With this being our second winter in Montreal we are no longer driven through it all by the novelty factor. We are still amazed at times, disbelieving almost at the temperatures the weather of the province of Quebec throws at us, but the whole, "Must take photos and capture it all!" has fallen by the way side as it feels more like a part of life, a day to day happening; which in turn gets overlooked and doesn't have that urgent need to document every last drop of it.
On Sunday, it was still minus ridiculous figures, but with a bright blue sky inviting us outside and making the snow sparkle, we thought we have better have a 'take-photos' walk to coffee before spring well, springs, itself upon us and the snow is all but a memory...
On Sunday, it was still minus ridiculous figures, but with a bright blue sky inviting us outside and making the snow sparkle, we thought we have better have a 'take-photos' walk to coffee before spring well, springs, itself upon us and the snow is all but a memory...
Going off on a tangent somewhat, I read somewhere that Montrealers invented tobogganing and figure skating. If this is true, I am not surprised - you need to do something in order to get you outside and prevent you from going indoor-crazy! I know there is skiing, but if you live in the city and have just a spare hour, or have kids etc it is not always possible good skiing places.
What was hard to capture in the photos was the fact the wind was whipping up snow from the ground. Although it was an un-needed extra slap of cold in the face, it made the air sparkle and was breathtakingly beautiful (especially when viewed from the warmth of inside, hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee).
Those cars in the above picture are parked. Ideally, they should be parallel to the pavement, but when there is a lot of snow, cars are left at whatever angle the snow allows them to be parked, and the streets start to look like a free for all. I don't think you get a ticket for parking in such a way, but I wouldn't like to state that as a fact..
We were almost oblivious to these signs last year:
They were yet another thing that was unfamiliar and which we didn't understand the meaning of, and therefore faded into the background of a scene which was alien to us. This year however, they stand out like the beacon I guess they are supposed to.
There meaning?
Don't park overnight on that side of the street, because the snow clearing lorries are coming to sweep the snow off the road and pavement. If you do, your car gets towed. I think to another street, so you then have to go play find your car. Just what you want when you are running late for work on a dark, cold winter morning!
The snow clearers do an impressive job, taking the street from this:
...to this:
It seems to have been months of endless snow, but thinking about it we haven't had the major dumps we did last year - it has been more of '5cm here, 10cm there' type of thing. This means we haven't been woken up by the snow clearers as much; which can only a good thing. Whereas last year they seemed to come and clear the street 6-7am, this year they have been clearing our street any time from 11pm to 6am. One night I think it was around 2am. It's not just the noise, but a rumble as they scrape the snow, and the flashing lights lighting up the room which company the procedure; so unless you are the heaviest sleeper, you will be woken up.
Even the locals, the ones who have been here many years, have been saying how bad this winter has been in terms of the cold. Usually there will be a day or two of horridly cold temperatures, but then it will snow and warm up slightly before it goes bitterly cold again. This year there hasn't really been any reprieve.
hearing this makes us feel better, less of English wimps!
But it's all an experience, something to look back on, plus you learn new things: I now know the art of wrapping up warm:
hearing this makes us feel better, less of English wimps!
But it's all an experience, something to look back on, plus you learn new things: I now know the art of wrapping up warm: