Meet "Au Kouign-Amann"

Before going to Montreal, I agreed with my friend and ex colleague Bassem that we have to meet at least for a coffee to catch up, and discuss so far our experiences in Canada.. Bassem left Dubai around 8 month ago and moved with his family to Montreal.

So in my second day in Montreal, Bassem called me early morning and didn't accept to let me take a cab, so he picked me up from the hotel, and he asked me if I have any preference for breakfast, and being very flexible when it comes to food told him I'm fine with anything, so he decided to take me to a small cosy bakery where everything is so yummi..

We went to "Au Kouign-Amann" on 322 Rue Mont-Royal E, Montreal, a very modest place, when you look at it from outside, nothing fancy, and you can feel the charm this place has from its facade and once you're in you got taken by the wonderful smell, and your eyes feel already full from the delicious pastries..

It took us some time to decide what to order, and between the two of us we ordered four different pastries and they were all incredible so we enjoyed our hour there, having our coffee and catching up and sharing our stories from Montreal and Toronto and Bassem telling me how his kids are adapting to the new life in Canada..
And then Bassem was kind enough and offered to drop me to Laval to visit my cousin and her family..

I loved Au Kouign Amann, so unpretentious, simple and fantastic..So next time you're in Montreal and feel like having a good breakfast, do not miss!!!

Meet "Laura"

I was very excited about my weekend in Montreal to catch up with my cousin, with my friend Hadi coming from New York to visit his parents, and on top of that to discover this beautiful city, its cultural scene, its night life and of course meet new friends..

After a five hours trip by train from Toronto, I arrived to Bonne Aventure station, and walked to my hotel which was a 10 minutes walk but the crazy cold made it feel like hours, and I couldn't wait to reach my room at Espresso Hotel and feel a bit warmer..

An hour later, my friend Hadi arrived to my hotel, I was so happy to see him after almost a year and a half and the plan was to join him to the birthday party of his close friend Laura..
So we went to the Vieux Port to a nice venue, Espace 64, with beautiful artistic pieces, and nice music and of course met Laura, her husband and lots of her friends..

At the beginning I was a bit shy, not knowing anyone except Hadi, but people were extremely welcoming and friendly and half an hour later I was talking to most of them, and as usually being to new immigrant they were all making sure I'm fine, well settled and managing to handle to cold and the snow, especially in Montreal, where it's was colder and a lot more snow than Toronto..

Laura was very sweet, happy surrounded by her friends, she kept making sure we're all having drinks and enjoying the food, and by midnight it was the time to cut the cake, so we all wished her happy birthday and then she delivered an emotional speech thanking her friends and parents for always being there for her..

We kept dancing till around 2am and then I left with Hadi to catch a cab..
It was a great evening, celebrating Laura's birthday with great people and I hoped to see them all soon in my next visit to Montreal.