Canada Traveling Tips

Bonjour mes amis! (Hello my friends!)

This past weekend, I went to Montreal with my three friends, Sophie, Brianna, and Emily. Whenever I travel somewhere new, I always learn something new about myself and the surroundings. For instance, I learned that no matter where I am, I'll always still order cheesecake because it's my favorite dessert. But of course, I learned a lot of other things that are helpful when you're traveling to Montreal as a college student.

Lesson #1: While it is not required, it's good to know a little bit of French. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but luckily, I have taken French for a couple of years. I attempted to speak some French, and when that failed, I simply just asked, "Parlez-vous anglais?" which means "Do you speak English?" French and English are the two official languages in Canada, so mostly everyone could speak both. 

stop sign in both English and French

Lesson #2: Being a college student means being aware of your bank account. Save, save, and save is the usual motto, but that can sometimes be hard when you're surrounded by new stores and new restaurants. Instead of going out to eat every night, my friends and I brought snacks from school and made fluffernutters and oatmeal for most nights. However, we did end up treating ourselves to dinner one night at an Italian restaurant and also delicious crepes.

excited about eating my crepe filled with cheesecake and strawberries!

spaghetti and salmon for dinner

Lesson #3: Being spontaneous is always fun, but sometimes it's good to research ahead of time to get a better understanding of your surroundings. Look around and see what's near where you're staying. Fortunately, the hotel that we stayed at was 10-15 minutes from Saint Laurent Bouvelard, which is like Montreal's own version of Church Street.


Lesson #4: It was fairly easy to convert American money to Canadian money. Most places would tell you if they took American money. If they didn't, they would either take VISA or have an ATM in their store to withdraw Canadian money.

It's fun to travel to a new place and learn about other country's cultures. This trip made me even more excited about studying abroad next year in Ireland.

I hope you all continue to have a great week and if you have any questions, tweet or e-mail! Also, there's a parent Knightchat tonight from 7:30-9pm and I'll be one of the bloggers in the chat so check it out :)

#PassportProblems

It's been a stressful semester with a lot of projects and homework assignments so I'm really excited that there's a three day weekend next weekend. Since one of my friends has a car this semester, we all decided that we would spend next weekend in Montreal.  Two weeks ago, we booked the hotel in the  so it seemed like everything was set in stone and nothing could go wrong. Until, I realized last week that my passport was soon to be expired......

 Immediately, I started looking into nearby post offices that could process passports, but nowhere could process it in time for me to go. I started freaking out, but luckily, parents always know how to save the day. My dad found a passport office in St. Albans that could process my passport in 3-5 days. Luckily, the office was able to get me an appointment quickly. I just had to bring my birth certificate or old passport, driver's license, and a 2x2 photo that's been taken within the past 6 months (Rite Aid takes passport pictures and there's one in Colchester, Essex Junction, and downtown Burlington!) My appointment was last Thursday and my passport got delivered on Monday! It looks like mission impossible was actually possible, so I'll officially be going to Montreal next week. It will be my first time going to Montreal, so I'll be sure to post a lot of pictures next week!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend! If you have any questions, e-mail or tweet away :)

BANFF Mountain Film Festival

Last Saturday, I attended the BANFF Mountain Film Festival. BANFF is an international film competition that consists of short films and documentaries about nature and winter sports. I originally wasn't intrigued about watching videos about skiing and snowboarding because if you're a regular reader, you know that skiing and snowboarding aren't exactly my thing. Fortunately, movies are my thing! It ended up being a really fun time, and even though I had to go for a class, it's definitely an event that I want to go to next year.

Below are some of my favorite movies from the night:

Crossing the Ice
Strength in Numbers
The Gimp Monkeys