Obviously not actually living in Montreal, but you know what I mean. We made it! After a pretty uneventful flight (though we did take off about 45 minutes late, apparently due to an air traffic control request due to a closed runway in Montreal), we made it to Canada. Unfortunately (and unbeknownst to us at the time), we had some waiting to do because the lines for both for immigration and the taxi rank were very long, but as with any bureaucratic travel issue, we just waited and eventually got through. The plus side of the immigration line being long is that our bags were ready to go as soon as we got our passports stamped – always nice to have a silver lining! And the line for taxis, while also long, moved pretty quickly, so I’d say we spent maybe 45-60 minutes in both lines combined. We were disappointed to find out that Uber doesn’t do airport pickups in Montreal, which is why we had to go with a taxi in the first place. Taking public transportation was an option, but in talking with our Airbnb host before we arrived, she said that would take much longer, so a taxi was our best choice. And it worked just fine – 25 minutes and about $35 USD later, we were at our home away from home for the weekend. Getting into that home, however, would prove more difficult than we thought…

As is sometimes the case, our Airbnb host had already told us she wouldn’t be able to meet us in person to let us into the apartment, but she left great instructions on how to get the key from a nearby lockbox. We’ve done this plenty of times before (in addition to meeting with actual hosts, their mothers, their housekeepers, etc. – you get that key however you can! :)), but unfortunately neither Scott nor I could get the lockbox to open. It was the kind of lockbox with a keypad and it felt like none of the buttons were really going in when we pressed them. I had to call our host, who said she could meet us within 25 minutes – thankfully, she did! She apologized profusely, gave us her own keys, and then promptly got the lockbox open herself. D’oh! Needless to say, we felt like total idiots, but she was still very gracious about the whole thing. Always nice to have a host like that!

As for the apartment itself, it’s pretty darn nice. Check out the pictures below:

Our front door.

The area just inside the front door, which includes two pretty big (and tall) closets (to the left and right) and a laundry closet, which you can see the edge of here.

The short hallway off the entrance area.

Pretty self-explanatory – the bathroom! This is off the left side of the hallway.

Always nice to have two sinks!

The spacious bedroom is off the other side of the hallway. No closet in here, so it’s a good thing there are two in the entryway!

Really nice kitchen and eating area, too!

Another shot of the kitchen, taken from the dining area.

The living area, looking towards the kitchen.

The view outside the living room.

Our building as seen by the light of day (it was dark when we arrived, so we couldn’t see it!).

All in all, it’s been a great home away from home so far! And we’re already at the end of our first full day, which means we’ve done some good exploring in Montreal. Look for the recap of that soon!