A quick hello from Montreal, City of...

Bikes
Yes, they're everywhere. If you were allergic to bicycles, this would not be a good city for you. These bikes also frequently have baskets - made of old milk crates, in jaunty colours. New 'bike taxis' (DIY bikes for hire from stands in the street)scattered liberally and loking very appealing - maybe tomorrow I'll try one...

Blokes
Ooh la la. So this is where all the dark haired, urbanely dressed, lanky and suave or surly and muscly good-jacket-wearing French speaking straight men have gone. Well, now I know. I have to keep a spontaneous little smile in check when I see shortish, solid, behoodied, shaven headed, gorgeous, clear but blank faced youths who look like they're about to be photographed for the Face magazine. Or the kind of tall, casually haired and elegant, bespectacled bookish men with 2 day growth and layers on. They give good eye contact as well - doubly disconcerting.

Biere
Oh local beer is good! There are micro breweries, local brands of bottled beer, beer related somehow to malt whiskey hops, 'spicy' beer, beer made from buckwheat - many and varied beers. And all good.

Boulevards
Wide wide streets, like my hometown of Radelaide (that's hip 'Adelaide, it's so Radical' slang talk, in case anyone is from elsewhere and tries to google it only to find it doesn't actually exist). Not much traffic, not that many people, and tree lined to boot. Easy to cross. Handy little seats for pedestrians. Loverly.

Berry berry curly staircases
Yes metal stairs that run up the coutside of buildings, like fire escapes, like fancy stairways to heaven. All different colours and configurations. They look elegant but ilke they'd be slippery in winter. Haven't figured out why they are all outside the buildings yet and why they never seem to be brick.

Books
Lots of bookstores, in French mostly. I was even given some lovely tattered second hand books from someone I met here, to keep.

Brotherhood
Well you know, 'fraternetie' in that non gender specific sense. Always blown away by peoples' spontaneous acts of generosity towrds travelers - those brief encounters that extend to a 'well if you want me to show you the city I'm not doing anything tomorrow' or 'well let's swap numbers and catch up in New York' or 'well what are you doing now, come with us, it'll be fun'. Also somewhat surprised when I go along for the ride and put the angsty 'OMG anyone offering to do something nice must be a serial killer' instincts on the back burner, and take up random (yet safe)gestures of hospitality. For example, I have a lunch date tomorrow at a Professor of enviro toxicolgy's home, with her young family, and tomorrow night will be meeting random artsy crafty locals at a pub to watch a jazz band with friends of their in it. Next week I plan to call 'Ian' who lives in NY and was at my conference go out for coffee.

and other things beginning with other letters of the alphabet.