Chisholm’s Week in Montreal
On Monday, May 13, twenty-nine high school students and four Chisholm Academy staff members trekked for nine hours to our neighbouring metropolis: Montreal.
To compensate for the long hours on the road, we were thrown into trapezing, tightrope-walking and juggling taught by the pros at The Dream Circus. It was incredible to see our students master a bunch of tricks and moves in an afternoon.
Afterwards, we checked into our hotel and made our way to dinner at Restaurant du Vieux Port. This was followed by a tour of the Old Port and historical district while we awaited nightfall. At this point, we were joined by some local “ghosts” who continued to give us a tour of many monumental buildings paired with some urban legends that sent shivers up our spines!
On our second day in Montreal, we started off with a hearty breakfast at Chez Cora Centreville before heading to the Montreal Science Centre to tackle the art of trial and error. Chisholm is full of innovators! After lunch, we were given a group tour of Notre Dame Basilica (it was breathtaking!), visited the gravity-defying Olympic Tower, then relaxed at the Montreal Planetarium as we took in sights of the universe. Dinner was truly comforting at La Cage Aux Sports with a selection of quarter chicken, a chicken wrap, spaghetti or quesadilla. Our night ended at Boulzeye, where we tried our competition with games of bowling and laser tag!
The third day included more delicious breakfast at Cora’s and a sunny, beautiful view atop the Mount Royal Lookout. We experienced another summit by visiting Saint Joseph’s Oratory. Lunch was at Place Montreal Trust, which gave us some time to fit in a bit of shopping too! This was followed by a two-hour bicycle tour of Montreal: it was both exhilarating and interactive to experience the city as locals do. Our evening was just getting started as we continued on towards Sucrerie de la Montagne (a sugar shack). Here we learned about the process of making maple syrup, ate fresh Quebecois dishes, were entertained by a folk singer, learned to play the spoons and even danced before indulging in some maple taffy and pancakes. Let’s just say, there was a lot of sweet-tooth pleasing today!
Before returning home, on our final day, we visited Pointe-a-Calliere Museum to learn more about Canada’s archaeology and history. This was the perfect way to wrap up all the information we learned over the course of the week. No visit to Montreal would be complete without a stop at the St. Viateur Bagel Factory where we were able to grab some last-minute treats.
Our Tour Leader, Filipe, and Coach Driver, Pat, were phenomenal as they kept us safe and well-informed the whole week.
We arrived home on Thursday, with a newfound appreciation for our heritage and maple syrup to spare!
Mr. P. Leonard, Ms. A. Edmonds, Mr. J. Tollefsrud and Miss F. Shaheed