A super last minute spontaneous sojourn to Montreal occurred this New Year's Eve, popping my long ripening Canadian cherry. Despite having lived in Albany for five years, I never made the trip. I always figured owning 27 Rush albums was the same as being an actual Canadian citizen. All potential band voyages there were passed over after hearing a wealth of gear/merchandise confiscation horror stories at the border. Well, it is a lovely city. Buried in snow but still, somehow, a perpetually smiling and soothing community of heavily coated well-wishers. My boss asserts the French look down upon their Canadian freres as a tasteless imitation of true European culture, which kind of reinforces the whole "too good to be true" aspect of the city; delicious, fattening French foods, an active music scene, free health care, cheap rent, and a decent job market just 6.5 hours away from NYC? Sign me up.
