My Biggest (Delightful) Mistake in Montreal
Chapter One: Montreal’s Botanical Garden
Nothing signifies my conundrum about Montreal better than my visit to Montreal’s extremely popular Botanical Garden. It is one of the more wonderful, delightful, culturally-diverse cities I’ve ever been to-----but its immense relationship with extended wintertime makes it a difficult sale for my prospects of moving there. For every five reasons I can list for wanting to be in Montreal, there’s the pushback in the words of “but the winter…”
The Botanical Gardens of Montreal has been hailed as one of the best in the world, and part of its ecosystem of gardens includes 20 types of gardens, nearly a dozen greenhouses, a massive arboretum, a quick-service restaurant, an insectarium (which I never got to visit), and even a biodome. Oh yea, there’s also a planetarium located within the space of the botanical garden. The botanical garden is declared a Historic Site of Canada, and remains one of the highest-rated gardens in the planet. Just an overwhelming amount of things to see, this is one of the rare nature-related spaces that requires several visits just to tap into the basics of what the venue offers….
…..unless you’re here in the wintertime, which is what happened to me.
I was here in late March, hoping that winter had stopped existing by then. And boy was I wrong, extremely wrong.
Montreal was still being hit with snowstorms, blizzards, freezing conditions, and even snow squalls (which I didn’t know was a thing until I was in my room and saw the city turn blinding white). I was hoping for slightly better conditions when I took my Uber ride to the Botanical Gardens, and I was scoping the pathway there and held out hope.
But nope.
Kinda wish my Uber driver had warned me.
That being said, my journey was still very much salvageable because I could still visit the greenhouses, which were indoors and completely unaffected by the Montreal weather. The greenhouses were spectacular, informative, full of variety, very spacious, and just seemed like an endless array of beautiful greenery that makes you appreciate the beauty of nature. The plants and exhibits themselves vary in size, scope, and even culture and countries of origin. There’s an entire section of donated bonsai trees from Japan and China that range from a few years old to several decades old.
What should have felt like a wasted day because of the madness of snow I’m about to battle while walking the rest of the botanical garden was non-existent because I spent at least two hours exploring, taking pictures, and appreciating the scenery within the greenhouses. This section alone is worth the price of admission and worth taking the trek from the Mont-Royal neighborhood.
Chapter Two: Montreal Botanical Garden’s Restaurant
Even if the greenhouses within the botanical garden space were just okay (which, as a reminder, they were amazing), there’s also the quick-service restaurant that was surprisingly good, and was in a very nice relaxed space with a warm vibe that it a contrast to the harshness of Montreal late-stage winterisms.
The menu is small, but it appears to change often depending on season. There’s a few quick-grab options, bottled drinks, packaged desserts, and sandwiches and sides to round out the collection of available food. I went with their basic grilled cheese and their potatoes as the side. I primarily expected something that can simply hold me over until the end of my adventure in Winter Wonderland. What I didn’t expect was an above-average sandwich and some of the best potatoes I’ve had in North America. Seriously, what happened here?
The grilled cheese had the right bite, right amount of cheese and butter, and is perfectly supported by these chilled potatoes perfectly seasoned with the right amount of dill, parsley, and dijonnaise. Sometimes, simplicity is better, and this meal is a vibrant example of such a delightful phenomenon. Combine that with plenty of open seating and a great view of the outdoors, and this becomes a perfect relaxation spot in the middle of your day exploring plants, insects, and whatever else you decide to explore.
Usually in cases of public gardens and open parks, you are better off bringing your own food to survive the day. But in the case of Montreal, they have also provided a top-notch quick-service experience to compliment everything else it already offers. A very unique example of a diamond in the rough, but Montreal Botanical Garden’s small eatery delivers a strong bite.
But back to the madness.
Chapter Three: Back to the Botanical Garden and the Biodome
I still decided to walk the garden in hopes of some semblance of a garden, but the place was a mix of snow, sleet, more snow, hidden freezing puddles, slippery surfaces, and just an overall lack of landmarks that had me feeling slightly lost when I decided to cut through the middle of the frozen tundra and lost visual of any walkable pathways that could get me out of the mess I put myself in. I ended up slowly walking around in hopes that an obvious frequent walker from the neighborhood would pass by and show me the way. What could have been done in half an hour took over an hour as I scrambled to find my way back to the entrance.
Then I foolishly decided to walk to the arboretum area to see how it would look. Wouldn’t you know it? More snow.
Montreal is still beautiful, even with the snow, but I definitely would have preferred seeing some variety and not so much white, so much fallen snow, so much evidence of how things -could- look if I had waited just a few more months to visit. But as a reminder, not faulting Montreal or this garden at all, I was blaming myself for assuming the end of winter means evidence of spring----the end of winter means its still winter.
But the Botanical Garden area still had one final surprise up its sleeve, it just requires crossing the street where you can find a couple sporting stadiums.
The Biodome is this extremely impressive display of multiple ecosystems each with its own temperature, climate, vegetation, and even animals to observe and learn about. This massive building used to be for the 1976 Olympics and a dozen years later started its transformation into becoming the environmental center and educational facility Canadians get to enjoy today. From the jungles of South America to the harshest coldest places on earth, from the macaws to the penguins, the range here is unbelievable.
In some cases, there are multiple floors to allow you to observe and enjoy the environments from different angles and observation points. The St. Lawrence ecosystem in particular has three levels to choose from, so you can be far above the water watching the birds fly or can go “underwater” to observe the fish that can usually be found in the Canadian gulf region. So even if its just four main sections to the building, there are levels and multiple paths to each of them so you’ll need at least a couple hours to witness it all.
For a reasonable price, you get to spend the day exploring the re-created environments, and if you want even more information there are guides, auditory tours, displays, and much more additional content to choose from. At the end there’s also a small cafeteria with snack and meal options so you don’t exit the giant venue hungry. I didn’t get to try anything because I had shown up very late (as I got lost twice in the Botanical Garden-turned-Winter Maze), but I’ve been told it’s a menu full of vegetarian and vegan options as a way to display a future in which we don’t depend so much on animals for consumption.
The Biodome is not just entertaining, its also very important as it displays the necessity for everyone on Earth to reconsider the way we treat the environment around us, the way we observe, use, mistreat, exploit, and ravish our natural resources. To be frank, what’s happening today isn’t good enough, and its not sustainable.
Surely we’ve seen new leadership with more progressive values and more of an eye towards conservation (presidents of Colombia, Chile, and Brazil come to mind), but its going to take a global effort to un-do the damage and perhaps reverse the damage. The Biodome proudly wears its conservation efforts on its sleeve, and is part of this mega-chain of beautiful locales within Montreal showcasing the beauty, fragility, and importance of mother nature.
In conclusion, regardless of time of the year, this area is a must-visit, even though I’m positive I will need to return in the summer/fall seasons to get the full botanical garden experience. But either way, the place is clean, the people are friendly, the limited food options were shockingly good, the greenhouses and biodome are indoors year-round and amazing for reasons beyond that advantage, and I just had a wonderful time overall despite the feet of snow that had blanketed the 190 acres of preserved and protected nature. Worth every penny regardless of season, if you’re in Montreal, you absolutely must spend a day or two and experience what the botanical garden has to offer.
Montreal in general is worth several visits, and has proven itself as a livable city, a viable city to raise a family in a cultural center full of beauty, diversity, nature, and excellent food. But of course, the biggest setback are those brutal winters. I was actually visiting during the tailend of the winter, so I didn’t even experience Canadian Winter’s worst behavior, and I still barely survived. I got lost in Mont-Royal Park because everything was snow white on the way down, I lost two pairs of shoes to a snow squall (which is apparently a thing!?!?). In all honesty, if not for the Underground City and all the marvelous things to experience during the rest of the year, I don’t know how else the people can survive this beautiful but harsh environment.
This is not a knock on Montreal at all, just an observation of how resilient and how strong the Quebecois are to withstand the wintery chaos year after year. Maybe I’m not strong enough for Montreal and therefore do not deserve her best, but I will nonetheless be back to see Peak Montreal during the late summer/early fall period, and the Botanical Garden will definitely be on the list of places to visit.