If you haven't already done so, don't miss to check out posts from our Montreal travel series:
Montreal Part 1- for a scoop on some delish food havens in Montreal and Montreal Part 2- for a journey through Old Montreal and stunning churches in the area!
And now for Montreal part 3 for many more visual treats and experiences in this beautiful city!
Visit Museums in Montreal
Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal/ Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
While we are not going to pretend to be connoisseurs of art, we would definitely recommend a pit stop at this very interesting museum. There is a $20 admission fee to visit. At the museum, we had the opportunity to view the art exhibition of Teresa Margolles, a Mexican artist whose art forms depict different social causes. In the photo above, the wall art includes photographs of posters of missing women since the 1990s!, taken from the streets of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Another work of art that really struck a chord with us was a blood stained cloth that was hand woven with traditional Mayan art by indigenous women from Guatemala, as a symbol of their solidarity against feminicide that plagued their country for years (third image in slide show below). The blood on the cloth belonged to woman that was murdered in one such crime!
McCord Museum/ Musée McCord
This social history museum in Montreal will give you insight into Canada's traditional Native lifestyle as well as Expo 67. Expo 67 was a prime point in Montreal's history that put Montreal on the forefront of world fashion. This futuristic exhibition had about 50 million visitors over a period of 6 months back in the day! The trendy styles on the manikins and video clips of runway shows at Expo 67 were pretty fascinating to see!
Enjoy Walking Tours of the City
You've heard about our obsession with Old/Vieux Montreal, but we have some other places that you must include on your walking tours:
Saint-Laurent Boulevard- Graffiti Art
As you have probably figured out, I research our vacation spots to death. This street, however, was an accidental find and what a pleasant find indeed. Check out all the amazing graffiti art on the walls in this area! Pick your favorite one:) I hear Graffiti Granny is quite popular!
Quartier des Spectacles- Arts and Entertainment District
Another happy find as we made our way to the Contemporary Art Museum mentioned above. 'Quartier des Spectacles' is the main entertainment and arts district located in the eastern side of downtown Montreal in the borough of Ville-Marie. When we walked by, there were many people just relaxing and people gazing in the central square of the quartier, known as Place des Festivals.
Downtown Montreal- Spot Interesting Statues
The Secret Bench of Knowledge - I didn't know this at the time, but some web surfing revealed interesting fact about this statue! The sculpture is created by Canadian Sculptor Lea Vivot. The statue has many messages inscribed all over by school children, to emphasize the importance and pleasure of reading. Also, there are other similar replicas of this statue in other cities including Ottawa and New York.
The Illuminated Crowd- Located right opposite the Secret Bench of Knowledge, this sculpture was created by the English artist Raymond Mason and installed outside a large office building in downtown Montreal. This sculpture carries the following inscription that gives food for thought: "A crowd has gathered, facing a light, an illumination brought about by a fire, an event, an ideology--or an ideal. The strong light casts shadows, and as the lights toward the back and diminishes, the mood degenerates; rowdiness, disorder and violence occur, showing the fragile nature of man. Illumination, hope, involvement, hilarity, irritation, fear, illness, violence, murder and death--the flow of man's emotion through space."
Visit the BIODOME- Space for Life
We would highly recommend this for nature lovers (AKA- replicas of us)! Take self-guided tours through four distinct ecosystems of the Americas represented at the Biodome. Nature and wildlife in a controlled environment- so intriguing! The admission is $20.25. We recommend you park on the street outside Olympic Park as the parking on premises is quite pricey. Give yourself at least 2-3 hours to leisurely explore the Biodome. Cameras are allowed inside:) Woo!
Look at that majestic yawn!
Who doesn't love to watch penguins! Can you spot the little trackers on their arms?
Hope you enjoyed this Montreal series!
Until next time...Au Revoir Mes Amis :)