U.S Campus Life Memorial Day weekend By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
戦没将兵追悼の週末は… カナダの国境近くにあるハチミツショップに立ち寄った筆者。

Officially, Memorial Day is a day to honor the war dead. Unofficially, it is a day to mark the beginning of summer. Many people make their first camping or hiking trips of the year during this three-day weekend. Among those who decide to stay at home, it's common to plan backyard picnics. I decided that I wanted to get away from Boston.

My boyfriend wanted to go to New York City to hang out with friends. I wanted to go to a yoga camp in the Berkshire Mountains. It's true that both options can recharge one's batteries, but our approaches were different. Finally, we decided to go to Montreal, reasoning that it would combine elements of city life and a country drive. The French flavor of the region would be interesting, as well.

We (he) drove my Toyota Corolla to Canada. The wonderful thing about taking road trips is that you can make detours at will. We had planned on driving through Vermont to Canada, but while we were eating lunch in Vermont, we realized that we could take a ferry to upstate New York and take a direct highway to Montreal.

After we got off the ferry, we were only an hour away from Montreal. As soon as we arrived, we started walking around the city. Our hotel was in an area with plenty of quirky cafes and boutiques, many of them surprisingly inexpensive. Thankfully, there were few chain stores.

We walked to the Mont Royal Park, which was designed by the same man who designed Central Park in New York City. We thought we would be taking a leisurely stroll, but in fact, it took some strenuous hiking, including using our hands to grab rocks and tree roots, to get to the highest point in the park. It was no small hill: The city was named after this mountain, after all. Considering this, I thought it was strange that there were women in skirts and sandals at the summit. It turned out that there was a much gentler footpath to get to the top, with a parking lot nearby.

We continued our walk the following day, covering almost all of the main parts of the city, including Chinatown and the Jewish section. The neighborhoods were densely packed with stores and buildings, but they were colorful and clean, so it didn't feel too crowded. I felt comfortable walking around, never fearing that I was going to be mugged or that I didn't look cool enough to enter this store or that.

Although full of charm, Montreal was similar to other cities we knew, so we decided to drive to some of the outlying regions to see the "real" Quebec. We drove several hours to both the north and to the east of Montreal, but if anything, we found these areas less interesting than the city. We wanted to try Quebecois food and shop at country markets, but what we saw were fast-food places and shopping centers. We concluded that it takes time to find the special, hidden gems in isolated areas.

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting the Montreal Casino. We had visited casinos in Belize, Las Vegas and near Boston. Although neither of us are gamblers, we enjoy the noise and the kitsch and the sleaze. I found this casino had almost a family feel to it, with attendants rolling carts of free coffee and juice. We spent several hours playing electronic horse racing and poker, never betting more than 25 cents. In the end, we spent just Canadian $15 (¥1,230) for an evening's entertainment.

On our way back to Boston, we took a different route, going through some back roads to get to the U.S. border. Finally, we saw a few shacks selling local honey products and maple syrup. Happy with our purchases, we rolled into a minor immigrations station in Vermont. Security has been increased all along the border since 9/11, but at this tiny booth in the middle of milk farms, such worries seemed far away.

Safe back in the States, driving through Vermont, I saw what I was looking for all along: red barns, silver silos, grazing cows and high-steepled churches nestled among rolling, green mountains. It made me realize that my ideal countryside is based upon the New England scenes that I've grown up seeing in books and on TV. Yes, these scenes do exist . . . but perhaps only in New England. I guess it took me a trip to Canada to figure this out.

Shukan ST: June 14, 2002

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