Today we headed to Montreal. Later in the evening we needed to be at the mission home for a farewell dinner for the Davis'. They are the first of our Senior Couple fold to go home. We felt like since it was a Saturday, that we would go up to Montreal early and do some sightseeing. The first place we went to see was the cathedral "Mary Queen of the World" (or Marie Reine du Monde - in French). It is a lovely cathedral patterned after St.Paul's in London. (the back part of the dome anyway
Inside we saw that they were setting up to have a wedding there, but they told us just to go ahead and look around anyway...apparently people even come & look and browse around even when they hold services! And as we looked there was a homeless lady who came up and solicited us for money... right inside the church- just steps away from the wedding set-up!
The ceiling is absolutely gorgeous. We really felt awkward being in there as guests were gathering, so we left to go to the next Cathedral. This time it was Notre Dame. Not the Notre Dame in Paris, but it looks very much like it on the outside.
Inside it is absolutely amazing... and they charge you $5.00 each for the opportunity to behold it! The ceiling here is painted blue & they do a special light show at Christmas and other holidays to light it & change colors.
In the middle of the above picture you can see the winding staircase which leads up to the podium where the priest deliver the sermon. (I know they have some wonderful Catholic name for this, but I can't recall it.) It is all hand carved and again- gorgeous. There are two hand-carved wooden statues at it's base... Ezekiel and Jeremiah
Perhaps you can see from the picture before all the stained glass windows around the chapel. Oddly enough, all the windows on the main level tell the story of the founding of Montreal - nothing really about God, Jesus Christ or Biblical events.
It is quite breath-taking. Off to the right- just out of the camera shot in the above picture is a glassed-in small chapel. It is for the actual worshipers! The tour guide told us that since there are so many events here and constant tours, that it is too noisy to actually worship here, so they built the sound-proofed, glassed-in chapel so that the actual worshipers would have a quiet place they could use!
Next we started our walking tour of old-town Montreal. This is the gate entrance. The streets are of cobblestone and mostly it is several streets of tourist trap souvenir shops and restaurants.
Of course, there are some very French things as well... like this shop. Boucherie (butcher shop) and Charcuterie (cooked meats...like a deli shop that serves sandwiches)
and yes, those are fresh shanks of meat hanging in the front window. Of course, it was really cold and we were walking... so when we saw one of the many horse-drawn carriages go by we asked him how much it would cost to ride.
The souvenir shop lady had told us that it would probably be fairly cheap since it was not exactly the height of tourist season at the end of January, and since it was so cold, not many people were out. I thought it would be a romantic, wonderful way to see the area. But, like everything else in Montreal, the price was a bit steep. $48 for 30 minutes. SHEESH! And we just were sure that those few blankets he had in the carriage would have kept us all that much warmer as we rode... so, we thanked him and said No. (Maybe in the summer the price goes down?) We were so frozen after walking around for 3 hours, that we decided to head for the car. As we drove, we went right thru Montreal's version of China Town.
As it was, we still couldn't feel our fingers and toes, so we opted just to view it through the car windshield! So, we headed for the mission home and our farewell dinner. The Davis' are from Australia. They were facing a 35 hour trip home, so they loved this last chance to say goodbye.
We had a wonderful dinner and they shared things about Australia... then we gave them some of those wonderful Canadian beanies (or Tukes...as they call them here).
We are going to miss this wonderful couple. They worked in a very poor inner city Asian branch in Montreal & were such an example of love & dedication. We will miss them so much! (this is the couple whose daughter Rachel & her family live in London and are dear friends to Shannon Ashton - Chad Monroe's sister)
They have a big ice sculpture contest with people from all over the world participating. This one was to celebrate 60 years of Queen Elizabeth being on the throne. The jubilee year.
They even light them up at night. (since we weren't there during the night, I had to borrow this picture):
We even saw them carving one: 
Of course ice isn't the only thing they sculpt with: Here is an homage to hockey made from ice hockey skates, sticks, gloves, helmets...etc
and, the ever popular "Lost Mitten" tree:
Roger's... not the missionary, but the local cell phone provider, had a booth where you could take your picture amongst all things ice: Here I am inside the ice cell phone, and Elder Mahaffey sitting on the ice chair:
And, for your listening enjoyment, they have DJs playing music... inside a bubble, to keep their equipment warm and dry.
Of course we HAD to sample the local delicacy - BEAVER TAILS. 
They remind me of the fried bread scones we used to have at girl's camp after the 4th years came back to camp. They are in the shape of a... yes... Beaver Tail, and they are considered a pastry. Mine was coated in cinnamon and sugar. Roger's was frosted with maple and chocolate:
Then we walked on water !!! of course it was FROZEN water... The Rideau Canal here is 5 miles long and when it freezes over, it becomes the world's largest ice skating rink...(or walking rink) and... the best part... it is free! I think that anywhere else in the world, someone would be charging for people to use this... but not here. 
Of course, there are little shacks all along the canal where you can rent skates or sleighs if you don't have your own skates (but, hey... this is hockey-loving Canada... EVERYONE has their own skates.)
There are also lots of little shops and places to eat all along the canal:
It is great fun just to sit...they also have benches along the canal route... and watch all the fun..
Or walk along on the ice like we did:
We thought it best...what with the canadian health care being ONLY for canadian citizens... that we NOT try the skating.. although we would have LOVED to do it! But, we thought that it would probably be just our luck that we'd fall, break some major joint, and have to be air lifted back to the states for medical care! On the other end of the canal is a place called Dows Lake:
It is a much wider area and even has an outdoor, on-ice, art exhibit ! These Canadians are amazing!
It was a fun day. There are many MORE activities in the evenings and on the weekends apparently, but we had fun just enjoying this small part.
Elder & Sister Levitre are real troopers! They are from Bountiful and he used to sing in the Tabernacle Choir. They are really wonderful! This conference was fun because there were many fun presentations. Elder Levitre always does a safety presentation...(think driver's ed and those videos of accidents)... he told this time of how we follow cars and trucks during the winter, and often huge sheets of ice fly off the top of vehicles. He told of a set of missionaries who had these huge sheets of ice fly off the vehicle they were following and the ice hit their windshield and shattered it! Luckily they weren't really hurt, but had a few glass shard cuts on face & hands. Then our CES couple did a dental health presentation. He used to be a dentist and after a successful career in private practice, he went to work for the Arizona Prison system. He showed some pictures that would curl your hair! People who hadn't used a tooth brush, what effect on teeth human hands to human jaws causes, infections & abcesses, tongue ring problems, meth mouth and bulimia mouth... oh man... every one of those Elders and Sisters wanted to run out the door and go brush their teeth! ha! We had a wonderful chili and cornbread luncheon afterward.
This is our Zone. Sister Mahaffey is in the 2nd row -all the way to the left - Elder Mahaffey is behind her. During the lunch Sister Cannon always gives out birthday presents for those who will have a birthday before the next conference. Last year she gave out a candy lei, but this year it is a package of brownie mix w/nuts. Then the companion must stand up and give a birthday wish to their companion. As I was in this group, here's all the birthday people:
We love the chance to see the other senior couples, all of the missionaries, both old and new, and spend some wonderful time learning from our AP's and our Mission President & wife. And the lunch is always great, too!
...A solid sheet of ice as far as the eye can see. We walk out to the car every day like two little old ladies... little tiny steps, very close together, so as not to fall or slip on the ice. So, while the locals are basking in the sun and declaring it is spring-like weather when it is only 28 degrees... I will be waiting for the snow plow, the ice melt, and the mercury in the thermometer to shoot out the top! We obviously have not become a true Candians.... yet...
He has been our District Leader. He has also been serving in Hawkesbury, so he & his companions come to work in Cornwall once a week and so they spend the night with us at our apartment. Consequently, we have become very close to him. He is a wonderful young man. He was originally living in Calgary when he got his call, but his father works for the church and was transferred to Montreal mid-way through Elder Garcia's mission! So, he didn't have far to go home! As this was our last district meeting with him, we decided to bring lunch and so we did a pizza and salad lunch for everyone.
Front left & around the table: E.Teiura, E.Flores, E.Glenn, E.McMurrin, across table at back: E.Garcia, E. Tam, empty chair is for E.Mahaffey who is taking the picture, and Sis. Mahaffey. Of course, I forgot to take a picture o him blowing out the 2 candles on his cake - for his 2 year anniversary! I am amazed how close we grow to these wonderful young men who are working so hard! They teach us so much ! Good luck to you, Elder Garcia..your next mission begins....
