Montreal and Canadian F1 Grand Prix recap

It is high time do a recap of my recent trip to Montreal and the Canadian F1 Grand Prix (GP) before I forget it all. Getting from Austin to Montreal proved to be quite a challenge: Austin to Memphis, Memphis to Detroit, and finally Detroit to Ottawa via plane. This was then followed by a 200km drive from Ottawa to Montreal, all in the course of a single day. After all the flying, the drive was oddly enjoyable and relaxing. It felt a bit like driving through the great Midwest plains except for the scenery being significantly greener. Finding my hotel, Hotel Zero 1, in Montreal was not a problem at all. Given the rather affordable room rate for an F1 weekend the hotel proved to be quite a nice surprise. The hotel was nothing fancy or luxurious, but it was clean, very modern, had friendly staff, and it had an excellent location right between Montreal’s China Town, the entertainment district, the university and the historic district. One downside of the hotel's central location was the traffic which can get a bit crazy, especially on weekend nights. Either opt for a room up high or bring some noise cancelling earphones with you – you have been warned.

Getting from the Hotel to the F1 GP at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was a breeze using the Metro and only took about 20 minutes. You can purchase a 3 day pass for just a few bucks and then ride around all you want. Even though the Metro does get quite crowded especially on race day, the crowd was always moving and the wait was never very long. I spent most of the days at the F1 track which is located on the Île Notre-Dame, an island right across from Montreal's historic district on the Saint Lawrence River. This island was the location for the 1967 World Expo and several amazing structures still remain as part of the park - definitely a sight to be seen.

The race weekend at the track was packed with many events. In addition to the regular F1 practice, qualifying and race schedule, there was also a Ferrari Cup race, a classic race featuring F1 machinery from long bygone days, and a couple other racing series. The Ferrari Cup was definitely a nice treat, particularly since one could visit the Teams' trailers. It was great to see the mechanics work on the cars and chat with the drivers. For the whole weekend I had fantastic seats at the Epingle hairpin on Tribune 24. Here the cars slowed down just enough for me to take some great pictures - almost 300 of them at the track alone. Other than the race result, way to go McLaren, the best thing about the event was that the organizers were very laid back and allowed one to bring a cooler with food and beverages – why can't all events be like this? Overall, I had an awesome experience at the Canadian F1 GP, so if you are contemplating checking it out, I would absolutely urge you to do so.

So far I’ve only talked about things centered on racing, but Montreal has a lot more to offer than that. First, there is the historic district, which feels very European with cobble stone streets, plenty of exquisite restaurants, pubs, and historic buildings to admire. It is also next to the port and has a very long and enjoyable boardwalk. One pub that I found particularly enjoyable was the 3 Brewers Pub, which although a chain, had a great ambience, delicious pints, and something that tasted like a pizza but supposedly was not. There are several locations in Montreal, and while I only checked out the ones in the historic and entertainment districts, I surmise that the others are enjoyable as well. Speaking of the entertainment district, it is absolutely humongous. If you are familiar with 6th street in Austin, you might think that to be already too much, with countless bars lining the street and hundreds of people out at night. Montreal is a much larger city than Austin, and Rue Sainte-Catherine puts 6th street to shame with bars and restaurant going on for miles. The sheer amount of people out was also amazing. Maybe it was due to the GP, or maybe some other event that I was not aware off, but regardless, people were out en masse and everyone was having a great time. The China Town is rather puny for a city this size, but it nevertheless was convenient when I got hungry and needed something more than all the crepes I consumed why bumming around town. Due to all the time spent at the track I did not really have much time to check out any of the museums, historic buildings and churches - they all had rather early closing times. This leaves plenty to do next time around, and given the cool vibe of the city, I’ll definitely be back.