Hi "another Kathy",

Well, I'm no expert on Montreal, even tho' I was born there. You know, it's hard to imagine taking a tour of a place like that so close to home.

The area of the city south of the "mountain", and McGill University, is very nice, with lots of shopping and restaurants. St. Catherine's street is really the main street of Montreal. Mont Royal itself (the mountain), is a great park, with views of the city from the top.

Nice restaurants all over the place, in the above area, and to the east, and then down to vieux Montreal (which is more touristy, but nice.)

Montreal is known for "smoked meat", which is like pastrami, but slightly different. Try, if you have time, to seek out a delicatessen like Schwartz's or "The Main" or Ben's (apparently in that order--Ben's is a tourist instititution, definitely downscale and apparently not quite as good these days as the other places.)

It's also a great place for bagels--which are very distinctive in Montreal. Up here we fight about it--Montrealers are known for looking down their noses at Torontonians, and hockey comes first, but then bagels.

Oh, and don't forget to try for your tax refunds when you go home:

www.canadiantaxrefund.com