We Went To A Bike Fair And Ended Up Buying Books And Bagels
My wife and I had a day with no plans and I had recently read there was a bike fair going on. Since we have been talking about getting bikes we thought we'd check it out. We jumped on the metro and headed to the west end of the island. Well technically we jumped on a bus then a metro then another metro but that's too long to type and doesn't sound that glamorous. Wait, what just happened. Anyway, the bike fair was winding down by the time we got there so it was slim pickings. Neither one of use were familiar with the Verdun area—which appeared to be very quaint and I will make another trip to explore it more—so we sat on a bench to make the all important decision of what to do next.
Forgetting, I mean knowing, my wife loves books I told her I had seen a pretty cool used bookstore in Mile End the other day. Her eyes lit up and BAM we were back on the metro headed to S.W.Welch Bookseller.
As we walked from the metro toward the bookstore I became fascinated by all the Jewish families walking around. I know, no big deal but for some reason on this day I couldn't get enough. I was most interested in the Shtreimels a majority of the men were wearing and found myself dying to have one. If I was a kid I would have thrown myself on the ground and cried until my mom gave me something to cry about.
After a successful trip to the bookstore we wondered over to La Lumiere du Mile End for a bite to eat. Being our first time to this restaurant we were not sure what to expect. We sat in the outdoor garden to soak up some of the quaint atmosphere and excellent food. If you find yourself in Montreal's Mile End and are looking for a vegan place to eat, drop in this place.
And lastly, since we were in the area we stopped at St-Viateur Bagel Shop for some fresh-out-of-the-oven-bagels which are arguably the best bagels in the world unless you're a Fairmount Bagel fan—then they're not. You see, Montreal has two bagel shops that claim to be the best. I personally love whichever one is closest when I have a bagel craving.