Montreal - the city that has it all

It is Friday evening here. Most of the readers of my blog will probably read this on Saturday morning. Since we have a little more time on the weekends, today's post will be a bit longer. First of all, I would like to thank every reader of my blog and I appreciate every feedback. Ultimately, I am doing this as a reminder for myself, but also for you :) so Thank you!

My day started with a quick cereal/milk breakfast in my apartment. For the day, I usually make sandwiches or bagels so that I don't have to rely on buying fast food in the city. So far, it's been working well and I usually only spend money on a coffee or a drink. I have also stopped drinking the most expensive latte macchiato here, a good coffee made from freshly ground beans can also taste very good and cost only half as much :) I try to be as mindful of my money as possible, as it is much more expensive here than in Germany. But so far, I'm getting along very well and by being able to cook for myself, I can save a lot of money. Only the accommodations are always relatively expensive, but that is also within budget. After breakfast, I took the subway into the city. Just 15 minutes later, I was in the city center and I started walking. I usually just follow my instincts without a specific destination in mind, it's fun and you can discover a lot. If I know that there is a tourist attraction nearby, I also like to take a little detour. I always have a rough plan of what I want to see during the day and off I go. Today, the downtown area, the waterfront, and the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Montreal were on the agenda. Fun fact, Celine Dion got married in this basilica, which the residents of Montreal are proud of. In the end, I walked about 14 kilometers and of course saw much more. I really like Montreal, it's somewhat similar to Toronto, here too you have a very interesting mix of old and new. Compared to Ottawa, this city is alive, it is young, offers interesting architecture and a fascinating history. Furthermore, it is located by the water and offers a nice number of parks and green spaces. Even though Montreal still feels like it's in hibernation and many seasonal shops are not yet open, overall it is a beautiful city, even at this time of year. I am already looking forward to setting off again tomorrow and exploring even more, according to the weather forecast, for the first time with sun. On the way back from the city, I stopped by the supermarket and stocked up on food for the next few days. You can also save a lot of money here by buying products that are on sale or have a short expiration date. So the groceries you see in the pictures cost me about €25, I think that's okay. I already had some ingredients in the apartment, so I didn't have to buy everything. Today, I had rainbow trout with beans. I had been looking forward to fish for a long time, but so far it was always too expensive. The next few days, I will have hamburgers with sweet potato fries and egg with cucumber salad, a classic. It's very challenging that everything here is in French and everyone speaks French. What do I mean by challenging, I simply don't understand anything. And so I always smile at people and say "bonjour" to brush away any uncertainties and hope that it wasn't a question.

Now I will hang up the laundry and maybe watch a series on my laptop. Yes, my apartment even has a washing machine! All in all, I'm doing very well, even though I miss Gerdi a lot! But hey, 1/3 of the time until I see her again is almost over :)

I wish you all a nice weekend and enjoy your filter coffee :D