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Montreal - the city of construction sites

Diterbitake: 03.10.2018

Montreal is really beautiful - or at least I think so. Unfortunately, you can't see much here because of all the construction sites. I always thought Bremen and Flensburg had a lot of construction sites, not to mention the A7, but I've never seen as many as here in Montreal.
The Formula 1 track: beautiful - unfortunately, the pit lane is completely under construction.
The island next to it with leisure and sports facilities: could be beautiful - unfortunately, it's one massive construction site.
Old Montreal: beautiful narrow alleys - at least as much as you can see next to the torn-up streets.
The Underground City: huge - with construction sites in all major shopping centers and train stations.
I recommend waiting a few more years before visiting Montreal, hopefully it will get better by then.

To be honest, I imagined the Underground City of Montreal to be more impressive. The tunnel system is over 32 kilometers long in total, connecting ten metro stations, several train stations, restaurants, cinemas, hotels, event halls, an ice hockey stadium, and two universities. In addition, about 80% of all office spaces and 35% of all retail spaces in the city center are connected to the Underground City. Sounds spectacular, but you don't see much of it when you're in the tunnel system. It's just one tunnel after another, interrupted by shopping malls and train stations.
I tried it out and you can really travel long distances entirely underground. But it's not designed as a cohesive underground city. Sometimes you walk through parking garages, sometimes through long tunnels up and down stairs. And without a map, you're lost, even with a map I often wasn't sure if I was going the right way, the paths are sometimes confusing.

Above the city, the Mont Royal looms, both a mountain and a park. The somewhat strenuous climb is worth it, the view over the city is amazing. The mountain is the namesake of the city of Montreal, derived from 'le mont Royal', the royal mountain. However, the 3.5 km promenade from the mountain to the harbor is rather a joke. Allegedly well signposted, I looked out for the signs and then relied on my map.

I went to the Montreal style Oktoberfest with a friend I met at the hostel. A nice little festival that had more of a beach club vibe, but at least attempted to serve German cuisine with tarte flambée and sauerkraut with sausages.

There was one place I had to visit in Montreal: the Formula 1 track. You can go around the track by bike, inline skates, or car, or simply take a long walk on it. As mentioned above, the pit lane is completely being rebuilt, so unfortunately I couldn't see it.


Update: Now that I've taken the bus to the airport, I can only say that the A7 is nothing compared to the construction sites on the highway here.

Wangsulan