Canadiens de Montréal - Bell Centre

Bonjour,

today was shopping day with Nicolas. Downtown was the place to be. Not only we shopped like crazy, he also showed me one of the most significant buildings in Montréal. The Bell Centre. That is the home of the native ice hockey team. The team is the oldest official sports team of Canada.

Québec people go crazy for this team! 1909 the team was born and counts to the original members of the national hockey league.

I did not expect statues of ice hockey players around the city.  

L'Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal

Bonjour, 

on sunday I got another amazing tour from Nicolas. Todays topic was religion. We visit the oratory of St. Joseph. It is located at the Mont Royal and with it's architectural height of 129 m it is the highest point of the city. 

Brother Joseph was canonized in 1955 and is the first and only saint person of Canada. The basilica actually is the highest and biggest church in Canada and the 27th biggest church in the world.

Montmorency Fall - Quebec Nature

Bonjour, 

at the very end of our trip to Québec City we just drove 14 km to the Montmorency Fall. Totally worth it! Such an impressive waterfall during wintertime is just magical. 

The whole stream was covered in snow on top and on the downside of the fall. People were sliding on the snow on top of the stream. I was a little bit unsure, if that is safe, but it seemed totally normal.

QUÉBEC CITY - Day Trip

Bonjour,
yesterday Daeyung and me were set up to make a day trip to Québec City. I went to the laboratory in the very, very, very early morning... even too early for my taste and got the car in at 10 am. The guy at the car rental was so much fun... He did not say hello, did not smile at all, but when he saw my german passport he was like: "Oh, you are german. You will get our newest car. I saved this one for you! You will love it, you will feel like in Germany.". A little curios and a little nervous waiting for my car I was thinking about his attitude. Was he really happy or ironic about this... I guess he was ironic. He got the only, it is the truth! The only red car from the garage... It was a firetruck red VW Beetle. He had only 40 km run in his entire life and I was the first customer to get this car. Yes, very german, and yes...very gay at the same time.

After realizing, that this car is an automatic car and setting up everything I drove my way to get Daeyung for our ride to Québec. 

Pub Vietnamien - The Red Tiger

Bonjour,

tonight after gym Daejung and me went out for some vietnamese food. The restaurant is very close to my home and I walk past it nearly every day, while walking to the gym. So I was very  excited to go there. After walking past this restaurant for nearly 4 weeks on a daily basis. 

Parc Olympique de Montréal

Bonjour, 

the torch at the Montréal Olympic house  in Downtown was a highlight for me at the St. Patricks day.

Today i visited with the one and only "Montréal Olympic Park Lexicon Nicolas" the Olympic park in Montréal. He literally knew everything about the park, the games and the national political situation at that time and even today. It was amazing! 

St Patrick's day celebration!

Bonjour, 

on sunday was the worldwide known and beloved St. Patricks Day.

In Montréal there is a huge parade every year. The Quebecois say, that this is the biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade Worldwide.

Stella - Snowstorm is going strong!

Bonjour,

the last three days have been ruled by Stella. The heaviest 2 day snow storm in canadian weather documentation had brought us 30-70 cm in Quebec.

It all started tuesday midday. I was at the laboratory and recognized the most glittery and finest snowflakes I have seen in my life. Snowflakes were that tiny, they were forming swarm movement in the wind. When I went back home I saw some snow crawlers waiting for their big moment.

I went out for coffee with a friend and underestimated the temperature. It was still around -17°C. That cold, that my body-temperature did not melt the snow in my hair, glasses, eyebrows or anything elsewhere. 

Poutine - Quebec Cuisine

Bonjour, 

on the last day of their visit we wanted to celebrate Montréal appropriately. La Banquise is offering the most famous poutine of Montreal. That is why we went there to feed our apatite for sauce dripping french fries, topped with cheese, or lets call it "cheese". As disgusting as it may sound as delicious it was!

Snow and Ice - St. Sauveur - St. Adolphe d'Howard - Lac Joseph - St.Agathe des Monts - Lac des Sables - Mont Tremblant - What a trip!

Bonjour,

we did a road trip today! 300 km, 6 stops, 12 hours, 3 people and one car.

We met at 10 pm at Peel Metro Station to get out car for today. Afterwards we went for getting some Breakfast-Bagels and a Coffee!

Then Oli drove us to the nearest skiing areas around Montreal to get a taste of...-27°C. I guess it was the lowest temperature my face had ever experienced. 

Rage Montréal - Axe Throwing

Bonjour, 

yes, it sounds amazing, stupid, dangerous and canadian at the same time? It is amazing, stupid, dangerous and canadian all in one. The Axe Throwing Action we had today was the best throwing experience in my whole life!

While walking home from the gym a couple of days ago I walked past an axe throwing play area. I told Julia and Oli...They were in from the first second.

Old Port - Smoked Beef

Bonjour, 

as promised I'll write about the second half of our Sunday. We directly took the bus for the Old Port, which was surprisingly new. We expected old pirate ships and wooden planks all over. Maybe some barrels with wine or beer standing around in each and every corner… Everything was unexpected. An escape labyrinths, an ice rink, a nice clock tower, a zip line and all kind of amusement installations. Not a single trace of some pirate-ish flair. 

This does not look like a pirate ship at all!

Mont Royal - Sunday Trip

Bonjour,
at this very first sunday in Montreal Julia, Oli and I did, what every good tourist and family does in Montreal. We had a trip on top of Mont Royal. It is a park, located on a mountain. You can walk easily up the ways, IF you have some spikes under your feet. You can guess.... we didn't.

But we made it to that really cool view.

First we had to take the subway and for the very first time a city bus!
Even if we are not fluid in french were we able to communicate with el driver.... we had to get off two stations more early as usual, because of some...we guess movie shooting. Yeah, we will be very fluid in french soon kkkk

 So we started in the very urban environment around 12 am. 

 After entering the park we found ourselves in the harsh canadian non urban environment. SNOW and ICE!

 We had a lot of fun walking up the mountain in sneakers! Reminded me a little bit of Mount Hallo in South Korea, where me and my family had to walk this kind of round downhill for hours :-) kkkk

 But after around 30 min walk we had climbed the top and got a really nice overview of the city. At least centre ville.

 The house which we see here just had a very big hall, some coffee vending machines and toilets. I loved it. Ah and most important... free Wifi!

On our way back we decided to take the bus, which was departing more or less next to the platform, where we have taken the pictures. Back in town we went on with our tour. Unfortunately I am too tired right now to write more. Therefor I will delay the second part of our sunday to tomorrow. Have a good night!

Nuit Blanche - German Visitors

Bonjour, 

today is already weekend time. It feels unreal, that I have been in Berlin until this Wednesday.. and now I am already working here at Shriners, setting up experiments, going to the gym regularly, having a new favorite coffee shop and even have friends over and participating at the regional festivals...

Julia and Oli came over all the way from Essen to Montreal. Unfortunately they arrived at the coldest day of my stay here.... -18°C during daytime... I guess that is ridiculous for canadian standards, but for us sensible germans it is really cold.... not to mention the wind. You feel the ice forming in your face. No fun at all. But at the same time it is the first day I am able to see the sky. No clouds in sight. Just clear blue sky! 

Shriners Hospital for children - First day

Bonjour,

the first night was really a short Amüsement.


After 4.5 hours of more or less recharging sleep I woke up close to my german usual time to get up (5am).

I love the photographer of the Hospital and furthermore that I am again student :)

Berlin - Amsterdam - Montreal

Bonjour,

as some of you guys know, I will be the next six weeks in Montreal, Canada. It is my first big business trip during my PhD time. It is a LabExchange between the graduate school (Berlin School of Regenerative Therapies) and the McGill university. 
There is definitely a lot of work to do during the six weeks, but I want to see some cool stuff over here as well. So I have to work for my free time. 

I departed at home in Friedrichshain at 9 am sharp, got the Ring 42 at 09:06 am and was at Tegel Airport at 09:40 am.