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It has been a while since I have missed an entire week of blogging (both here and on KDE Developers. Ah well, I will make up for lost time :)

Monday was a federal holiday (you know, that day the Spanish discovered us?) and us Feds got the day off from work. So, this past weekend Justin and I took advantage of the long weekend and flew to Montréal.

A few things about travelling: Almost missing flights is becoming a bad habit. Airports do not like my luggage. Its impossible to *not* be a tourist.

Somehow Saturday morning we lost some time because it took us much longer to get to the terminal that we had planned. By the time we go to the airport parking lot, we had a little more than an hour to catch a shuttle, check-in, go through security, and make it to the terminal. *About* an hour is not enough for the perpetually busy Dulles airport, so I was a little more than anxious. By the time we actually caught a shuttle (which took forever in the rain) and got to check in, we had about 30 minutes. Uargh! I hate being late.

I’m also know for being late to things, but I think my father is finally wearing off on me where I try to be 10-30 minutes (depending on the meeting) early for everything. Justin, however doesnt feel the same (and was yelling at me to relax as I run down the corrider to the concourse). Nevertheless, security only took a few minutes to get through (suprisingly) and we made our flight with a few minutes to spare. Phew.

My luggage on the other hand always has a tendency to make trouble.

As some of you may remember, I’ve had my share of airport craziness in the not too distant past. This time around, I almost didnt get my luggage at all. We both brought carry-on luggage, but since we were flying in a small jet from city to city, larger items were stowed underneath with the checked luggage. In order to collect it immediatly after leaving the plane, they put pink little tags on the baggage so you could claim it.

Somehow the ’secured’ tag fell off my luggage, and was no where to be found on the plane. The baggage handlers searched the cargo area of the plane for the tag that fell off, but it was no where to be found. It must had fallen off during the 300 feet between the staging area of the jet and the cargo deck while in DC. Normally this wouldnt be an issue with domestic flights, but since it was international they couldnt just give me my luggage. There was also an issue of taking it back up to baggage screening because the flight was only a layover, not a transfer. We only had about 40 minutes on the ground, so there wasnt enough time to get it to the other side of the airport, through security and customs, and back. We were only going to be in Montréal for two days, so by the time it would make it back, we would be almost ready to come home.

Kindof defeats the purpose of ‘carry-on’ luggage, eh?

Luckily the baggage guys were understanding. They filled out some kind of screening tag and gave me the receipt. Obviously the bag had been through security, otherwise it would have never made it on the plane. As long as I got back on the plane after refueling (which obviously I did), they could put it back on the flight for the international trip. Crisis averted, although I dont know if shopping for a weekend’s worth of clothes would have been that bad. Montr&eactue;al has a lot of shopping.

The city itself is pretty cool. It has a lot of French influence in its architecture, everyone speaks French and most speak English, and there is a lot of history. It is also a very fashionable and young city, I noticed clothing trends that I have never seen anywhere else. Everywhere you go, you want to read signs, peer in windows, and take pictures.

Its hard not to be a tourist.

D.C. is a big American tourist city (being the nation’s capitol and all), so I certainly know what they look like and how they act. Sometimes, especially during the summer, I got annoying with the non-natives running around big eyed and snot nosed looking at all the sites, and it takes travelling out of your element to be able to relate to that again. Montr&eactue;al is a very tourist-friendly city (I’m sure its welcome revenue), and two things stick out in my mind about it. Most restaurants and stores will greet you in one language and ask you a question in another to figure out if you speak English or French. I made the mistake of saying “bonjour” to someone after they said hello in English, and had them switch languages on me. The locals are pretty friendly about picture taking and we had a few people laugh at us in good nature (and the bazillion Japanese tourists we saw arrive at the airport at the same time we did) as we tried to excuse ourselves out of their way so we could take a nice picture.

Are French people really like this? Hahaha.

Random facts about the city: It is the second largest French city after Paris. They have a very extensive Metro system which includes the busses. A large portion of the city is a tourism district. There is a Notre Dame, and a casino. There is excellent food, fashion, and entertainment. It is youth and gay-friendly. Everyone wears scarfs and hats and the temperature was about 10C

Too bad its so far north. I bet winters are very cold.

We did the typical site-seeing, touring, picture taking, wonderful meals, etc.. and had a nice much needed relaxing weekend. I would like to visit again and do more bar and club hopping, but perhaps when the weather is much nicer.

More pictures…