A Natural Oasis in the Heart of Montreal

 

Montreal is one of the many active and cacophonous cities around the world. However, a place of escape from that busy life lies at the heart of the city and that is the Botanical Garden.  Seasonally, the Botanical Garden is filled with breathtaking gardens, ranging from a native to a Chinese theme.

Every fall, the Chinese garden highlights its captivating event, which is the Magic of Lanterns.  This latter offers a wonderful sight of colourful lanterns depicting multiple stories from ancient historical facts of China.  

Just a few walks away, the Alpine garden provides rocky paths and a beautiful waterfall for Alpine enthusiasts to enjoy.  

Further ahead, the native garden evokes the environmental lifestyle of the eleven First Nations of Quebec: replicas of the remnants of ancient camps contribute to the old native ambiance.

Finally, it would be an excellent idea to end the tour with the Japanese garden. People can walk through it with a feeling of serene tranquility. Furthermore, people can expect to be transported to a part of Japan’s rural area, with its fish pond and its traditional Japanese house. 

 All in all, the Botanical garden is a natural oasis for those who wish to be “one with nature” in four different types of environment that are surprisingly accessible inside a city.       

 

The World in which we Live

Welcome to Fall 2012.




Here are some of the current concerns shared by the class:

political instability
the environment/pollution
Pauline Marois
infrastructure, in particular roads and bridges...
schools and classrooms: education
opportunity
our economy
our hockey team
arts and culture
public transportation
language conflicts
and more.

“Tis the season”

As the holiday approach, stress levels arise and Montrealers don’t know how cope with all of this. In addition to the holiday stress, construction around the city is unbearable. Blocked streets and detour route commuters around the city, although these repairs need to be completed, taking a longer way to your destination is frustrating. For people taking their car into the city finding free parking or a reasonably priced parking meter is nearly impossible. In addition during the winter seasons there is a snow removal hour which Montreals need to worry about. All in all Montreal is a very festive city around the holidays however does come with a price with heavy construction and no parking.

Victor Mancini

Montreal makes NYT list of "hip" cities | Daily Brew - Yahoo! News

Montreal makes NYT list of "hip" cities | Daily Brew - Yahoo! News

The Underground City and Recycling

The underground city of Montreal is used by many people who are commuting to, from and through various places. This display of art  is made of re-used carton boxes and recyled paper, and is located in the Eaton Center mall, right by the St. Catherine Street exit. Since the Eaton Centre is one of the most popular underground malls in Canada, it can be used as a platform to convey global and social messages about the environment. Materials, such as water bottles, cardboard, and recycled paper are collected and made into beautiful art that is put on display for millions to see.

The recycled art is seen by many people who shop, or who simply use the exit to get to the metro. This snowman is made of green, orange, and brown re-used bottles and is located in Les Cours Mont-Royal, right by Peel Metro. In addition, this kind of recycled art is put up throughout other connecting malls, such as Les Cours Mont-Royal.

This tree is made of recycled bottles and is in Les Cours Mont-Royal:

 Text and photos by Sabrina Principe

Personality

Climate has a strong correlation with the mood of people, their social life and their state of mind. We aren't favored with a mild weather in Montreal, cold and long winters are a struggle for some and we can see it in the change of people's lifestyle during those months of frost. Who stays outside in the winter? People don't do it unless they have to. How long do they stay, how often do they go out for a breath of fresh air, how often do they go on social meeting? The cold cuts people's contact with the outside world and shows the dark side of our city. The unsocial coldness of Montreal is reviled.

Who's Occupying?

In the last few months, "Occupy Montreal" is being a subject of numerous discussions and debates and even though, it's a bit of a "cliche" now, I feel that there is a lot to do and improve about it. Personally I support the idea, and when I first heard about it, I was pretty excited and loved the idea that people were willing to sleep on the street in the name of a global cause. My imaginations though, were ruined when I first got there. The whole square was occupied by "bums" with tents. There was no enthusiasm at all, dirt was everywhere, and people were just not the kind I was imagining. I recognize my biased opinion about that protest since, I only went there once and I was totally discouraged to participate. Maybe the day I went was not a good one, maybe my expectations were drifting way to far, but it just didn't seem right. Where were all the middle class personages, where were all the students that have to carry all the economic dishonesty for their entire lifetime? The majority of the participants at that day were homeless people, for whom, in my opinion, living outside on the street is a personal decisions and being at the occupation is just a way to have a shelter and socialize. I personally think that the idea of the "occupy" movement all over North America is brilliant and there is a potential of a change. But don't you think that goal wasn't even understood by some of the participants, and the image was ruined?