Love led me to visit Montreal, and the honeymoon isn’t over

Istill think a lot about Montreal, and our honeymoon there in the fall of 2010 after Sinead and I finally got hitched. We had been going out together for 10 years, so it was about time. For our two-week honeymoon, we decided to go to a destination of each other’s choice. I chose Canada; she said she always wanted to visit Boston.

So after a chat with the travel agents in Dublin, I went ahead and booked Montreal for the last week in October, and Boston for the first week in November.

Travelling with our 10-yearold son, Sean, we arrived at the Château Versailles Hotel, at Sherbrooke and StMathieu Sts., quite late in the evening, after a seven-hour flight from Dublin. We were quite peckish, so we went straight to the nearest restaurant for a bite to eat before settling in for some shut-eye.

Early the next morning, just after breakfast, we took a wander around this stunning, beautiful old building. It was fantastic — there was such a nice, peaceful vibe to Montreal. We immediately felt at home. What Sean remembers most is the neverending supply of toast that was available. He’d eat five or six slices easily in one sitting. That certainly sorted him out until lunchtime.

During the trip, we decided to make sure we checked out the sights and mingled with the locals. We didn’t want the week to go by without really seeing the city properly. We managed to get around Old Montreal, the Latin Quarter, Chinatown and the Olympic Stadium. But it was something slightly unusual, something that we normally wouldn’t go for, that turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip. It was the festival of lights in the Botanical Garden. It was visually stunning; we couldn’t believe it.

But what really surprised me the most about Montreal was the popularity of the arts. I was completely awestruck by the music scene. Before the trip, I’d been thinking of changing careers, but I never really knew exactly what I wanted to do. Music journalism was one of my ideas, but this visit to Montreal encouraged me to push even more in this direction.

I found that I got into bands like Suuns that I would normally have never known. I know there are quite a few famous Montrealers in the music world, but sometimes it’s the smaller bands that grab your attention. Of course, the band of the moment, Arcade Fire, recently released its fourth studio album, Reflektor, to some serious acclaim and hype.

Family and music are my whole world, and it all came together for me in the beautiful city of Montreal. There’s nothing more peaceful than a gentle stroll on Mount Royal — pure bliss. Sinead and I have decided that Montreal is the only city outside of Ireland that we’d possibly consider living in.