Jay Aboot Canada!

So, it being the holidays and all... I took last Friday off and planned to head up to Montreal w/ my special lady for lunch and some shopping. We picked out a few Indian places to check out and then put together a plan for a neighborhood to stroll around in. We have not had much luck in Montreal but had a plan this time and felt pretty good about ourselves! So we got up and leisurely ate breakfast then got on the road. It had been snowing up here in VT so we took it pretty easy on the way up as the roads were still slick. So we get up to our first place right around 2pm. Closing. Seriously, they are closing on a Friday @2PM. WTF?! OK, there is another place down the street. Already closed! I mean, in Burlington we are used to this because the hippies and trustafarians don't like to work but I figured in the city you need to actually have reasonable business hours! Next place, closed... next place, closed @3pm! F*CK!!!!! No problem, we will just go back to our original neighborhood, stroll around, and find something. Yeah, that would be fine except it was 2 degrees w/ a howling wind and sideways stinging snow!!! So we ducked into a Portuguese place. It had a large party in the back so it seemed safe. I would tell you the name but the snow stung my eyes so I couldn't see the sign. On a side note there was an old guy fast asleep sitting upright at the bar. Very European, everybody naps at 3PM. The food was ok. The bread was delicious, the salads (green and Caesar) pretty good, and the paella ok. We then walked a few blocks in the bitter cold to The Whiskey Bar. I had read about this place in 7 Days and this was the first decent review I had ever read in that rag. They were pretty dead on though. The atmosphere was dark and actually quite hip. The selection of fine liquors was fabulous... including several pages of fine scotches. The service was a little slow considering there was hardly anyone in the bar but whatever, the peace and quiet was nice. Anyway, 1 1/2 thumbs up for that place. So then we ran headlong into the gale to get back into our car and we were off. Of course it was snowing pretty hard at that point. So between talking and the snow we missed the turn to rt 35 and continued East on Rt 10. Ever been in Canada? The exits are 200 miles apart. Miss your exit and next stop, the Atlantic Ocean!!! We drove for forever and finally got ourselves heading south the west to Burlington. I give my wife a bunch of shit because here navigating skills are at times suspect. But in the snow, under pressure, and w/ me about to lose my mind... she guided us home on a safe and relatively easy path. My decision to take the scenic route made an 1.5 hour trip 4 hours though. Way to go Jaybird!!! Last little bit of fun, at the border we got the royal treatment w/ 50 questions. The best one? What did your wife have for lunch? That guy had no idea who he was messing w/! This is Jay About Town! I gave straight details baby!!! I am giving Canada 1 thumb down until the summer, that's just the way it is.