Visitor's from Germany

One of the great things about renting my condo to travelers is the opportunity to meet people from so many different back grounds with so many different life experiences.


During the month of March I had visitors from California, Germany, Ottawa and Washington. All of them from different ages and outlook of life, but all of them have arrived here with one thing in common, the desire to enjoy a few days of their life.

Nick and Sofie came for 31 days to life a long waited dream of experimenting a winter in Canada. Petra and her husband came to visit their daughter (an architectural student at University of Montreal), Devan is coming to take photographs of the European feeling of Montreal, Aurora, came from Ottawa for one night of story telling with a group of story tellers, Inka is waiting go to on tour a belly dancing through Spain.

What a delight to be able to hear their reason for traveling, to hear what is it like to live in their respective countries and cities, to be able to provide the means to have a fulfilling vacation or just a place to stay for a few day before moving on to the next stage of their lives.

Nick and Sofi wanted to experiment winter in Montreal

Nick and Sofi came from Oakland California to experiment winter in Montreal. Among many things they went to the ice hotel and they attended to a dance class at Dance Conmigo Dance School. They stayed for 31 days at the vacation rental.

Thank you for coming to Montreal.

Raq-Attack! at Le Grand Bal en Rouge Rétro

Montreal is full of so many different activities, shows, places.

Come to Montreal and let us show you what we have to offer.

Groupe de Percussionniste du Québec. Jouant sur des rythmes et des instruments de percussions du nord de l'Afrique, du proche et du moyen-orient. Création musical, improvisation et accompagnement de danseuse orientale ou oriental-fusion.

Come to Montreal to Dance Tango, Ballroom and Salsa. Three dance floors under one roof.

Dance Conmigo Party/Fete Feb. 4th (3 dance floors Salsa-Tango-Ballroom)

Saturday, February 4, 2012
8:00pm until midnight

(version française ci-dessous)

Dance Conmigo Party Saturday, February 4th. Join us at Studio Metronome (4557 St-Laurent, 3rd floor) for a great night of music and dancing!

8pm-9pm: Beginner intro class in Slow Waltz

9pm-12am: General Dancing- now in three rooms:

Room l (Amadeus) Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha-Cha!
Room ll (Chopin) Argentine Tango
Room lll (Bach) a mix of everything! Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Swing, West Coast Swing, Argentine Tango, Rumba, Samba, Hustle, Viennese Waltz...

Everyone welcome - beginners to advanced! Tell a friend. And please
note: No street shoes allowed in the dance studio, please bring a change of shoes. Entrance is $6.

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Soirée dansante samedi, le 4 février, 20h-24h. Joignez-vous à Dance Conmigo, au Studio Metronome (4557 St-Laurent, 3é étage), pour une magnifique soirée de danse!

20h-21h: un cours d'initiation en Valse Lente !

21h-minuit: la danse générale- maintenant dans trois salles:

Salle Amadeus: Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha-Cha!
Salle Chopin: Tango Argentin
Salle Bach: Un mélange de toutes ! Waltz, Swing, Tango Argentin, West Coast Swing, Salsa, Cha-Cha, Foxtrot, Samba, Rumba, Mambo, Hustle, Valse Viennoise...

Tout le monde est le bienvenue - de débutants à avancés! Invitez vos amis! Amenez, svp, des souliers avec des semelles propres pour porter sur la piste de danse. Admission: 6$.

Collaborative Consumption Thrives in Montreal.

Collaborative Consumption is used to describe sharing, swapping, bartering, trading or renting products and exchanging services.

The Internet is allowing people to share their products and time in a very efficient way. By now we are all familiarized with the local used book store or the local library, but commercial enterprises like eBay and Craigslist have become leaders in the Internet. Many of my friends use Facebook to advertise products that they would like to sell or give away.

In Montreal I have fallen in love with two services in particular: Bixi bikes and Communauto which allow you to share a bicycle or a car practically at any time. My dance partner, Cheryl, love a place called Le Chainon (a second hand store). I bought some of my furniture in second hand places and my used washer and dryer came from a place called "Elvis" on Papineau Street.

My apartment have become a way of collaborative consumption. Travelers, business people, students or persons who just need temporary housing can rent my whole apartment, or one of its two bedrooms. Also, Dance Conmigo rents its dance floor during the hours that it is not being used for dance classes, but dance spaces like Studio Metronome thrive in sharing its dance floors with many other dancers and dance teachers.

The term "Collaborative Consumption" was coined by Ray Algar, in an article entitled 'Collaborative Consumption'. This idea have been taken further  by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, co-authors of "What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption".

The idea of reusing or public sharing of products is not new. For decades, many organizations such as  libraries, laundromats, second hand stores (Salvation Army), have existed.

Sharing  is a major trend in our new economy, it is not just for the frugal or the greenies.

Go to Montreal for the Martin Luther King Holiday

If you are thinking on what to do with this long weekend, consider going to Montreal.

The Martin Luther King holiday falls on the third Monday of January, which is around the date of King's birth day, January 15.

Many U.S. citizens observe MLK holiday by going to services or just by staying home with the family, but many others take this extended weekend as an opportunity to get away from the city and relax in an different environment.

For the next holiday, consider going to Montreal. Going to Montreal is stepping into a totally different culture, just step away from the U.S. Residents from Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and New York are only a few hours away. 

Graffiti on the Plateau as a tourist attraction and a pleasure for the locals

As I met my friend Lynda Lyn at the bus station she confessed that her new thing was to photograph street graffiti. I have been walking by this walls for years and my eyes have become immune to the art displayed on the street. Some of this art has been commissioned, some of it is illegal, some of it is beautiful and some is an act of vandalism on  someone else's property.

Thank you Lynda for taking such wonderful photos.

Here are some of the of the pieces that a traveler could expect to find in the streets.

Corner of Saint Laurent and Pine

Rue vielleneuve

My favorite Portuguese Restaurant on Saint Lauaren and Duluth

Duluth Street

Hemp Products

In this Building you can find Dance Conmigo

Chez Jose. You have to have coffee there. 

This is my favorite on Duluth and Hotel de Ville.