jerryfaust (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jerryfaust) wrote,@ 2009-05-21 20:25:00 |
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Montreal notes
Architecture
Montreal is an old city (by North American standards), and John and I have enjoyed exploring the city's historic churches and neighbourhoods. The abundance of brick and granite facades, as well as the presence of thousands of pre-1900 rowhouses, are constant visual reminders of the contrasts between these city and the cities of British Colombia.
We also visited the Canadian Centre for Architecture today; its retail shop is the largest and most comprehensive architecture bookstore I've ever seen (a featured title is the newly-released Le Corbusier and the Occult).
Coincidentally and sadly, this morning's online edition of the Victoria Times Colonist announced the death of Arthur Erickson - one of the country's greatest modern architects and certainly the most famous to emerge from BC.
Nature/Environment
Montreal primarily occupies an island in the St. Lawrence River but its terrain is not completely flat. One of my week's highlights was the scaling of Mont Royal, a hill overlooking the city's downtown (elevation: 764 ft). The northern edge of the Adirondacks is visible in the distance and we might fly over the nearby Laurentians tomorrow shortly after our departure from Trudeau airport.
Most of this week's temperatures have been pleasantly cool, but a warm air mass pushed today's afternoon high to 28 C (about 82 F), a temperature that I rarely experience during the hottest periods of Victoria's summer season. :)
Architecture
Montreal is an old city (by North American standards), and John and I have enjoyed exploring the city's historic churches and neighbourhoods. The abundance of brick and granite facades, as well as the presence of thousands of pre-1900 rowhouses, are constant visual reminders of the contrasts between these city and the cities of British Colombia.
We also visited the Canadian Centre for Architecture today; its retail shop is the largest and most comprehensive architecture bookstore I've ever seen (a featured title is the newly-released Le Corbusier and the Occult).
Coincidentally and sadly, this morning's online edition of the Victoria Times Colonist announced the death of Arthur Erickson - one of the country's greatest modern architects and certainly the most famous to emerge from BC.
Nature/Environment
Montreal primarily occupies an island in the St. Lawrence River but its terrain is not completely flat. One of my week's highlights was the scaling of Mont Royal, a hill overlooking the city's downtown (elevation: 764 ft). The northern edge of the Adirondacks is visible in the distance and we might fly over the nearby Laurentians tomorrow shortly after our departure from Trudeau airport.
Most of this week's temperatures have been pleasantly cool, but a warm air mass pushed today's afternoon high to 28 C (about 82 F), a temperature that I rarely experience during the hottest periods of Victoria's summer season. :)
