Montreal Privateer's Horn - Courtesy farm2.static.flickr.com
Sunday March 1 and March 8 at 1.30 pm is going to see outstanding winter performance in Montreal. Pointe-à-Callière brings Old Montréal to life with the sound of its Port Symphonies. This amazing show will be on for the 15th year in a row. The event is now part of Montreal tradition.
Everybody ought to be there for this unique open-air concert to be held in the area around the Museum. The Spicy Sounds of a Privateer’s Horn, will be a free show bringing alive the sounds of boats, locomotives, and other urban instruments, including the bells of Notre-Dame Basilica serenading a most unusual and original composition.
Hear musical intonations emanating from trains, tugboats and boats moored in the Old Port. The Canadian guru of musique actuelle, Bernard Falaise, composer-performer extraordinaire will be presenting an imaginary episode in the life of Captain Bartholomew, the commander of a privateer ship.
This event inspired by the mysterious world of pirates, privateers and freebooters is also the theme of the temporary exhibition at the Museum this summer. Seven boats will take part in the concert. The group Les Murènes will perform sea chanteys in Place Royale as a prelude before the start of the Symphony.
Not to be missed - the All-Nighter, A Night at Sea, scheduled for the night of Saturday, February 28 to Sunday, March 1st, from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. The city’s night owls will be spending a night at the Museum! The magical nights will be sharing tales about the sea, sailors, pirates, privateers, and freebooters. Certainly you will get to see the permanent exhibition - Where Montréal Was Born and the multimedia show Montréal, Tales of a City, alongside. They would be free of charge!
Pointe-à-Callière's Port Symphonies - Courtesy www.pacmuseum.qc.ca
Magic and Mystique of Montreal
Montreal, the worlds second-largest French-speaking metropolis proudly proclaims that life’s to be lived in the fast lane! Quaint cobbled streets and antiquated structures of old Montreal that appear quite European never really make you think of it so. The downtown kaleidescope of modern glistening skyscrapers, avant garde living and high-browed entertainment outshines the city’s historic past. Notwithstanding its chequered background the cosmopolitan city exudes an amicable bilingual ease.
The buoyant city is packed with confidence and throbs with happy revelry. This becomes quite evident by the number of summer celebrations that are lined up for anybody to join in with the festivities. It becomes really hard to resist the heady effervescence that spills out ceaselessly to the cafes and bistros, in to the multi- storied super clubs and on to the beaches. With summer in the air, enjoyment of the senses is a way of life.
Residents take summers very seriously that comes alive in a riot of activities after the short spring preceded by long cloistered winters. Summertime is the most sensual of seasons here – no holds barred. Montreal revels in nature’s joyous offerings of a clement weather and makes up for it in more ways than can be thought of. Its gaiety emanates all the way down, from the aromas of delicatessens, flowering gardens and redolent summer city heat of a glorious golden green summer.
The joie de vivre in Montreal is unmistakable. The French backdrop provides a fitting ambiance to this cosmopolitan port city that has risen up to trendy new times. The city is named after the famous geographical landmark, the three-head hill - Mount Royal, located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. Downtown Montreal lies at the foot of Mount Royal as a major urban park, falling in the entire Ville Marie borough showcasing its fantastic skyscrapers.
Like most established cities there is the old Montreal and the new Montreal. The former retains the architecture and ancient streets that have tourists doing the rounds in horse-drawn caleches. The area houses restored buildings that are attractions in their own right. Montreal City Hall and Notre-Dame de Montreal Basilica are worth strolling by. Even so it is the lively downtown that has the more recognized structures etching out the Montreal skyline.
But what takes the cake is the amazing extension created all over downtown as an underground city. With over 32 kilometers of tunnels spread over more than twelve square kilometers the entire area connects shopping malls, hotels, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Center amphitheater. You really feel as if you are doing two cities in one! It is best to find accommodation in the downtown area that will have you close to this double fun. The Downtown Montreal hotel site will cater to all your requirements as you want them for a hassle free vacation.
Montreal swings to its own music. Touche! Well you actually have four Celine Dion concerts lined up in the second fortnight of August, and as the summer closes in its loaded with exciting activities for locals and visitors alike. Summer months also witness the spectacular Montreal International Fireworks Festival. The city boasts of the highest number of restaurants in the world. The city’s museums have some interesting offerings this summer. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ is showing works of Yves Saint-Laurent whose recent demise has added a certain poignancy to the clothing event that’s on till September 28.
Montreal is a city you dont ever get over with. Other cities probably come just this close. Once you are under Montreal’s spell you happily succumb to its allure. Sports lovers will be bowled over by the Formula Racing and the Montreal Allouettes football events. There is so much more to do and enjoy here. Uber cool restaurants, pubs, clubs and trendy hang outs will make you eat, drink, dance, play and enjoy the music of life as you may have never done before. The second largest city of Canada actually shows you how to enjoy a holiday with charms untold that are hard to resist. C’est magnifique!
