spring break was AMAZING! like i said, i ventured to our neighbor to the north -- MONTREAL with alex for 5 nights. we stayed in the latin quarter, right near down town, right off of the popular street "Rue Saint Denis" in a hostel (my first time!). it was great. we had our own room overlooking the street, a big bed (a big deal now that i sleep in a bunk bed) and a TV! it was pretty much a little hotel room (it was a REALLY small room) for about the price of a hotel room for 1 night for the whole week! we really lucked out.
we also lucked out with the weather. it was sunny & low 40s most of the time, but it was really chilly the first full day we were there, so we took the subway to McGill University downtown to check out a free (!!!) museum that had some mummies and walk around campus. it had some great views of the city:
because of the chilly weather, we also hung around the underground city that is part of the subway system in montreal. it's pretty much a big underground mall, so alex wasn't that excited about it, but i thought it was pretty cool. that night we went out to a hookah bar around the corner from our hostel to smoke some shisha & shared a pitcher of canadian beer, eh. it was the ONLY night we went out. party animals.
our next adventure was to the BIODOME and botanical gardens that is housed in the old olympic park. the biodome was really cool and recreated 4 different eco systems. the best was OBVIOUSLY the rainforest. lots of little tropical critters running around. it ended with an arctic ecosystem and there were peguins! pretty cute. we then headed to the botanical gardens, which was pretty much a bust, because there was nothing in bloom (there was still some snow on the ground) but they had a greenhouse that had a butterfly exhibit with butterflies EVERYWHERE flying around. it was amazing:
we walked around old montreal, which included a visit to the notre dame! now....most of you know, i avoid stepping into churches.....but it was quite exquisite. i was actually more enthralled with this carving in a small nave behind the main sanctuary. it was just very organic and seemed very nature oriented. it was gorgeous:
a personal favorite of both of ours were stopping in random cafes and shops for yummy treats! my favorite was ham & cheese crossiants. we stopped and had a little picnic in old montreal while walking around. this is alex enjoying some sort of salami sandwich:
& this is me when we were walking around old port: 
our greatest feat was walking to the top of mont royal, the highest point in the city. it is a law that any buildings built in the city can not be higher than mont royal. we walked through the slush zig-zagging up the mountain and came to a great look-out with this panoramic view of the city. definitely worth the trek up!:
even though we did a lot of sightseeing, we also did a lot of relaxing, which was just what i needed! but it has proved difficult to get back into my old routine. we have been doing a lot of outdoor projects, now that it is getting nice out. we spent some time clearing a herring run in harwich and planting beach grass in brewster. for COD day we are busy planning for AmeriCorps Week which happens in the middle of may. we are helping clear invasives at taylor bray farm, which is a place that i love dearly, not just for the property and people that run it, but also for the animals! the sheep just had some little lambs and the goats are always eager to greet people!
& also because of the nice weather, i have had the opportunity to watch some amazing sunsets over the bay. it is my goal to watch a sunrise before i leave!
so, you have been caught up! it is definitely spring here. it has been raining a LOT! and it rains all day. this is not fun when you are working outside and trying to "get things done". today was the start of "BLITZ WEEK" which is an annual americorps project here that engages school groups at a conservation property in harwich. we spent the morning with some high school students clearning invasives, which was cut short due to the rain. i will be back to the property on wednesday to do some environmental enducation and then again on friday doing more invasive removal. busybusyBUSY!
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