Strange how a day of nothing can be followed by a day of a lot. Things started off in a normal fashion which for us meant cooking pancakes with banana and maple syrup. Later in the day things would change but we’ll get to that.
We set off mid morning for a stroll through Montréal. We started by climbing up to Parc Du Mont Royal where you can see right across the city. We then slowly picked our way through the park to the Plateau for lunch then on through the Latin Quarter to the old town. After further sightseeing we made our way back to the Hostel via the Bell Centre where the local Hockey team plays (the Montréal Canadians). Tonight they were hosting Boston in a must win game to reach the quarter finals of the Stanley cup. Unfortunately the tickets were all sold out so we asked at the Hostel where was best to watch it. They suggested the sports bar down the road and warned us to get there early.
With kick off (or what ever it is in hockey) at 7pm the plan was to head out, watch the game then head back to the hostel and cook dinner. We had already bought some bangers and spuds etc for some English style comfort food. Instead the following happened.
We arrived at the bar a little after 6 and there was already a big queue out the front that was not moving very quickly. We decided to try and find somewhere else but after another 20 minutes walking we ended up at the same spot so decided to what comes naturally to an English person and diligently join the back. We were soon joined by three Canadians visiting town to meet up and watch the game. We got talking to them whilst the queue just stood there, going nowhere. With just a couple of minutes before kick off the little power hungry chap in charge of the queue was looking for 5 people willing to stand at the bar for the game. Seeing as we weren’t interested in food, this sounded like a great option so the five of us headed in.
Despite only being made up of 3 20 minute periods the game coverage went on for nearly 3 hours. The atmosphere in the bar was great, lots of people, lots of noise, flashing lights, sirens, the works. With the home team winning the beers were flowing freely. After the game (Canadians won 5-0) the 5 of us headed down to the Bell Centre to join the celebrations. A few hundred people had gathered in the street and were singing and dancing. We joined in for a bit but then got thirsty so headed up the road to a bar that seemed to just be outside on a really area of pavement with a gate and they were hammering out loud music. This is where things start getting a little fuzzy. We were there for quite a long time, until they shut we think. There was a lot more beer and a lot of raw vodka. After a bit more dancing around like idiots we realized that the riot police had turned up and a bunch of idiots were throwing rocks at them. As you do. We had a great view and just watched things unfold for a while, drinking and laughing at a fat man smoking a ridiculous cigar.
We must have left there at around 2 o’clock and as we rounded the corner on to the main street we were confronted by a scene nothing short of a riot. People has smashed shop windows and were looting. They were mainly looting shoes and booze. An odd combination perhaps the shoes were to help in the getaway. And personally I would have thought that looting shoes was a bit dumb. Whenever I’ve been shoe shopping it takes ages for the staff to find the right size and they’re supposed to know where the stuff is. Booze looting is more understandable. As we continued down the street we were confronted by a torched police car that let out a little explosion. There was another police car that had just been beaten up and a third police car with some people jumping up and down on it. Bearing in mind that the home team won! Being holidaymakers we took loads of pictures before considering that we might actually be in a bit of danger. We decided to stagger off back to the hostel and leave the other three to head back to their hotel.
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