Saturday morning stroll in the forest

Its been a beautiful but slightly cooler summer than most in Montreal but today was spectacular. Blue sunny skies, not too hot or cold, the perfect day for a walk up the mountain. As per usual we saw some of the locals, enjoyed lunch at the cross on the top and soaked up the fabulous views of the city from on high.
 

 
 
  
There is a chalet at the top of the hill which harks back to the early 1930s. It has amazing maps of the old Canada, squirrel gargoyles and a beautiful lookout over the downtown city and St Lawrence river.
 

 

I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?

Capitol Hill

The Capitol is one of the most powerful seats of government in the world, also a lovely building designed with classic Greek and Roman architecture in mind. The Capitol tour was short but interesting. We weren't able to see any debates but learned about the history of the building and its people.
The Rotunda was painted by an Italian artist called Constantino Brumidi in the 1860s (in the same method as Michelangelo did the Sistine chapel). It shows the apotheosis of George Washington (rhough I'm not sure if he would have been too pleased about that!). The frieze underneath shows the development of the United States from the first settlers through to the present.

  

Natural History Museum

Another favourite that has since sparked our interest in dinosaurs, was the Natural History Museum. Claude raced around learning about T rex, triceratops and stegosaurus to name a few. The animal display, insects and gem stones were beautiful. Asha and I even experienced our first 3D Imax movie while escaping the heat outside.

 Roar like a dinosaur!

National Air and Space Museum - Smithsonian

The Air and Space Museum, part of the amazing complex of the Smithsonian museums, was certainly Claude's favourite spot on our trip. He loved flying the aeroplanes and trying out different experiments in the kids section. The space display was spectacular, I even touched the moon! The collection included some fantastic pieces such as the Wright brothers' and Amelia Earheart's planes, missiles similar to those used in the Cuban Missile crisis of the 60s and even a lunar module.

  
 
 
 
 

Washington DC

We had a great trip down to Washington DC last month. We caught the train from Montreal to DC via NYC ( a very long but cost-effective and scenic way to get there via the Adirondack Mountains). We had a great week seeing the sights and catching up with our dear friends from Vietnam.

Its an amazing city, planned from scratch with a great Metro system and almost all the museums and tourist sites are free to visit. We walked all over the place despite the heat and humidity

Washington National Cathedral
 

Washington Monument

Museum of the Native American Indian