Montreal, Quebec
Over my Spring break, I went up to Canada to visit Kate, Flo, Gab, and Clara (all of whom I know as a result of Edinburgh).
The beginning of the trip was rough. First, when I arrived at SFO the airport was on lockdown for security reasons, they opened up all the gates 10 minutes before my flight was scheduled to take off, however they forced me to check my luggage. Because of the delay, we landed in Chicago with barely any time before my next flight took off, I kid you not I SPRINTED through O’Hare.
When I arrived in Montreal, I discovered that while I made it on the plane, my luggage did not. Oh, and in Montreal, they speak French which—while plenty of people do speak English—added to my stress. Luckily, my friends were there waiting for me at the airport. They had to wait a couple of hours while I figured out my luggage issue, but when I finally emerged, stressed and bedraggled from my luggage issue, they welcomed me with Timbits (donut holes from Tim Hortons, a staple coffee chain throughout Quebec) and this beautiful sign :’)
We then spent the night with some of their friends at Gab and Clara’s house in their Jacuzzi. I spent my whole week housed by Gab and Clara and all I have to say is that they were the best hosts I could have asked for. We spent some nights watching movies, others driving far out just so we could get some insanely tasty donuts.
Even though I didn’t have my luggage, I luckily am the same size as both Gab and Clara, and they were THE BEST FRIENDS letting me borrow all their clothes while I had none of my own. We went on a hike that day in the SNOWWWWWWW
Flo and I were messing around and long story short I got a fat lip.
We visiting McGill was great. Since it was my spring break I still had work to do so I got a day to spend at McGill with Kate and Flo doing work. But for those who remember how efficient Kate, Flo, and I were at studying in Edinburgh will guess we didn’t end up getting a whole lot done. At the end of the day, we hiked up Mont Royal, a big hill with a great view of the city
The other days were spent exploring Montreal, its sights, buildings, and food 😛 (poutine is amazing I have to say)
While up in Montreal, my cousin contacted me because she and her family live nearby in the US. Gab had a free day and so her and I road tripped down to Burlington where we met up with my cousin and her two adorable boys (that is a whole other side story).
Finally, one of my big things to do in Canada was to go to a Sugar Shack. What is a Sugar shack you might ask? a Sugar Shack is where they serve you heaps and heaps of food, all topped with that seasons freshly harvested, home grown (?), Canadian Maple syrup.
There we FEASTED, we even got maple syrup lollipops which is when fresh maple syrup is poured out onto ice and then you take a stick and roll it up.
We had a big goodbye breakfast 
Saying goodbye was hard because I do not truly know when I will get to see these beautiful people again. I feel so lucky to have met them and so amazed by how big their hearts are.
