turned out to be quite similar to Sri Lankan rice & curry and I throughly enjoyed the meal.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to East Brunswick, NJ to visit a friend, who just moved into her first home. It was about a 1.5 hr drive each way but we had a great time catching up. They treated us to authentic Sichuan Chinese food at a restaurant in Highland Park, a neighborhood close by. We enjoyed the opportunity to be introduced to food that is considered good by Chinese natives. The fish and the string green beans were my favorites out of the several hot and cold dishes we consumed.