So we may or may not have spontaneously decided to go to Canada just for the sake of going to a new country and using my new passport. We're probably living as close to Canada as we ever will be, so we figured, what the heck? So we went to Montreal. 
Even though we knew that they speak French in Montreal, we didn't really realize how French it would be. I don't know any French, and even though Adam took a couple classes in high school, he can only remember a couple phrases. But we thought, hey, it's Canada, they'll all speak English right? Well, we thought wrong. Even the border guy barely spoke English, and we couldn't understand half of what he said. The next morning our hotel's breakfast was in their restaurant, and our waitress didn't really speak English either, so that was pretty interesting. Plus it wasn't quite as easy to navigate as we'd thought. We're so used to using Adam's phone for internet everywhere we go, but guess what? No service in Canada. Oops. Guess that's what we get for being spontaneous!
We still got to see some pretty cool stuff though. We went to the Notre Dame Basilica, which was gorgeous. It was so big and ornate, and a lot cooler than the little English churches we've gone into in Boston.
Another thing that's really cool about Montreal is they have this underground city. You go down into the subway system, and there's a ton of interconnected shopping malls and food courts that are all down there. And the cool part is that each section is designed by a different person, so they were all decorated differently, and a lot of them had chandeliers and things. It was really interesting.
Another thing about their subway system, other than obviously being a little cleaner and nicer than some others, is that the trains run on rubber wheels, not metal tracks. 
We went to Chinatown, and it really was like stepping into another country. It's shaped in a square, and each side of it has a little entrance gate. Once you walk in, everything is in Chinese. Some stores had signs in French too, but those didn't do us much good either lol. It's not really a cool place to go shopping or anything like that though, unless you're looking for weird Chinese food. It's really just where all the Chinese people live. But it was definitely very ethnically different and fun to walk through.
We saw this sign on our way out. I'm pretty sure that sign says Ray Lamontagne...ok ok it says Rue de la Montagne, but close enough right? I mean Adam loves the guy enough that I can play along.
Yay for visiting new countries! It was only a short visit this time, but next time we go to a new one, I think we'll be a little more prepared :)
We decided to take a little drive up to Maine, eat some fresh lobster, and see what there was to see. Turns out there's not much north of Massachusetts. First we went to Portsmouth, NH, which was a pretty cute little town. There's a bunch of cute little shops, and it definitely has that old-town New England feel. Plus, they had a kitchen store where Adam FINALLY got the grapefruit knife he has always wanted. You just can't keep a boy away from his grapefruit...
Next we headed up to Portland, Maine; where we found none other than the Polar Express! I always thought that was in like, the North Pole, or only came around on Christmas Eve or something. But, apparently, it's in Portland. Who knew? Anyway, it was just this random train that you could pay ten bucks to ride like, a quarter of a mile on, so we just walked through it to check it out. There wasn't a whole lot in the area, so after exploring for a bit we headed on down to York, Maine. 
We found a cute lighthouse and a great shore. Adam and Taylor got a kick out finding creatures and going as far out to the water as they could. 
I really enjoyed the view. It was a nice day, and the sun looked so great shining out from behind the clouds. It was just beautiful! It would be a great place to come stay for a couple weeks in the summer and just play on the beach.
For dinner we went to a local lobster place and I got...drumroll please...lobster nuggets. If you know me, then you know that lobster + batter + deep fried = perfect! Man, those things were deelicious. And now, I can officially say that I've eaten real, fresh Maine lobster in Maine. Woot woot!
Our next adventure led us to Lexington and Concord (said: conquered; I know, Massholes haven't ever heard of phonetics). We figured we should probably some of the sites that are so close to us and we've grown up learning about.
We went to Minuteman Park and the bridge that's famous for "the shot heard 'round the world." Mostly, it was just a statue and a bridge in the middle of a field. At least it was pretty though! 
After driving around the town a little bit and drooling over all the houses we wished we could have, we drove to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where they have a hill full of dead authors. Notably: Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and Hawthorne. It sounds a little strange, but cemeteries are actually a tourist attraction around here. I guess when you live in such an old place that comes with a bunch of dead people. Some of the headstones are really cool, like the one above, but most of them look like this. 
Then we drove by Walden Pond, which was really gorgeous. I can see why someone would want to write about it. I guess in the summer people go there for canoeing and swimming, but we thought February might be a little early for that...brrr.
In Lexington, after driving around and seeing some more fields and statues, we went to the National Heritage Museum. We assumed it would be about the history and things that Lexington is famous for, but mostly it was just Masonic stuff, since the local Freemasons own the museum. It was still interesting though, even it it wasn't what we'd expected.
I'm pretty sure that as soon as we found out we were moving here, all that Adam could think about was sports. What? Fenway, Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, all so close? So of course we had to take the Fenway Park tour when we went into Boston for the Freedom Trail.
Even though I'm not into baseball, it was still a pretty cool tour. It's like 100 years old now, and we got to sit in the old metal chairs (which were teeny tiny!), go up to the booth, and sit on top of the green monster.
I thought the Freedom Trail was a little more fun though. Neither of us are really history buffs, but even so, it was enjoyable just to explore Boston and eat some delicious cannoli. Seriously, I cannot get enough of the cannoli from Mike's Pastry. I'm not even a dessert person, but I just can't help myself! A couple weeks ago I convinced Adam that we needed to drive to the North End just for cannoli and a lobster tail. Mmm...lobster tails. What is a lobster tail? Well I'm glad you asked. It's like a giant, crunchy croissant filled with cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar. But the most important detail? The enormousness. It's so much more fun to eat huge food! Plus the powdered sugar gets on everything, yum yum.
We saw a lot of cool historic sites: old cemeteries, churches, and Paul Revere's home, among others. What we most enjoyed was just wandering around the North End, which is the Italian district. It's just an old part of town with a bunch of little, one-way cobblestone streets and houses all smashed together.
From there we walked across the bridge to the Bunker Hill Monument and USS Constitution. The climb to the top of the monument was so much harder than I'd expected! It doesn't look that high from the bottom, but that spiral staircase is a doozy. I started dying about half way up, but I guess I was doing better than the girl I passed who was yelling up at her boyfriend, telling him how much she hated him for making her climb up. LOL. The view from the top though, totally awesome. Probably not something I need to do for at least another ten years though. My legs are still recovering :).
The USS Constitution was cool, and the museum would've awesome if we had kids. It was really interactive, and we had a lot of fun playing around and learning how to shoot cannons and stuff. It was the last stop on the tour though, and by the time we got there we were pooped. We found a little movie room and laid down to take a quick nap. If you know Adam, you know he always wants a nap.
We finished off the night with dinner at a little Italian place in the North End, which is known for having some great Italian food. Also notable, I rode the real live subway for the first time. Yep, sure thing, I really did. I know all of you back at home are pretty jealous that you don't have such luxurious public transportation in Utah; I'm sure I'll miss it when we get home.
Even though we knew that they speak French in Montreal, we didn't really realize how French it would be. I don't know any French, and even though Adam took a couple classes in high school, he can only remember a couple phrases. But we thought, hey, it's Canada, they'll all speak English right? Well, we thought wrong. Even the border guy barely spoke English, and we couldn't understand half of what he said. The next morning our hotel's breakfast was in their restaurant, and our waitress didn't really speak English either, so that was pretty interesting. Plus it wasn't quite as easy to navigate as we'd thought. We're so used to using Adam's phone for internet everywhere we go, but guess what? No service in Canada. Oops. Guess that's what we get for being spontaneous!
We still got to see some pretty cool stuff though. We went to the Notre Dame Basilica, which was gorgeous. It was so big and ornate, and a lot cooler than the little English churches we've gone into in Boston.
Another thing that's really cool about Montreal is they have this underground city. You go down into the subway system, and there's a ton of interconnected shopping malls and food courts that are all down there. And the cool part is that each section is designed by a different person, so they were all decorated differently, and a lot of them had chandeliers and things. It was really interesting.
Another thing about their subway system, other than obviously being a little cleaner and nicer than some others, is that the trains run on rubber wheels, not metal tracks. 
We went to Chinatown, and it really was like stepping into another country. It's shaped in a square, and each side of it has a little entrance gate. Once you walk in, everything is in Chinese. Some stores had signs in French too, but those didn't do us much good either lol. It's not really a cool place to go shopping or anything like that though, unless you're looking for weird Chinese food. It's really just where all the Chinese people live. But it was definitely very ethnically different and fun to walk through.
We saw this sign on our way out. I'm pretty sure that sign says Ray Lamontagne...ok ok it says Rue de la Montagne, but close enough right? I mean Adam loves the guy enough that I can play along.
Yay for visiting new countries! It was only a short visit this time, but next time we go to a new one, I think we'll be a little more prepared :)
