We checked out of the hotel in the
morning and brought the car into the middle of downtown, (centreville) where we
parked at a meter and got on one of the Gray Line Bus tours. I love these, and
Adam doesn’t usually bother with them. But he loves me and on we got.
It was pouring rain most of the
tour, so we sat inside the double decker bus instead of on top. It was a bit
leaky and the grouchy woman at the front wouldn’t open her window, so it also
got pretty foggy. The tour guide, though, turned out to be another classical
bassist, and he made some slight alterations to the tour itinerary to show Adam
some cool music related places. We also saw some great architecture and were
excited to get back, plug the meter, have some lunch, and then go out and do
some more sightseeing. All we hoped was that our car hadn’t been ticketed.
Well, we hadn’t gotten a ticket.
We had gotten burgled. Someone smashed out the back passenger side window and
grabbed our backpack. From one of the busiest areas of town, early afternoon,
on a Tuesday.
Obviously, this was a low point.
We’d spent a lot of money on the tour and I was really looking forward to having
a bit more time to explore, even in the rain. There wasn’t much in the backpack
really – the rest of our clean clothes (which wasn’t really all that much) our
toiletries, bathing suits, and (for some inexplicable reason, it was the first
time I’d ever put it in the backpack) my e-book. But it put a pall on the trip,
and of course there was no option to do anything else in Montreal before we got
the window repaired.
Which, (more drama) we didn’t seem
to be able to get done in Montreal. While I waited in the car for Adam to pick
us up some sandwiches at Dunne’s, I called a place that had gotten good google
reviews, but clearly it has changed hands or something because when we got
there, it looked like a skeezy chop-shop and the proprietor didn’t want to do
the window anyway. So we decided to cut our losses, I called the Apple Auto
Glass in Ottawa and told them to order the glass, we’d be there in a couple
hours.
So there we were, cruisin’ down
the highway, 3 windows down and one in pieces on the floor of the car, making
fun of the thief for leaving all the good stuff and taking a bunch of half used
makeup and a couple pairs of underwear… it really could have been a lot worse.
We arrived in Ottawa, where the
Apple Auto Glass People stayed open late to fix the window and clean out the
car, then checked in at the University of Ottawa residence – which was pretty
swanky! Two bedroom suite, thank you, with an attached shower room and
kitchenette – it was pretty awesome, really. (With secured parking!)
And walking distance from
downtown. Once we got settled, we took a walk downtown, stopping at Byward
Market – the main market was closed but all the surrounding pubs were open –
for a pint and some delicious poutine and a smoked salmon sandwich with their
signature seafood chowder. Then we picked up some essentials at Rexall Drugs,
before we headed back to the residence.
I feel pretty good about how we
handled this bit of bad luck, but I feel bad that Montreal left such a bad
impression on us. We were both looking forward to it – I wanted to brush off my
French, see a city with so much history, and share it with Adam. And we didn’t
get that at all. Well, next time, we won’t come with a car.
Putting it behind us, and the rest
of our adventure will be better!
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