OT - Anyone here from Montreal?
Katherine
Okay, here's the thing. As requirement #4592 for my fiance visa to
get to the US and get married, I have to go to the American Consulate
in Montreal on Wednesday to put my life in the hands of the INS.
Hopefully, if the interview goes well, I get my visa. I am STRESSED.
Part of it is having to get from Ottawa to Montreal for 8am, which
means I take the 2.30am departure and arrive 5am. :( Does anyone
have any suggestions about a quiet, private place I could go for a few
hours to sit after the interview, while I wait to go back for the visa
stamp? I have a feeling I'm going to be traumatized after the
experience, and I'd like somewhere soothing. Somewhere you could have
a good cry if you needed it... It's been a long long time since I've
been in Montreal, and my memories are not pleasant ones. My French is
pretty offensive. I've been treated better in Montreal when I didn't
even try to speak it. Sigh.
Oh, if you know Montreal, is there a subway that runs along Rene
Levesque Ouest? The Consulate is there, on the corner of St.
Alexander. I have no clue how to get there. I'm tempted to just stay
home and hide under the bedcovers.
For future reference, if any Canadians need to know how to get to the
US to marry their internet sweeties, I can tell them allllllllll about
it. But be warned. You won't like it. It's not like the movie.
~Katherine
(a nervous wreck, about to go hug the cat)
Miramichi Salmon
>
>Okay, here's the thing. As requirement #4592 for my fiance visa to
>get to the US and get married, I have to go to the American Consulate
>in Montreal on Wednesday to put my life in the hands of the INS.
>Hopefully, if the interview goes well, I get my visa. I am STRESSED.
>Part of it is having to get from Ottawa to Montreal for 8am, which
>means I take the 2.30am departure and arrive 5am. :( Does anyone
>have any suggestions about a quiet, private place I could go for a few
>hours to sit after the interview, while I wait to go back for the visa
>stamp? I have a feeling I'm going to be traumatized after the
>experience, and I'd like somewhere soothing. Somewhere you could have
>a good cry if you needed it...
Gee, I'd advise spending a few bucks and going the night before and getting a
hotel room. There are quite a few on R-L (formerly Dorchester) itself and some
aren't even too pricey. Then you would also have a room to return to afterwards,
or, if you're not feeling too badly,
It's been a long long time since I've
>been in Montreal, and my memories are not pleasant ones. My French is
>pretty offensive. I've been treated better in Montreal when I didn't
>even try to speak it. Sigh.
Downtown Montreal they appreciate the courtesy if you try, but it's not
necessary to get around. And presumably the folks you will be seeing will be
American. I just wonder why you'd have to go to Montreal, given all the US
diplomatic facilities in Ottawa!
>Oh, if you know Montreal, is there a subway that runs along Rene
>Levesque Ouest? The Consulate is there, on the corner of St.
>Alexander. I have no clue how to get there. I'm tempted to just stay
>home and hide under the bedcovers.
I'm not that knowledgeable about Montreal, and we usually have a car when we're
there, but here is the URL to the Metro map:
http://www.stcum.qc.ca/English/metro/a-mapmet.htm
If I remember correctly, it's the green line that runs for a time along R-L
(Place Des Arts area)
>For future reference, if any Canadians need to know how to get to the
>US to marry their internet sweeties, I can tell them allllllllll about
>it. But be warned. You won't like it. It's not like the movie.
>
>~Katherine
>(a nervous wreck, about to go hug the cat)
Best of luck!
DryFly
A.M. Kuchling
>Oh, if you know Montreal, is there a subway that runs along Rene
>Levesque Ouest? The Consulate is there, on the corner of St.
>Alexander. I have no clue how to get there. I'm tempted to just stay
>home and hide under the bedcovers.
The address you're going to *is* 1100-something St. Alexandre, right?
Looking at http://www.stcum.qc.ca/English/metro/images/c31.gif on the
transit corporation's site, it looks like Place-des-Arts, on the green
line, is your best choice.
I'm a Montreal native, but have been living near Washington DC since
1996 (<sigh>; if you think Montreal is unfriendly, avoid DC). It's
possible the US consulate has moved since I left -- though according
to the above map it hasn't.
>experience, and I'd like somewhere soothing. Somewhere you could have
>a good cry if you needed it... It's been a long long time since I've
>been in Montreal, and my memories are not pleasant ones. My French is
>pretty offensive. I've been treated better in Montreal when I didn't
>even try to speak it. Sigh.
I'm sorry to hear that; usually people are quite friendly. Anyway,
I'm not one for quiet spots, but here goes... If you want to sit
under trees, you could walk up to the McGill campus on Sherbrooke, but
in April with decent weather the lawns and sidewalks will be full of
students. What about a church? Even if you're not religious, at
least a church would be quiet. There are several nearby; the Eglise
du Gesu is on the same block as the US consulate, and St. James United
and Christ Church Cathedral are up on Ste. Catherine.
Good luck getting your visa; let us know how it went.
--
A.M. Kuchling http://starship.python.net/crew/amk/
"She was a remarkable woman."
"All women are remarkable."
-- Orpheus and Andros, in SANDMAN #41: "Brief Lives:1"