72 Hours in Montreal: Day 3 & Video Diary

I had booked an evening flight home so I basically had a full day to enjoy in Montreal before heading home. I took advantage of the fact that the sun had decided to make a reappearance and spent a lot of time outdoors.

I grabbed another croissant and orange breakfast at the hotel and then checked out, but not before leaving my bags with the staff to pick up before heading to the airport.

MARCHÉ JEAN-TALON

Every time I go to an amazing market like this, I get major jealousy. I want something like this near my home that I can visit daily to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables.

There were a handful of vendors that only spoke French, which I actually enjoyed because it gave me a chance to practice. There was also a bunch of toddlers on a class field trip and the teacher was quizzing them by pointing at random items and I participated (in my head) as additional practice.

I bought some maple butter and maple candy to bring home. If we were allowed to bring plants, I would've picked up one of these pepper plants.

FAIRMOUNT BAGEL
Everyone recommended I get a Montreal bagel so I headed to the original spot: Fairmount Bagel. These bagels are different because they're boiled in sweetened water before being baked (versus a lye boil like New York bagels) which gives them a really subtle sweetness. I actually loved these bagels despite the fact that they had a humongous hole in the middle; I love bagels that are so chubby, the hole is basically non-existent. But these were incredibly soft and chewy and surprisingly light.

I had also bought a little pint of strawberries from the market so I enjoyed those with my bagel. Quebecois strawberries are insanely sweet; these tasted like candy.

PARC LAHAIE
I enjoyed my breakfast on swinging Adirondack chairs in the park. I love eating al fresco.

After my second breakfast, I hopped on a bike and rode around Mile End some more.

COMPLEXE DESJARDINS
It started to get really cloudy out and I worried it might rain so I decided to take shelter in one of Montreal's many malls. I ended up browsing at a store called Winners, which was Montreal's version of TJ Maxx.

UNIBURGER
When I started to get peckish, I decided to grab a burger at Uniburger because I'd read that it was really similar to In-N-Out, which it really was.

PARC LA FONTAINE
The clouds were breaking up once again, so I hopped on a bike and headed to Montreal's largest park.

It has a big winding bike path, there's a water feature, and because there are plenty of trees it's nice and shaded. It's a great park.

I also contemplated crossing the bridge to Île Sainte-Hélène so I started biking in that direction.

However, as I got closer, I realized it would be quite the incline and quite the distance and I wasn't really that keen on getting sweaty and gross before having to board a plane that evening.

PLACE DES ARTS

So instead of crossing the bridge, I headed back to Place des Arts to watch some giant chess games before heading back to my hotel to pick up my bags.

Soon, it was time to leave so I hopped on the 747 bus to the airport.

I picked up a bunch of Kinder Bueno bars (my favorite candy bar ever) to get rid of some more Canadian cash.

And I grabbed a poke bowl from Ryu to eat for dinner.

Unfortunately my flight was delayed 40 minutes (the flight itself was only 50 minutes) and then we circled in the air a bit before we could land and then we weren't able to get a gate right away, but eventually I made it home. And despite ending the trip on a slightly sour note, I still only have fond memories of my time in Montreal. It was great.

Here's my video diary: