Murals galore!

Last month, on November 10th, to be exact, Montréal must have set a record (or come close) for an all-time high temperature!  Dave put on shorts, I put on capri pants and we headed out on our own self-guided mural tour.  Montréal has several mural festivals (in a "normal" year) so there are a plethora of spots around town, with tons of murals to see. With a map loaded on my phone, courtesy of my friend Susan, we heading out towards Saint-Laurent Street. 

Here is one of the first murals we came across. I couldn't help but wonder if tenants and neighbors get a chance to vote on what artwork is installed on the side of their houses. 

On a positive note, giving directions would be a breeze.  It would be hard for people not to be able to find the red brick house with the big-ass bee on the wall.  

Moving right along... 

It seems that some of the street art is a mixture of both graffiti and murals. I can agree with the debate that graffiti is an art form, but I am personally more enamored by the ones with pictures.  I especially like the art with animals, like this cute cat here. 

Here is an exceptionally busy mural with cats, graffiti, and an odd mixture of creatures in beautiful bold colors, which I also love! 

Along the way, we came across the most amazing, "everything-you-could-possibly-ever-want-or-need-for-a-Halloween-costume" store. It was not really a part of the mural tour, but David had been in need of a new pair of shades, so we ventured inside. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to actually dress up for Halloween in quite a few years, since we have not had many trick-or-treaters at our residences here in Montréal. Not to worry - there is an abundance of decorating and candy dispersing in our 'hood, just not at our house.  This store had every kind of mask, wig, headdress, make-up, elf ears, colored contact lenses, etc. that you could ever desire!  They even had a huge selection of masks for everyday Covid protection. 

Did I mention I like cats? 

 

Back to the walking tour....we stopped for a snack at one of the many small parks found on several corners along the way. I kept admiring this mural since it was quite a different style from so many of the others.  

I kept thinking that Paulo Carriera was the musician in the mural but it turns out he is the artist.  This is one part of a much broader project involving 25 murals across multiple cities and countries, in an effort to create a virtual community, sharing their Portuguese culture around the world. 

We also walked past several displays with some interesting historical information about the area, which is called The Plateau. 

Situated at 4075 Saint-Laurent, the Horn building was constructed in 1924. You can find, on the brick facade, Canadian, French, English, Scottish, Irish and Jewish symbols representing the population of Montréal at the time of its construction.  This picture shows where Der Keneder Adler (the Canadian Eagle), Canada's leading Yiddish newspaper from 1907 until 1977, was produced.  

The building housed many other businesses, including Cohen's Boot Shop, Ideal Shoulder Pad Co. Ltd., and Horn's restaurant, to name a few. 
  

I took a picture of this interesting piece of metal art, even though it is not a mural. It was sitting outside a piano repair shop, in the neighborhood known as Little Portugal. 

From here we walked to Jeanne-Mance Park, had a picnic lunch, and then headed back home.  This was the first time I had ridden on the metro since March. It felt very safe, especially since it was during the day, in the middle of the week, on a sunny warm afternoon.  We did not encounter many other people and those that were on the metro were all wearing masks and respecting social distancing measures.  I am not inclined to try this when the weather gets colder. 

Here is one last mural, another brightly colored one, with a street sign confirming our location. And a cat, of course.  

Since that warm November day, we had one good full day of snow.  David rushed out to try out his new cross country skis. Well, he didn't exactly go cross country...it was more like around the block! That snow has since melted.  We have had a couple of white (US) Thanksgiving days since we moved here. Maybe this year it will actually snow on Christmas.  

I do not recall noticing this last winter, but I have recently become very aware that the squirrels are visibly fattening up for the winter.  I was sitting in the park today, with my friend Jennifer, when she took notice of a squirrel who was busy munching away.  I mentioned I wanted to take a picture of the chubby little fellow. As I turned to pull out my camera, he quickly changed positions. I think he was trying to pose with his "favorable" side to the camera.  It certainly made us both laugh! 

One of my winter projects is going to be trying to grow herbs indoors.  I have the seeds and some special seed starter soil. All I need is the right kind of grow light set-up.  Stay tuned and I will let you know how it turns out! 

Happy holidays to everyone, whatever holiday you want to celebrate.  Be kind, be happy, be safe.