(Days 72 to 77)
Yes, that's right, folks. I took a vacation from my vacation to come back to Canada and see my friends and family. Only for a few weeks, a reverse vacation if you would. The flights are long but worth it!
Saturday, April 1st
And while not essential and pretty much unrelated to anything, I had to comment on this restaurant I stumbled upon at the Bogotá airport.
Yes, it's Guy Fieri. After looking into this, I now know that the Guy's Burger Joint [*] chain of restaurants is a business venture between Guy and Carnival Cruise Lines, so these burger joints are on boats. I'm not sure how one ended up on land in Colombia, nor do I know how this restaurant can be "est. 1968" cause that's the year he was born. [†] But, I digress.
Of course, I got a burger, and it was a mouthful, clearly. And it seems that I'm not the best at taking photos of burgers. Chowing down on that while an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives plays on a TV in the back of the restaurant was a highlight of all layovers I've experienced.
I had to leave Bogotá and Guy's Burgers behind and catch the connecting flight to Toronto. Being greeted at the airport by my girlfriend, Aishwarya, was a novel experience, a lovely one, though. I expected one of those signs that the chaperones always have waiting in the pickup area, but I was surprised by a bouquet of flowers! What a treat and a rare move because I doubt many men are being gifted flowers by their partners. Seeing Aishwarya was the highlight of that long day of flights, and we spent the rest of my reverse vacation on an adventure in Montreal.
Thursday, April 6th
I was very excited to visit Montreal as it was my first time in the city. For someone who ostensibly knows French, it is surprising that I had yet to visit this major cultural capital of Canada. We initially planned on taking the Via Rail train from Toronto, though there was an ice storm in Quebec, so we scrapped that idea, and I prepped for the drive. We ended up stopping along the way due to the weather as well. When we finally made it and deposited all our bags, our first stop was lunch. I got a Curry Pork Katsu bowl that was good. But I have to tell you about Marusan Café (great suggestion bean!), what a gem [‡]. A cafe with pour-overs, selling their own roasted coffee beans, good food, live DJ spinning low-key vinyl, and set in a Brutality concrete building? My god, it was a bit of a dream, honestly.
After lunch, we hit The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for a quick peruse [§]. This museum is sprawling, not going to lie, spanning multiple buildings connected by underground tunnels. We had little time before closing, so we only saw one exhibition, Parall(elles): A History of Women in Design. It was an excellent exhibit hosted in the old museum building. The name says it all, and it was an interesting exhibition of stuff I had never seen.
We ended our first night at Sushi Ohana, a vegan sushi place [¶]. If you've ever wondered how sushi, a fish-focused dish, is done for vegans and vegetarians, you must visit this restaurant. They prepare fruits and vegetables to mimic the texture of raw fish. For example, steamed, marinated watermelon mimics the texture of tuna. There is steamed radish for crab and other substitutions. Also, the food tastes good and pushes the boundaries of traditional sushi recipes by including left-field ingredients like green apples and mushrooms. Of course, it's enjoyable for those who have never tasted fish sushi and those who have, seeing as they've tried to mimic texture and flavours. Overall, Sushi Ohana is another excellent recommendation from my partner. Honestly, her restaurant game is on another level.
This post only recaps day 1 of Montreal. Read part 2 here!
| [*] | Guy's Burger Joint, El Dorado Int'l Airport, Bogotá, Colombia |
| [†] | A follow-up read by John Semley, Guy Fieri and the butching up of the American kitchen. |
| [‡] | OSMO X MARUSAN Café-Terrasse, 51 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| [§] | The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| [¶] | Ohana Sushi Vegan, 330 Mont-Royal Ave E, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| [AA] | (1, 2, 3, 4) Photo taken by and © of Aishwarya Abhiram. |