Pushing Maya's limits

We've got the typical bundle of things to pull together before we head to the airport at noon, so I don't expect to have any time to explore Montreal with Maya further this morning. Yesterday afternoon, I took Maya on a power walk through McGill's campus and up to Parc Mont Royal. More "power" than I'd intended, after taking a wrong turn in the park and heading up well away from the desired city overlook that everyone raves about. After we'd gone 3.5KM the wrong way, I cut the cord and started back down for the hotel. Heading down Rue de Peel I began to feel like an especially irresponsible 'rent - the hill is as steep as any in Montreal and our stroller has no anchor for Maya to heave if I were to stumble and lose my grip. But we made it down okey-fine, and got back to the hotel after just under 2 hours. Maya never made a peep until I keyed the door on our room. Freakish. Then we got through a feeding with Sarah and headed to dinner with a hearty group of doctor-types at a great bistro - Au Petit Extra (very much worth the trip, very marginally-bilingual waitstaff, c'est magnifique!). Maya bitched a bit, but stuck to the domestic white and got through dinner just the same. By the time we tried to settle in for the night, she was more wound up than a world-record ball of twine. She's quite the little traveller, but a return to normalcy in SF will be a welcome "change." At least until Friday when we head to Texas for a wedding.

One tidbit that I've found worth mentioning about our hotel - the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. It was here in room 1742 that John Lennon and Yoko staged their "bed in for peace" back in 1969. I'm sure their room was much bigger than ours. Or maybe having the crib really cuts down on space. Nice place, but I'd suggest going a bit hipper if you're coming to Montreal anytime soon.

I'm reminded of a Mark Twain line I read about his impressions of Montreal. To paraphrase, "you can't throw a brick without breaking a church window." Things were pretty different back in the 1880s. But we do have a big cathedral right outside our window. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Gotta run. Check back tomorrow for some final Montreal thoughts. Rock on.