If I could only remember one thing about Montreal, it would definitely be the food. Amazingly memorable, mind-blowing cuisine. MEAL. AFTER. MEAL. AFTER. MEAL. Not planning to step on the scale for quite some time…
The city though – not quite what I expected. Pretty much a big city. And a very diverse city at that, with loads and loads of college kids wearing not enough clothing (am I getting old or what). I expected a more Quebec City-esque experience and it was definitely closer to New York. I really liked the old-town area, although the rest of the city landscape didn’t make much of an impression.
Besides the food, the other thing Montreal knows how to do well is Museums. We got this fab all-inclusive Museum pass that gave us access to 30+ musuems and unlimited metro usage for 3 days for around $80 a pass. And while the permanent collections were good, it was the special exhibits that really took my breath away.
Exhibit 1: The Chihuly Exhibit at the Beaux-Arts Musuem
Dale Chihuly is the most famous blown-glass artist in the world. I have been familiar with his work a long time, having first seen a piece at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and then later admiring his art each day as I entered Target Corporation’s lobby. Up until now, all of his work that I’d seen had been spiraling glass tubes in a columnar or pendant formation. What was incredible about this exhibit was to see examples of so many different kinds of glass creations.
Yes, there were plenty of spiraling tubes, but there were also balls and shells and flowers. Perhaps most notable was the ceiling installation, I think it was called the Persian Ceiling. This wall-to-wall ceiling of glass was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. A colored feast for the eyes. Even more cool – there were mattress pads laying in each corner so you could lie down and enjoy it for a spell.
Here’s a shot to give you more close-up details. Simply divine, I tell you.
Another exhibit that surprised us was the MosaiCultures Exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. It was an international competition in which botanists come from around the world to create sculptures out of natural materials (wood, plants, flowers, apples, etc).
It’s hard to get the scale here, but these first two sculptures were close to 30 feet high. And so life-like too! The artistry was unbelievable. The event runs through the end of the month, so if you’re anywhere near Montreal, get over there stat!
If you’d like to see the full collection of photos from the exhibits, simply CLICK HERE.
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