This weekend has been amazingly hectic. Alexs friend Hayley arrived Friday arvo so we went out Friday night in Ottawa. Was an awesome night which ended in the three of us singing 'Man down under' in this seedy Karaoke bar. The dude running the thing didnt believe I was Australian and as his 'test' he shouted Aussie Aussie Aussie to me, in which I replied Oi oi oi with this look on my face that screamed you're a loser.

Saturday we had planned to go ziplining in Gatineau, Quebec which is about 45mins away from Ottawa. Because of our late night Friday I was worried we'd sleep through it but we got up and were ready to go after lunch. We stopped off in downtown Ottawa where we tried street meat for the first time. This is basically all the hot dog stands and everything, they are everywhere. They pretty much sell hot dogs, chips and poutine. I was skeptical because the van was tiny and the asian dude working there was like sweating...to me the place screamed salmonella BUT it was by the far the greatest hot dog I've ever eaten in my life. So amazing. I wanted to go back and hug the little guy.

We stopped off at Leigh's (the guy Alex works for) work which is in Gatineau because its this beautiful property that has a private lake and jetty. We swam for about an hour before heading on to the national park.

The adventure park was set deep in the forest which was pretty cool. We signed in then went to get our harnesses and everything. We trekked off what seemed like a zillion kilometres before getting to the start of the course. Basically it was 4hrs of like highropes and obstacles mixed in with a fair few awesome ziplines. Some of them were masssssssive and really high which was unreal. The scenery was unbelievable. There were times where we were up above the trees, walking along these suspension bridges and looking out over beautiful serene bright blule lakes. It was unreal. So, so nice. The extreme zip lines were definitely my favourite part cuz I love anything high and fast. We were pretty exhausted at the end and didnt get home til like 11.30.

Sunday the three of us headed to Montreal for the day. I had a pretty average time when I went a few weeks back but it was in the middle of a heatwave and I went by myself, so I had high hopes for round two. Basically I dig Montreal a lot now. I love it there. I think the architecture and old buildings are amazing and there is so much culture to the place. There is amazing street art and graffitti everywhere and excellent shopping. I bought this really cool Montreal shirt from this little boutique shop. The highlight by far was Schwartzs deli. Everyone had told us that if we went to Montreal we had to go to Schwartzs for smoked meat sandwhiches. I got out my trusty Lonely Planet and fair enough there was a mass write up about it. We headed straight there and it's this dodgy oldschool deli with meat hanging in the windows. If we didn't know it was good, there is no way I would have eaten there. There was a line out the door and this guy letting people in as people left. Pretty quickly we were let in and given a table. This place was like the coolest place I'd ever eaten. It was completely old school and nothing had been modernised at all. There was all these newspaper articles and photos framed along one wall and all the staff had pencils behind their ears and looked like they were outta Happy Days. Hands down the best sandwhich Ive ever had in my life. Amazzzinnnng. I also went in the Notre Dam Basillica this time round which I was stoked about because I didn't get to last time. This is an old cathedral where Celine Dion got married ha however that's not why its famous. Its this beautiful old church with amazzzingg stained glass and the interior like blows your mind. When we went inside we didn't have to pay which was weird then I realised there was actually a mass going on. I had no idea that the church still operated normally. It blows my mind that a church like that could be where you go each week. It was amazing to watch, I had goosebumps the whole time. It was a shame I couldn't take photos because of the service, but Im super glad I got to watch it.

On the way back from Montreal we stopped in downtown Ottawa to see Parliament Hill and to get a Beaver Tail. First we went to Byward market which is kind of like the valley in Brisbane, as in it's all these pubs and its a mall you can't drive down. Here is the only place you can get beavertails which is like an Ottawa tradition. They are like long flat deepfried donuts and then you can get different toppings. I got some sunrise one which was cinnamon, sugar and lemon and it blew my mind. Ridiculously good.

Then we went up to parliament hill to take photos. The parliament buildings in Ottawa are like Harry Potter castles, so cool. I took a zillion photos.

Phew. Okay. Thats the end of my sick weekend. I'm now going to sleep for about a week.