Ahh...Montreal, home of my heart...

I was going to write a column on my top ten favourite things about Montreal, but I’ve only listed six. When I started thinking about why I love this city, I hit a brick wall. I mean, let’s be honest, winter is coming on, and the city is retreating into hibernation. With the prospect of five months of blistery wind, snow, slush, and mornings so cold your nostrils stick together, it’s hard to find any reason to love Montreal.

So I started asking people why they love Montreal. The answers I received were varied and many, but everyone I spoke to said it doesn’t compare to any other city in Canada.
“It’s all in excess here,” said Cherry Marshall, who has lived in Montreal for only two years. “There’s so much to do here, with all the festivals and other things.” Marshall has lived in five provinces, and traveled through Europe, but she still agrees that

Montreal has it’s own special flavour. Montreal definitely has incredible diversity. There are restaurants to quell your craving for any kind of cuisine, shopping for all tastes, festivals for everyone, not to mention how great the people watching is. So here’s my list of a few of the things that I realize I might take for granted for having lived here for so long.
1. Only having to walk 30 seconds to get to a dep (and being able to buy beer there!).
2. The first nice day of summer, when the sun is reflecting off the puddles as the ice melts and you can finally leave the house without your jacket.
3. The mountain when it is in all of its autumn glory. And any other time really, what a fantastic bit of ‘nature’ in the middle of our bustling city.
4. The Metro. We really do have it easy, imagine this city in winter if we didn’t have such an underground network.
5. The little waterfall near the Metro station in Parc Jean Drapeau. It’s the best place to get wet for free in the height of summer when it’s so hot the cement is melting.
6. The diversity of culture is probably the most clichéd answer, but it is truly amazing that so many different groups live in harmony day after day.

Whatever reason, I think that Montreal is beautiful, diverse, vibrant, alive, and full of sparkle. I’m proud to call myself a Montrealer and it will always be home no matter where life takes me. I will keep thoughts of hot summer nights in my dreams during my hibernation this winter, and when I emerge in the spring I’ll be ready for another sizzling Montreal summer.