Day 6.085: En Montreal

The day got off to an inauspicious start when my morning run was in fairly heavy, settling snow.

Our plans to visit the Botanical Gardens were put on hold until tomorrow and instead we headed to the old port area - in particular to visit the Montreal Science Centre.

What we saw inside is once again, more than I can do justice to, so here are some photos from our out-and-about time.

The bottom right picture shows that there was still quite a lot of ice left in the port.  The top left picture shows an extraordinary development.  I thought I'd never seen anything like it, but I was wrong.

Somewhere, we saw this sign, but it's in French so we don't understand it!

Do you?  And no, I don't mean the one that says, "Welcome!"

Day 6.084: Except, perhaps, this one

We're getting away for a little vacation at the end of the kids' Spring Break.

Today, after half a day of travelling, we visited what is, effectively, a small, indoor zoo (although it goes by another name). In the interests of mystery, I won't be too specific.

Here is some of what we got up to:

I enjoyed this display in the Discovery (i.e. kids hands-on) Room of things that fly that are not birds (a flying fish, a bat, a flying squirrel and a flying lizard) right next to a bird that doesn't fly.

Of course, the real attraction was the live animals - we saw a lot of them - but I'll save those photos for another post, except, perhaps, this one:

Anyone like to guess where in the world we are?

Day 6.083: Yes we can!

On Sunday, we took advantage of the State Museum's new-ish opening hours to go and see the Canstruction exhibit - this year's theme is "Can you imagine?". As on our last visit (two years ago it would appear), we went equipped with cans to vote for our favourites (and as donations to the food pantries where all the cans - both in the artworks and the voting bins - will end up).

These are the ones that got our votes (or narrowly missed):

Clockwise from top left: one of two world-peace themed ones, a maximising machine (you might need a closer look), the penguins (left over from last year's zoo theme perhaps, but swimming in bottled water which is genius), a leprechaun with a great Pringles rainbow and pot of gold and the Wizard of Oz themed one with a tornado, yellow-brick road and Emerald City.

I love the way they did the facial features on this one:

And this one really captured the 3D/2D nature of the game perfectly I think.

They are well worth a visit to see them in person - and don't forget to take a can to vote!

Day 6.082: Oh me? Oh my?

On Saturday, we finally managed a family outing - something that has been mostly absent from our weekends for the last few months for one reason or another.  Our destination was The Fields Sculpture Park at Omi International Arts Center.  Incidentally, I believe it's pronounced "oh my" rather than "oh me", but I can't remember why I think so.

There were a number of new works along with many familiar ones from our previous two visits - some of which had been relocated.  Admission is free - although donations are welcome and there is a small snack bar open at certain times.

It's really a magical place.

Puns and all!

I particularly love the works that seem inextricably linked to their locations - and it doesn't come much more obvious than this piece:

Love it!

The kids were on great form - in particular E5N1 didn't complain at all about the distance we walked - he really loved the process of discovering what we would find next.  As ever, there were some that just had to be interacted with.

In the top left E5N1 declared he was in a tie fighter.  The hut on legs is called - appropriately for us - Exiled (by Armando Mariño Calzado), a part of the special exhibition on Cuban Art and Architecture (until May 1).

We had a great couple of hours and managed to get around almost the whole collection - skipping only the Residency Road section on this visit.  I think we walked about two miles.

Day 6.081: Winter coat and flip-flops

It was back to work for me - after a fun weekend, but it was just day four of a ten-day Spring Break for the kids.

Apparently, playing outside at this stage of spring calls for winter coats and flip-flops or, failing that, a cowboy outfit.

Thanks to Exile #2 for recording the event!