Bienvenue!

 Welcome to Montreal, a city of several faces. On first impressions we have: 

The super urban New York-in-miniature Montreal:

These photos are a little grey, we took them on board our Bateau-mouche brunch today. Unlimited waffles: yum, yum, yum. You get the idea, however - lots of high rise, glass fronted buildings.

Historic Montreal:

Bonjour, Queen Victoria. (She lives outside Pollack Hall, for any of my Edinburgh homies!)

French Montreal:

It is as if I'm back in Europe, cobbles and all. And I'm slowly getting to grip with the Québécois dialect. Being able to speak French, if only un peu, on a daily basis is very pleasant.

This is Notre Dame (see what I mean about how reminiscent the city is of France?)

Pre-Montreal: Toronto and Lake Muskoka

It is now almost a week since I arrived in Montreal, so these pictures are all coming to you slightly late. However, here are a couple of photos from our exploring Canada as we meandered towards my new city. 

We flew into Toronto, and quickly Laura and I missed being high up in the sky so completed the highest external walk around a building in the world: the CN Tower Edge Walk. The view of Toronto was incredible at 356 metres up, and our ticket included a trip to the very top of the tower so we returned at night fall to see everything once more (literally) in a very different light.

This was my parents' view of us from below! I am informed the camera was on full zoom at this point . . .

Next we moved on to Bracebridge, small town Canada at its best on the edge of Lake Muskoka - you can glimpse it below. To break up our journey we stopped at Sainte Marie among the Hurons, a re-created Jesuit settler village. 

We spent Mum's 50th birthday canoeing across the lake, with lunch on an island and swimming in the fresh water. Really lovely . . . the bites that followed, less so.

My New Room

There is so much to catch everyone up on (I'm certainly loving the university campus - my faculty building is very beautiful!) For now however I'm going to leave you with some pictures of my new bedroom, what do you think?

I've now been moved in for a handful of days, and my room is starting to look (if not quite yet feel) like home. A couple of bits made the trip across the Atlantic - my bunting is now transatlantic! The rest were purchased in one foul swoop from North American store 'Target' - that place is a dream!

My first post at the new flat was a parcel from Mum (who actually hasn't left the city yet!) It is the beautiful little pillow below - every time I look at it I get a bit emotional, but it speaks wise words!

Here are some close ups of the finer details, I'm particularly pleased with my 'Ow do? drinks mat. You can take the girl out of Yorkshire . . . 

Iceland

We decided to break our journey to Toronto with three days in Iceland. We've been before as a family a long time ago, however last time we stayed off the beaten track and it was freezing cold.

This time therefore, our primary concern was to explore Reykjavik city and then see what time we had to explore further afield. Here are our adventures summated in a couple of candid snaps:

A curiously named sick bag...

Hallgrimskirkja Church. Here we watched a Bavarian organist:

Inside the clock tower:

And the view from outside, too. Glorious.

The city, with mountains in the background:

The Blue Lagoon:

Árbæjarsafn, an Open Air museum:

An off-the-road and tourist trail, newly geothermically active spot with bubbling mud pools and sulphurous steam blinding us intermittently.

A replica Viking longboat which sailed across the Atlantic in 2000. The museum also had an exhibit that taught us about Icelandic folklore: I like Freyja.

And the icing on the cake: the view of Greenland we had as we flew to Toronto. Spectacular - icebergs and glaciers . . . just there. Remember that I took this photo on my phone from 35,000 ft: I can't even imagine the scale!

So longs and send offs

Saying goodbye (well, "See you soon") to: 

1-2. Helena and Francesca in London (university friends), 3-5. Local friends by playing in the garden, 6. Handsome Jamie at The Box Tree and 7. My family on my birthday at The Pub

I hate packing.

Over the last few years I have come to really despise packing.I'm actually really good at packing (check out my *reasonably* organised piles). I think the problem is what it signifies - can't you tell I study English Literature? Leaving packing until the last minute means I don't really have to think about why I'm packing until I have no choice in the matter.

As I'm working until the day before I leave, I can't leave my suitcases until the timer runs out. Instead I have been sensibly packing little and often since last weekend and it has meant I've been *relatively* unstressed and meltdowns have been few and far between.

I'm taking two suitcases: one full of textbooks, winter clothing, room decorations and miscellany and the other full of holiday outfits, gym wear, make up and skincare (and miscellany . . . I'm organised but not God). This way I can leave one bad unopened until we arrive at the flat in Montreal, while using the other to pop in and out of hotels as the family road trip en route.

My new favourite packing-y thing is this jewellery holder I was given as a generous early birthday present from my boyfriend's family. I always end up either wearing all the jewellery I want to take somewhere with me or else leaving it to tangle impenetrably in the depths of my bag. I'd definitely recommend!

The canny among you may have realised that in writing this post and taking pretty pictures I have in fact avoided packing for just a little while longer. All I have to do now is print lots and lots of copies of my Study Permit and CAQ.

Now, what else am I likely to have forgotten . . . ?

Money matters

Talking about money is crass, I know that, so I'm going to keep this vague . . . but simultaneously informative. Hopefully this is useful, because all matters money have probably been the parts of my international exchange which have surprised me most.

I've just finished buying all of my travel insurance, health insurance and visas. Not cheap . . . but really not too bad. McGill is an interesting one: 

• International students have to purchase a compulsory university health insurance plan. I actually quite like this, it is affordable and means I don't have to worry about finding a GP etc.
• McGill is in the Canadian province of Quebec. Quebec is Francophone and requires you to apply for a 'CAQ', without which you cannot apply for a Canadian Study Permit. Elsewhere you simply need the Study Permit. While not eye-wateringly expensive, it isn't something I had really thought about before I accepted my place.

More broadly, the situation really isn't that bad. In fact, in many ways, it is actually cheaper for me to study in Canada! My flat, including flat rate bills, has a cheaper rent than my old flat in Edinburgh. More so, the UK government subsidises university fees for those on international exchange - I didn't know this when I applied to McGill. A very nice surprise which pretty much pays for my flights.

In general, the British Pound is fairly strong against the Canadian Dollar at the moment which will make the purchase of my bedding, hair dryers (Canada has a different voltage) and books feel a tad less painful upon arrival.

So overall, really not too bad. The problem will come once I arrive in Montreal I feel - I will have to remember that I'm not constantly on holiday and thus constantly able to buy myself 'holiday treats' (here's looking at you, Sephora!). Saying that, I promised a year in Montreal would be a year to explore and spend some of the savings that I've been saving for an occasion such as this.

Hmm, I guess then being SENSIBLE is key (what an epiphany). Above all, before I can do any spending I have to get myself a Canadian bank account. Watch this space . . .