For my second trip outside of Montreal, I decided to go to the Big Apple: New York City.

After 10 hours of bus, I finally arrived in the big city where I joined an ESDES friend. It was the first time I had, here in NYC and my first impression was really positive. Everything seemed huge and disproportionate, but I was so happy to be there.

During 4 days, we never stopped walking across Manhattan. On the first day, we visited the well-known Metropolitan Museum, I swear I have never seen a museum as wide as it is. It’s not a big surprise to learn it is the second world-visited museum in the world right after the Louvre. Then, we went to the Rockefeller Plaza to go up at the top of the GE Building. Out there, we got an amazing 360-view of Manhattan with Central Park on one side and the Empire States Building on the other. Definitely, one of the best attractions to do for your first time in NYC. The evening, we took a walk around the stunning Times Square: one piece of the American Dream!

The second day, we went to the Empire States Building at 10am in order to “avoid” big lines. Once at the top, another wonderful view! This time, we could see the Lower Manhattan with the new Manhattan tallest building: the Infinity Tower. Nonetheless, I have to admit, I have preferred the view at the top of the GE Building. Then, the afternoon, we took on board for a cruise around the Manhattan Island. Last but not least, to finish the day, I decided to go to The R. Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, one of the most relevant museums of contemporary art in the world. I really appreciated it! If you only consider the building architecture, it is already incredible, but if you add the amazing collection of modern paintings, you obtain one of the best museum visit you can experience.

The third and last “whole” day, I visited the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). It is also one of the most famous museums in the world and the third most visited in the US, thanks to its amazing collection of modern masterpieces. Indeed, you can see many Matisse, Van Gogh, Monet, Warhol, Cézanne’s paintings. However, the flagship piece is above all The Scream by the expressionist artist Edvard Munch. This painting was sold for 9,922,600 at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern art auction on 2 May 2012. It is the highest nominal price paid for a painting at auction. After, this visit we did some shopping on the very famous Fifth Avenue, before going to the American Museum of Natural History, that was our last visit in New York.

To summarize, it has been an amazing trip in a multicultural city where you cannot be bored. You have always something to do or visit ! I am looking forward to going back once again to discover deeper that multiculturality by hanging around in the different neighborhoods (Little Italy, Soho, Chinatown, etc)! 

Customs

Concerning customs in Quebec, the first impression is the French culture is really anchored. There is no so many differences with French customs, regarding typically habits such as the dinner hour, the beginning hour of a daily-working day, etc. But, in Montreal, folks are a lot of more easy-going than French people. They seem always having time for a talk, not being prejudiced against someone they don’t know and above all, they are always warm. Another important thing, all Quebecois are very proud of their french roots, they consider themselves as Quebecois before Canadian. As they say "Vive le Québec libre!". If I had to chose only one typical Quebecian custom, it will be the craze for Ice Hockey and especially for the team of Canadiens de Montréal. It is like a second religion and the Centre Bell would be the temple. Twice a week, people meet in over-crowded pubs, Centre Bell or in front of their TV. The craze for Ice Hockey in Montreal is pretty more exaggerated than France for Football.

Regarding foods, there is no real difference with France, but they have some typical dishes such as the Poutine which is french fries with a delicious sauce with cheese. Yummy! I also had the opportunity to eat some carribou meat at a typical place in the Old Montreal. That was delicious but pretty expensive!

Symbols

When people think about Canada, they immediately think about the famous maple leaf, the beaver, Ice Hockey and the caribou. Actually, they are really present in the Canadian Culture, but only the maple leaf is represented on the National Canadian flag and the beaver on the $CAD 5 coin. Last but not least, even if the British Queen is less popular in Canada than in United Kingdom, the Queen Victoria is represented on bills.

The region of Quebec also has its own flag, also called The Fleurdelisé. Contrary to popular beliefs, the white fleurs-de-lis are not taken from the banner of the King of France, but they refer to the Virgin Mary (symbol of purity).

National celebrations

I decided to choose 3 main days that seem are the most import in the Canadian culture. National Aboriginal Day on June 21 that celebrates the great ethnic diversity in Canada among Inuits, First nations peple, Metis, European people and a lot of more. That day puts forward the contribution of each community to the Canadian culture and society. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24 that is the most typical celebration day for French Canadian . All across the country, they parade and party. Canada Day on July 1st that celebrates the united Canadian Society .

Events

In this part, I’m going to talk about some important events I participated. The first event I joined, was the Superbowl. Altought, it’s basically an American event , Superbowl is also very popular in Canada. Then, we went to a Sport Pub with some friends to watch it. It was overcrowded, people went crazy about each game actions. Meanwhile a guy encouraged people to shout louder and louder while he was throwing some stuffs to the audience. That was really crazy ! The second event I participated was La nuit Blanche (or Montréal en lumières) which is a night in Montréal where every museum is open until 2am and there are many special entertainments almost everywhere in the city. We specifically went to Place des Arts where there was a Jazz show, a huge sledging strip, a sphere turned into a night club, and a lot of more activities. We had lot of fun and I hope could live it again someday.

Montréal is a major city concerning festivals. I have chosen to focus on one that I really appreciated : The Igloofest.

This an annual outdoor electronic music festival that occures between January and February, during the hard Canadian winter. It was amazing, I have never seen this kind of event. Everybody is wearing his most extravagant snowsuit and even the security guards were dancing. That was wild ! 

The city of Montréal has a wide cultural life. Among the important spots,, we can name

Montréal Museum of Fine Arts that it’s the oldest  Canadian art institution (founded in 1860). It ‘s also the largest museum of Montréal and among the most important in Canada. It gathers more than 30.000 pieces from the Medieval art to the modern Art (Picasso, Dali, etc). I had the opportunity to visit the Impressionists Exhibition and it was a really great time, altought it was overcrowded.

Other interesting spot, the Olympic Park which gathers in the same place the Biodome and the Botanical garden. I spent an afternoon there, that was highly enriching.

The Biodome exhibits replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas:

• The Tropical Forest that represents the South-American rainforest.
• The Laurentian Forest that is a replica of the North-American wilderness.
• The Saint Lawrence Marine Eco-system which is an estuary of the the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
• A Polar area : Arctic and Antarctic.

Now concerning The Montréal Botanical Garden is considered as one of the most preponderant botanical garden  in the world. Indeed, it replicates 4 typical gardens : a Chines Garden, a Japanese Garden, an Alpine Garden and the First Nations Garden. It was full of charm walking throught the gardens in the Montréal Winter, but I guess it’s away better during Spring. But, anyway, I enjoyed it ! 

There are again and again many interesting spots that I will focus on, when I would have visited them…