bloodroot

NYC and Montreal 1

Lots of notes and observations trimmed down to something comprehensible.

floating cottonwood
Eastern Cottonwood seeds fluttering in the wind like snow. These trees release millions of seeds each season.

NYC

The brief stay at Spirit Retreats was definitely the worst hostel I've ever encountered, despite being $150 per night. It is in Manhattan very near Penn/Moynihan Stations and adequately clean, but that is the end of the merits. Impossible to sleep due to snoring guests or staff banging on the doors to wake the snorers. The building was built in 1901, 10,297 sqft with a taxable assessed value of $1,228,770. Looks like it was bought for $7M in 2015. I don't know what kind of disgusting leveraged state this is in where a dump built in 1901 with maybe a hundred units needs to be this price, but I hope they go bankrupt. If all aspects from original ownership to operations were nonprofit and solely seen to offset expenses and taxes, I genuinely wonder what a true housing cost would be in this forsaken market.

spirit retreats room wingspan

My very first meal was a plain cinnamon raisin bagel, and I gifted an unhoused stranger, Harry, an everything bagel with egg and pepper. My walk to Chinatown was filled with various bad odors on any given street. A proper introduction to NY, or any American metropolis? Rampant homelessness, poor public infrastructural upkeep, and ridiculous housing cost. This marks the end of all negativity and criticism. person sleeping covered by a sheet in the metro stairs

Chinatown was very interesting. Spent time waiting for lunch spots to open in the majority asian bubble of Columbus park: old Cantonese guys playing soccer, taichi, chinese chess, something I can only assume to be daoshu swordmanship practice by a shirtless geezer. yangqin player drawing a small crowd Person playing the yangqin, a chinese hammered dulcimer instrument.

youtiao deliveryman
Person delivering a handcart of frozen carp and youtiao

liang pi and douhua from xian famous foods in nyc, savory dishes with chili oil and cilantro
As of writing, this was my favorite meal on this adventure so far from Xian Famous Foods. Also, the bicycle below is my favorite as well, out of maybe 200 or so I've ogled. I must mention, the locking technique is horrendous and with just a crescent wrench, all but the front wheel could be stolen within about one minute. No cutting, no damage. If you wanted the wheel later, come back with some wire cutters, cut the spokes in 4 places, and take the whole wheel, replace the two spokes later.
blue free spirit bicycle

ghost bike with vines growing up it
These white bikes are permanently installed at locations where cyclists have been killed or injured, usually in collisions with vehicles.

brooklyn library crowd at the entrace
This mob was waiting for Brooklyn public library to open at 1pm. It was a big open space and rather difficult to find where the actual collection was. Though, now learning there are 58 other branches within Brooklyn alone, this makes more sense.

painting in botanic garden
Person painting a tree in the Brooklyn botanic garden

fixing fixie

Here, I was walking to get some ube ice cream after learning the International Center of Photography exhibits were closed/empty until June 11th. I stumbled upon an amateur photographer who started taking this same photograph at the same time as me. They had a Fuji X100VI of course, and we exchanged a short animated conversation about photography before I excused myself to achieve my ube-oriented objective.

train ride triptych
Views from the slow, 12 hour train ride from NYC to Montreal. Champlain canal, plains, and Lake Champlain.

Montreal

Since I have been here for about 3 weeks as of publishing, I can detail thematically instead of chronologically. I am living in a rather realistic and typical way I would anywhere, albeit slightly more exploratory and fiscally frivolous.

Parks

There is an extraordinary amount of park activity, at all hours and locations. People catching up, eating and drinking, grilling, large mingle groups, dancing, reading. When winter is so long, it makes sense many would capitalize on summer. There are lots of small and medium pocket parks around which are nice. The main Mount Royal park is interesting. The base is very open for lounging, picnics and sports designated areas. There is a main trail that snakes up and around the mountain, attracting cyclists and runners, with side paths that resemble hiking or forested trail running. It is quite nice, but the convenience comes with hordes of other people who frequent it.

montreal park view

View from Mount Royal overlooking the rest of the park and Le Plateau-Mont-Royal neighborhood. The Olympic Stadium is visible in the background

ethereal park duo seated in grass

Two people sitting in the grassy park amidst flowering dandelions at Parc du Mont-Royal.

park silhouettes

Two people talking on a bench at Parc Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier illuminated by the golden glow in the evening.

rainy park fontaine

Parc La Fontaine after a rainstorm cleared out the park around twilight. Only a few people and the ducks remained active.

park lahaie chill

Parc Lahaie is quite small and close to traffic noise, but still attracts many people daily

Biking

There are lots of bikes and bikers everywhere. You can hardly even call a majority of them cyclists through the American definition of the term. They are regular people using bicycles as transportation because it is cheap, efficient, and perhaps more enjoyable. There are speedsters in kits and enthusiasts with unique setups, but a ton of people wearing plain clothes, dresses, carrying their day-bag or groceries. There is definitely some discontinuity that would turn people away, as well as confusing or dangerous traffic solutions. Comparatively, biking feels better than San Francisco, and walkscore.com agrees, barely. But it's easy to make a few neighborhoods and corridors good, and much harder to connect the whole city and make it all seamless and safe.

separated bike lane
Separated one-way bicycle path. The parallel street is the opposite direction path

procession of bikes waiting
Procession of bikers waiting for a green light and bus to move out of the way. 11 people plus one passenger child. Entering the downtown area.

bikes riding towards sundown
Bikers riding the parallel path before sundown, leaving downtown and heading along Le Plateau neighborhood into more residential streets.

city biking
Bikers waiting at a red light downtown. Around Concordia University there are many Asian restaurants, though the designated Chinatown is more midtown.

rainy bike ride
Biking home on a rainy evening. I was listening to an audiobook in the park, and then had a conversation exchange phone call to Japan. It started raining towards the end, but I was committed to our discussion as well as taking photos. I did forget to attach my headlight but the streetlights were sufficient.

bikes parked at baseball field fence

There are bicycles parked practically everywhere. I am used to there being no valid parking option in the US, often resorting to quasilegal locking on private property which hopefully does not impede ADA access. At a concert series downtown, I had to circle 2 blocks to find a bike parking spot; every rack, sign pole, and fence was taken nearest to the main area. In front of my place, there are technically 6 units, probably 8 bedrooms, with a spot to lock just two bicycles. Thankfully, it's just the upstairs neighbor plus my bike.

The rest

Two more bucket list items completed:

These were done at a public social group meetup in a Park in Little Italy. At this salsa and bachata evening weekly, the first hour is basic group lessons followed by up to 3 more hours of liveliness centered around the large gazebo. Dancing, claves and maracas, snacking, socializing. I am usually very reserved, so public dancing and taking stage are not enjoyable for me, but this felt different. Everyone is an active participant simultaneously. There is some structure to the flow and movement. And most importantly, there is a partner to focus on: a catalyst, a connection, a Cuban cohort. Another dancer to learn, fail, and enjoy the present moment with. I'm not going to become a salsa savant any time soon, but it was good to try (and continue for the time being). It exemplifies the spirit of my bucket list well.
bachata salsa at the park

I have attended several free concerts part of Francos de Montréal, a French-language music festival, and will be ramping up again once Jazz Fest starts. This song is an example of some popular party bouyon music here from Dominica I think. Shatta is another island genre I know from Martinique which is probably here as well.

kid krayola_1

I think that is enough. À bientôt.

Appendix of random new words

#bikes #chinese #french #goals #parks #trafficsafety #travel #urbanism