Finding the best poutine in Montreal is not unlike going after the Holy Grail – many have tried, but few succeeded. The results of such quests always vary, and very few agree on the final selection. For years and years, poutine has been the topic of many heated debates in family reunions, dinner with friends and even guidebooks. And as a big fan of poutine and long-time Montrealer, I figured   Read More ...

When someone claims to be an expert on a city, and pretty much rants on and on about how it’s the greatest place on Earth, you sort of expect that they have seen and done everything there is to do in that place. As it turns out, I am that annoying person. I always give pieces of advice about Montreal, to tourists and friends, even when it is not even   Read More ...

You know the minute you walk in the Hotel St-Martin Montreal that it’s something special – whether it’s the warm welcome, the “at-your-service” attitude or simply the gorgeous decor of the place. The hotel, despite a very successful recent history, started out as a big controversy – the hotel is built where a legendary smoked meat restaurant once stood. Mind you, the restaurant had been closed for several months before   Read More ...

If you’ve read the news over the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard about the record-breaking snowfall that hit Montreal and the province of Quebec on December 27th. While it wasn’t a violent, windy snowstorm, the amount of snow – or as pessimists like to call it, white sh*t – that covered the city is quite spectacular. More than 45 cm in just a few hours! I lived through   Read More ...

Out of the roughly 80 photos I picked to highlight my year 2012, more than half were of Montreal. My beloved. My hometown. My other half. The city where my wanderlust erupted 6 years ago, and keeps expanding as I keep adding stamps to my passport. The one place I always come back to. And while my travel life kept me away from my city for the better part of   Read More ...

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza. – Dave Barry I should probably mention right now that this post was only made possible because I have great friends that also double as beer-aficionados. You see, I don’t like beer. Never have, and   Read More ...

Let me start by stressing just how BIG the province of Quebec. 1,542,056 km big, to be exact. That’s 6.7 times bigger than Britain. 5.4 times bigger than Texas. 37.3 times bigger than Switzerland. You get the idea. It does take a long time to get anywhere, and the better part of this massive piece of land is either uninhabited or has hostile weather and conditions. Yes, Quebec is that big.   Read More ...

One of the most notorious things about Montreal is the vast diversity of cultures that populate the island. From Haitians to Algerians to Chinese, and from French to Irish to Peruvians, everybody finds their happiness in Montreal. Especially me. Because I’m a self-proclaimed glutton, and that my appetite is only matched by the amount of excellent restaurants to eat in. And what better place to start than the quirky Chinatown? But in   Read More ...

There are many things that I love about my hometown, but I think one of my favorites is the “bring your own wine” concept. It’s pretty self-explanatory, really. And it’s SO much more fun – I mean, who wants to pay $40 for a bottle of wine at the restaurant, when you can buy the same exact one at the liquor store by the corner for half the price? In   Read More ...

To continue my series of street art postcards around the world, I decided to pick, for once, my own city – who is FULL of great pieces of art, much to my surprise. You see, before I started traveling a few years ago, I never noticed the things that make Montreal so special. I just lived there, minded my own business and lived a somewhat empty life. Traveling has opened   Read More ...