After living one year in Berlin and move again to an unknown place, with another culture and another language, the comparison became inevitable. I know that every city has its own history, its own context but I still felt compelled to express such comparisons.
Although Montreal has latitude farther south ( 45 ° 30'N ) than Berlin ( 52 ° 31'N ), the average temperature is lower . Perhaps this is due to Montreal being an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Furthermore, Berlin has relatively low humidity and Montreal, on the contrary, is moist, so that the "feel like" sensation is, higher during the summer, and lower during the winter than the official temperature. But climatic and geographical issues are not so important at this time. What interests me is to tell a little about my experience so far.
Montreal is a very interesting city, with neighborhoods that are totally different from each other to the point of thinking that they could be different cities. Where I live, for example, the residential neighborhood is filled with houses and buildings like mine: with two floors and an underground, where each floor is an apartment (or two on the second floor). |
| Photo: www.utexas.edu |
Now, the city center is a profusion of modern buildings mingling with ancient buildings and, right there, is McGill University's campus (or as the francophones say : Meguil). |
| Photo: en.wikipedia.org |
One of the things that struck me when I first arrived but unfortunately in the wrong direction, was the noise of the city. Yes , I lived nine years in Rio de Janeiro which is quite a noisy city, but last year in Berlin made me forget what that meant, since there, the city is so silent that doesn't even seem like a big city. Certainly not for american standards. On arrival in Montreal noise was definitely an unexpected surprise. Not only the noise of cars on the street, but in general. Discharges and hand dryers of public restrooms, buses, streets, and subway. Oh , the subway is deafening! Incidentally, the thing is an experience in itself: beyond the deafening noise, it has tires on cars (never seen that before), turns, goes upe and down (ok, I know that all probably do it, the difference is that here you can feel it all inside the wagon), and brakes . Ah! And how it brakes!!! Sometimes the braking is so strong that even scares people. And different from Berlin, the stations do not have elevators. If there it was necessary to put legs to work, here make sure they're in good shape 'cause you'll need them! Only four stations have elevators, all in the last stations of the orange line.
Another thing that surprised me was the price of things. After living in a city relatively inexpensive, Montreal was scary. I do not know if I expected a standard pricing scheme like in the United States, that is also inexpensive, but certainly did not expect the values found here. And just to remember, the price shown in the product is not the final total, because 15 % fee is added at the time of payment in the cashier. Ah! And for those who love cheese like me, the diversity of cheeses in Germany is to fill your eyes and keep the pocket almost intact. Here, the options are more limited, and the prices much higher. Goodbye oven camembert, I'll miss you!
As a city of the " New World", the automobile appeal is big, and bike lanes are rare. In downtown they are everywhere, but out of there the picture changes. You don't see much cyclist and few people use their bicycles as means of daily transport like in Berlin. That was one of the things I liked most about the German lands: power go everywhere by bike and feel safe knowing that no one would go over me with a car. But of course, there the culture of cycling is stronger than down here. There are bicycle rental initiatives, as the ones from Itaú in Rio, at the exit of each subway stations but the city lacks the infrastructure to make cycling an actual instrument of transportation and not just recreation.
Another stark difference is Sunday. That's right: Sunday! While in Berlin everything closes and you don't even have a supermarket opened, here everything opens. The Montrealers stroll through the parks, go to the movies, the botanical garden, but also enjoy the day for shopping. In this sense it's very similar to the big cities of Brazil.
Unlike what happens in northern Europe, one doesn't see so many people thrown in the lawns of the city on sunny days. Of course, there is always someone "lizarding" somewhere, but overall, not as many as in European parks. The most popular place I saw that happen was on campus, where people took advantage of the break between classes to warm up a little in the sun while the weather still allows it.
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| Centre Eaton Photo: en.wikipedia.org |
One of the large advantages of Montreal is the "underground city": a network of passages beneath the downtown buildings interconnecting malls, galleries, theaters, offices and residential buildings, etc.. To get an idea, the underground city has 32km, 7 access to metro stations, two train stations, a regional bus station, and has over 120 entrances on the outside. For a city where winters can reach almost -40 º C, nothing better than being able to go from the subway directly to your destination without putting your nose out, huh?
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| Connection from the Place-des-Arts to the subway Photo: en.wikipedia.org |
In all, Montreal is cool. The people are friendly and helpful, the services may not have the Germanic efficiency, but they work well and attend the population. The city is well taken care of and green with numerous parks for sightseeing. The fact that it holds four renowned universities and several colleges makes it a vibrant city with attractions for everyone. Coffeeshops spread around every corner and some are open 24 hours. For those who like that sort of program, like I do, the city is excellent!
Yes, I know I should not have compared Montreal and Berlin, it is like comparing apples and oranges, but it is inevitable. After being used to living a certain way, it is impossible not to make comparisons. I try to restrict the comparisons to what surprises me the most, but I'm gradually adapting to the new life and leaving them aside.
And the roll-on deodorant? Only two brands offer one scent in that format. Yeah ... complicated.
