Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Day 4 - Tour Day!

Today we had the luxury of sleeping in - 8am for breakfast!  It was off to the cafeteria for a bite to eat, and then decide on our plans for the Tour Day.  We had a number of options available - the organizers had arranged for the entire Montreal "Hop on, Hop off" double-deck bus fleet to be available exclusively for Canada-Wide students, and each bus also had a tour guide available to explain the locations in and around the Mount Royal area.  In addition, we also had to option to walk to a lot of places since the McGill campus is situated centrally, and there were also extra busses available to go out to the Olympic Stadium area.
The sun has arrived!
 A quick decision was made to start with the bus tour and then narrow down our choices.  It was sunny this morning, but still a chilly wind at the top of the open deck bus!
Bus tour - cold wind included no extra charge


We received the guided tour around Montreal, and then disembarked to walk to the peak of Mount Royal - a great view of the surroundings.
The Team with Montreal in the background

From there we made the decision that the next stop would be the Olympic Park and a visit to the Biodome, and so after a quick lunch in downtown Montreal we were off again.
Something fishy in the Biodome
The Biodome was very interesting for everyone, although most wouldn't have minded it being a bit longer to wander through.  After some souvenir hunting, it was off by bus again, back to Dorchester Square in Montreal.


The team's work has progressed well beyond the volcano project!
 From there we decided to make the walk back to the McGill Campus - not too long a walk, and we also had the chance to experience the underground "RESO" complex of stores and connections that exists below the streets of Montreal.
Going underground


Lots of things to do on the walk back - musical swings!
In no time at all we were back to the Campus, and off to dinner at the "Sugar Shack on the Mountain" event... a combination of Quebec foods, maple syrup, and some more Quebec folk music and dancing.  A fun, long day... 
 


Tomorrow will be some presentations, including an opening Keynote talk by astronaut Chris Hadfield, and then some public viewing and other interactive events.