So this is in continuation of my previous blog...I'm new at all this blogging stuff so please forgive me if I get it wrong, or don't forgive me whatever!!
I went to Vegas as my stop over, right. As I said it was so overwhelming going there on my own. I patted myself on the back plenty of times for this as I am bout as gutless as it gets when it comes to doing this on my own. I always feel like people know that I'm alone and they are judging me 'see that woman sitting there all by herself looking like a loner, she's covering it up by reading a book but we really know she has no friends!!' Bullshit! I have friends. But the only way you can beat your fears is by doing them right so I think I did bloody good by conquering that one. I still have my moments where the ol' fear creeps back over me like a dirty smell, I can't go to dinner by myself but I can go to lunch. Why is that different? please tell me and tell me that I'm not the only one! So anyway I digress (I will tell you now and apologise in advance cause I'm sure this isn't the 1st time and I know it definitely wont be the last!) I lost a bit of money at the casino's, easy done I assure you. Why is it easier to lose American cash than Australian cash? Although I will freely admit that when I go on holidays I become a lot more lose with my funds. Do other people do that as well? I mean I'm not the most careful spender in the world anyways when I'm at home either but I just get so free with my money in another country.
From Vegas I flew into Montreal, Canada. When I arrived it was raining joy! I had to catch a bus to the hostel from the airport and I was not looking forward to the walk to find the damn hostel in the rain. Leash had already arrived earlier in the day so she was hopefully waiting for me there. I managed to get on the bus, then to try and work out which stop I needed now that was a bit of a mission. See Montreal is a French speaking city and I don't speak French and I don't have a phrase book -EPIC FAIL! Luckily most residents of this fine city speak English so I snagged one of the other passengers and he told me the stop...I jumped off with my 19kg backpack, my daypack, and my camera bag (note to self reduce the amount of shit I take overseas!) and proceeded to walk about a km down St Laurent Blvd at 2230 in what I presumed was the right direction. Now that I think about its very risky...never know who your gunna meet. Well I met these 2 young sailor boys who were in town for the night and were heading my way (apparently) to another pub in Vieux Montreal so they kept me company and directed me in the right direction. Don't you just love random meetings of random people when you travel? I mean they probably helping me out of the goodness of their hearts, definitely wasn't because of my good looks! Maybe it's the Aussie accent. But I found the place and my name was on a letter on the door which provided me with a code to get in...
Destination: La Maison du Patriote (http://www.lamaisondupatriote.ca/La_Maison_du_Patriote/Accueil.html)
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La Maison du Patriote
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This has to be hands down my most favorite hostel ever so far. The atmosphere and set up of this place really nails it. Its not perfect, it has quirks and perks. There aren't enough showers/toilets, the floors creak when people are upstairs kitchen is tiny. But all that makes the experience!! Really it does. The staff are so friendly and have such great advice on coffee shops, and free things around the city. they have a blackboard with a map of all the things close by that you need to know bout, the best coffee! and the supermarket, the transit centre. I really loved it! plus the beds weren't to hard (I am going to freely admit that I am both a bed and coffee snob) Leashy and I really enjoyed the stay and met some awesome fellow travelers (2 who joined us on some adventures). The security is great here, as they give you a unique code according to your booking to get in the door and they don't have managers there overnight so it means you don't get wanderers off the street at random hours. So if you do decide to go then make sure you book ahead...
I met up with Leashy loo and managed to meet a couple of people in the little kitchen they had. Offered me a beer beat thing ever!!!
