I managed to sleep until just before 6am - so almost 9 hours. Unheard of for me!
After a shower, I went down to get some breakfast. I bought it back to my room - juice, coffee, toast and hard boiled eggs!
On the way to my class, I picked up an iced cappuccino.
The class was fine - we read out our homework. One thing I learnt was that the hispanic languages don't generally have words which start with 2 consonants so their native speakers find words such as “trés” difficult to pronounce! They add in a vowel between the two consonants!
After the class (no homework today! ) I walked back to the hotel.
Lunch was reheated pizza and the rest of the pear and endive salad!
It was a lovely day today - blue skies and unseasonably warm! Rain is forecast tomorrow.
One of the leaflets I had picked up from reception had walking tours of statues around different areas of Montreal. I thought this would be a fun way to walk around the area and also visit the Redpath Museum.
The first statue was La Foule Illuminée, which apparently symbolizes the fragility of the human race. The work of a British sculptor, it is one of the most photographed and controversial statues in the city. I felt it was impressive size wise but the details that made it controversial seemed to have passed me by!
Across the road was one that spoke to me more - Les Bancs des Secrets. It was very detailed, down to having images and scribblings on the actual bench!
This was another one which I liked Totem Urbain - when you looked closely at it you could see the 4 different elements that tied it into its location. I like sculptures that seem to actually have a story and are not abstract!
I had walked past this one - Inukshuk - several times without paying much attention. This type of statue seems to be quite common in Canada - I saw a similar shaped advent themed one in St Joseph's Oratoire on Sunday.
The Commonwealth ties were commemorated too - Queen Victoria (her facial features were somewhat odd - intentional or weather inflicted!)
Robert Burns (a bit random? )
And a memorial to the soldiers list in the Boer War in South Africa.
Some of them - like this one (Fenetre sur L'Avenir - Window to the Future) - didn't do much for me. Where was the creativity?
Another friendly squirrel - actually came towards me rather than running away!
On the route was the Redpath Museum - a natural history museum. It was quite funny as a couple in their late 20s voiced what I was thinking - namely how the heck did the museum get to be such a big deal in all the guidebooks?
I liked the ceiling!
Another one I liked - Kouros Horse.
I won't bore you with all the images but it was an interesting way to do a walk and to see things that you may have otherwise missed.
I stopped for a cappuccino - the coffee was very bitter.
I headed back to the hotel via Pink again. I had seen a hoody on their sale rack yesterday but needed F's approval - daren't buy anything for her without her seeing it first! She loved it (I thought she would) and it was a steal at C$21 ( reduced from C$60).
After resting my weary feet, I headed out to Copper Branch for an avocado toast - didn't feel like much more! It was very tasty!
Now back at the hotel and I feel it won't be long before I am asleep. I again managed 18,697 steps - over 14 km.