Chapter 26: A City That Kissed Me - 1

For all those people out there, reading these words with immense patience and graceful expectations, let me tell you a tale, a tale about a magical land filled with art and joyous music, far far away from the place where you sit. The tale starts on a fine Thursday morning from a beautiful park bench facing the majestic blue ocean. I was sitting on the bench, lost in my thoughts, deep down in my heart, feeling sad. I had some concerns which disturbed me frequently. I tried to move out of the place, where I'm staying for some reasons, but later I came to know that it is not possible to do that because of a contract. There was this loneliness, hectic college work and an argument with my close friend which I wish I could take back. I thought that I was in some kind of a cage, longing for freedom, freedom to fly away from the world I know, from all the sorrows and feelings. I was watching the seagulls flying high above the ocean, far away from the civilization and people. Watching them, for more than a hour, makes you want to fly, fly to a faraway place where everything is beautiful, peaceful and colorful. Obsessed with these dreamy thoughts, I decided to fly away!

 The bench from which the tale begins! 

 Fortunately the following day was a Good Friday. I only had the thought of flying far away, but I had no plans to execute. So when I started thinking about the possible destinations that I could go for and return back within three days, I came up with three options. Sudbury, Montreal and Niagara falls. After much thought, I eliminated Sudbury and Niagara since Sudbury required well laid plans as it is a northern part of the world and Niagara is too close from the place where I'm staying. It won't require three days. So, I made a tick on Montreal, not knowing the fact that the trip is going to change my life, forever! I heard some very simple expressions about Montreal, back when I was in India like 'It is a nice place with beautiful buildings', 'It is a cool place' etc. So I had no expectations about the place. Pictures in Google images and other sites weren't that impressive. I ticked this place because I had no other options. Within dusk, I had a slight idea of what the city has to offer, about the accommodation and the ride which is going to get me there. I decided to tell Dominic about my plan as we have photography and our cameras in common. Within that midnight, we made sure that we get a ride to Montreal. (thanks to kijiji.ca - the rideshare column.)

-Bright Dawn of the Good Friday- We didn't say a thing about the trip to our roommates. Before anyone woke up from their nice and cozy sleep we were standing near the "Gate 3" of Scarborough Town Center waiting for our ride to show up with packed bags in which there were only two T-shirts, brush, paste and some apples. This is an advantage I'm having right now. Nobody cares about me or asks questions about my whereabouts. Even if I'm gone for a week or two, nobody is going to shed a tear or worry about me. But the consequent loneliness is the price one has to pay. We were supposed to leave from Scarborough Town Center at 9 AM. But after three courses of betrayals from three different drivers we finally found a nice Arabic man who offered a ride to Montreal. There were already three people, sitting inside the car. One person, was sitting in front, near the driver. I swear I never had a chance to take a glimpse at him. All I know was that he had a long and weird hair. The other two people were a couple, in their fifties. Besides them the car was full of newspapers and I found a place to sit near a pile. The couple were kind enough to share the space at the back of the car for Dominic. Driver asked "Shall we?" After a nod of agreement the doors were locked and the engine was ignited. After a minute or two, that elegant vehicle geared up and found racing with all the other vehicles, in the neat and smooth 'Highway 401', North America's longest highway!

I never had a chance to travel outside Toronto, before Montreal. Toronto is just the exaggerated and organized version of Chennai, the city which I call home. So, nothing in Toronto, to this date, got my attention. In my opinion, everyone in Toronto are just surviving, nobody seems to be living. Life is so complicated! Nobody stops to hear and admire a musician in a subway or a baby's smile in a bus. Everything is organized and in a hurry. No one stops, not even for a second. So, more than the destination, I was excited about the six hour long drive. We slowly got out of Toronto, the rush, the hurry and the cluster of buildings. At last I saw the sign I was hoping to see. 'Thank You for visiting Toronto, Ontario's capital!' The vehicle reached a whooping speed of 120km/hr. We crossed that sign board and that's when we had our first conversation. I was sitting there with all the newspapers, not believing that we were officially out of Toronto. "So, what brings you to this road trip?" It was the husband. "Montreal! For the Easter holidays." Dominic replied with a smile. "That's amazing! I'm sure you guys are going to have a great time there." He then, introduced himself and his wife. "I'm John and this is my wife Jess."(Names changed) "Hello guys" this was Jess. She has an amazing voice, a right proportion of command and sweetness. We later found that John is from Poland and Jess is from Quebec. John is a traveller and has travelled to a countless number of countries in all the continents and surprisingly he knew a lot about India and Indian food, particularly Kerala. Jess is an intelligent woman, the one you could identify right after a single glimpse. Within an interesting hour, we had many set of conversations about India, Boat house, the name Madras, British rule, Kerala food, Elephants, Toronto zoo etc. By the time the car was passing by a beautiful quiet village. Once you set foot outside of Toronto, it's all about beautiful villages, blue lakes and farms. Most of the sights I saw, were nothing short of spectacular. There are some people in this world whom I love the most, the people who seem to enjoy the beauty of this world with me. I wished that they were there in that ride with me. I saw a narrow road in the middle of a barren field that ends in a magnificent blue ocean. No people, no noise except the hush of the winds and a beautiful wooden house in the middle of the same field, with ocean in the backdrop. The vehicle, in a constant speed, was crossing some peaceful villages, small yet dense woods, lagoons, streams, rivers, farms, barren lands and some roads to nowhere. Another hour later, we finally came to a halt. "Alright, break for 10 minutes" I heard the driver's voice. I was hoping for a break too because of a mighty natural phenomenon.

  There was a very small burger shop and a closed convenience store at that place. I couldn't see any other building, not even a house. It is a typical location for a sleazy Hollywood horror movie or maybe for a road trip genre. After a nice and smooth response for the nature's call I had a cheese burger. Not much to say about this part because nothing happened, maybe except for the cute country girl, who served me. I looked through the glass window of that shop, the mystery third man of our car was stretching his arms, facing the other side. Again, nothing about him, except for the weird hairstyle. Skipping some parts like 'shall we?, nod of agreement, engine ignition' we were back in the cozy car, racing again through the highway. I slept, I woke up, gazed through the window, passed through a city called Brockville, Thousand islands, saw the exit sign board of Ontario, welcome sign board of Quebec and finally we took a diversion, entered into another lane, the lane which read 'Montreal.' The initial few minutes into the outskirts of the city, failed to create an impression. Less than ordinary buildings, busy roads, Tim Hortons coffee shops (as common as sighting a car in a road). The car diverged from the road and threw us out near a subway station. "This is the Namur subway station and this would take you inside the city. Enjoy your visit." again it's the Driver's voice. We bid a reluctant goodbye to John and Jess. As the engine sound faded away, we realized that we were the two new strangers who knew nothing except the name of that mysterious and unknown city!

Namur Subway Station

(Note: There are two important notes in this post)
(Note 1: Keeping in mind that, the tale of Montreal is too long to wrap up in a single post, I have divided into two posts.)
(Note 2: Ted and Frenzie, I'm sure you guys are out there somewhere, reading this post, sitting in a cozy couch and tasting one of the finest wines ever made. This note is to say that it was my pleasure to meet you people. You guys are amazing!)