Sonya's Blog - Day 61 - The Old Time Market

Sonya’s Blog - Day 61 - August 22nd - Marvel Universe Live and Old Time Market

Today was Marvel Universe Live and the show was at 11 AM. I wanted to leave by 9:30 to make sure we had lots of time to find parking and get into the show without rushing. We managed to get out by 9:45, but that was only because Isaac went to grab the milk from the fridge and knocked out the yogurt, broke the container and there was yogurt everywhere! So we waited while Isaac cleaned that up, which was not to my liking. I had to call him back 3 times to get all the stuff he missed which just upset him more, but if he never learns how to clean up properly how is ever going to learn.

We finally got on the road and made good time getting to the Bell Centre and found parking on the street about 2 blocks away, which was only $9 compared to the $20 the Bell Centre was charging. We got into the venue and what a circus, you should have seen the merchandising. They had several tables set up all around the concourse with all sorts of Marvel stuff and then a table right next to it selling Marvel snacks. So they had a spiderman head with a snow cone in it and Natasha wandered over to check the price and came back shocked, $15. The cotton candy had a mask attached to it and it was $15 and the popcorn was in a marvel bag and it was $20 or something. Blake tried to get popcorn from the regular Bell vendors, but they were not selling it while the Marvel show was on so he opted for a piece of pizza instead. We went in to find our seats and they were very good. The stage was at Centre Ice and then there was a large are sectioned off for the rest of the stage area. The show finally started and they introduced all the characters and the storyline, took about 1/2 hour, and then they were all off on their missions and then there was an intermission. I couldn’t believe it, only a 1/2 hour in and already an intermission. The intermission was about 20 minutes and then the show started up again. There was a lot of motorcycle tricks and fighting scenes. The rest of the show went on for about 50 minutes and it was pretty good. Isaac loved it and that was why we bought the tickets. The guys that played spiderman was really good, he was very agile and light on his feet. It was a decent show, but I was sure happy we went for the $50 tickets because I would have felt ripped off if we had bought the $160 tickets.

We then headed back to the truck and it was decided that we had enough energy to head down to Old Montreal and try and find this 1800 Market Festival that was going on somewhere down there. Blake thought it was at the Old Port so we found parking near there and walked down to the Port, but there was no festival there. I looked it up on my phone and it was at the Museum that, so we had about a 10 minute walk to the Festival. It was great once we found it. There were all sorts of characters in 18th century costumes walking around in the crowds. There was also a bunch of stalls set up in the 18th Century style, with lots of different items for sale, others had craft demonstrations and some had history of the area. We walked around and checked everything out. Sampled some cheese from one vendor and then got some drinks from another. We looked on the basket weaving demonstration and there were some Minstrels singing nearby and they were really good, pictures here of market scenes:

We then checked out the rest of the stalls. We found some Spruce Beer for sale and Blake wanted to try it out, plus they had cookies for sale and Natasha wanted to try those out. The Vendor next to them had some sausages on a stick for sale and we got 4 of those as well. The Spruce Beer was disgusting, in my opinion. It tasted like someone had put my pine essential oil in a drink and carbonated it. Blake and Natasha didn’t mind it. Isaac and I headed back to the stall to buy the 1642 cola that was also for sale, that was made with Maple Syrup. I made Isaac order in french and the lady complimented him on practicing and trying to learn, which was nice of her. The 1642 cola was much better, but very sweet. I only had a couple of sips, and then Isaac had the most. Natasha and Blake had a try of it:

Pictures of drinking:

While we were sitting there enjoying our snacks, one of the actors came up and started telling us about his voyages. He was a sailor and they had engaged the English at sea in a battle, but then the English were all suffering from scurvy. The doctor came aboard the french vessel and asked to be escorted into town to get provisions and the french guy escorted him to prison. Then he laughed and said he loved to hear the English suffer or something. It was all in French so I missed a lot of it and Blake and the kids had to translate for me after he was done, so I may have lots of the story wrong. Here is the storyteller:

Natasha and I then went and got a picture with the Dandy that was walking around:

There was then a thief that was caught trying to steal a rutabaga and was badly treated by the soldiers that were in the square. They then carried him to the stalks and read out his punishment. It was decided that he had to eat the rutabaga raw and the actor was forced to eat it, we think they made that up on the spot because the guys were having a hard time not laughing. Here is a picture:

We then checked out some more stalls and then decided to head back to the truck to go back to the campsite. On the way, we passed Crepe Suzette and Blake had read that they had the best crepes in Montreal. We stopped and ordered one savoury and one Crepe Sonia (sweet, like me) to give it a try. The crepes were really good, the service was not though. The server was quite abrupt and rude, in my opinion.

We then headed back to the truck and went back to camp to walk Kizmet and hang out there. We didn’t do much, the boys went swimming, Natasha went to the main office to try and get some of her blogs posted and get caught up. I walked Kizmet and then read my book. I am trying to finish the book London, it’s so long. I read Paris a couple of years ago, but I am not enjoying London as much. He wrote this one chronologically and I just don’t find it as engaging. I am almost done, but it will take a few more days as it is very long.

Sonya