Montreal, I am back baby!

I hadn’t posted here since arriving back in Montreal. I’ve now been here for close to two weeks already. Coming back is always a big move, especially since I had been away from my apartment since late October 2025. I always make sure to leave my apartment clean before I go, so when I return, yes, there’s a bit of dust, but honestly, not nearly as much as you might expect. I’m always a little surprised by that.

It was raining when I arrived, but the weather felt quite warm compared to New Brunswick. When I left there, we still had a lot of snow. In Montreal, there was only a small amount left, and now it’s pretty much all gone after several days of rain. The weather warmed up quite a bit in Montreal this past Friday and Saturday, and I was really excited about it. I decided to spend Friday night at the Bonaventure Hotel, right in downtown Montreal. It was my third time staying there.

I chose Friday night partly because it was cheaper, but also because the weather was expected to cool down again on Sunday, which it did, just as forecast. I was especially excited because this ended up being my first outdoor swim of 2026. The outdoor pool at the Hilton Bonaventure is really lovely. They also have two hot tubs and a sauna. It was the first time I got to enjoy the pool in the evening, and I ended up spending the whole Friday night there. In the past, I usually went out and used the pool during the day, but never in the evening.

It was busy, but not overcrowded. This time, I really picked the perfect days.

My room was quite spacious, actually bigger than my studio apartment! I also had a nice view of the pool.

Winter had been long, and I hadn’t done much, so I was pretty much due for a little treat. Since coming back from New Brunswick, I decided it was time to get my hair cut, which I finally did. And, as you can imagine, I went shopping and have been going out for gentle walks, among other things. It’s still early spring in Montreal, but we’re slowly heading toward better weather. Parts of Montreal have been affected by the heavy rains.

And of course, the food, and the coffees!

I bought that Leonard Cohen book, and it’s been a good read. It seems to cover his life quite well. I’m at the part where he sang at a gig after spending about a year doing manual work in a factory, where he basically became a zombie and didn’t play any music for a long time. He also hooked up with a girl at his dorm, which was located somewhere on Stanley.... :-)

It’s a very fun read, and we even learn that Mr. Cohen obtained “sexual flavor” through a hypnotist. I’m only joking, of course, but you need to read the book to understand the joke. I think this book probably gives a good portrait of his early years, before his big musical career took off, but I can’t say for sure because I don’t know much about his personal life. Still, I’ll try to read his biography.

After all those good things, the next few weeks will be calmer because I can’t keep up that pace of spending.. and eating lol. But the good news is that reading is free, and good espressos aren’t that expensive, so it’s all good! If the conflict involving Iran comes to an end, I might be in for some pretty interesting things. The 600k could be just around the corner, this time for real.