Who's going to Skate Canada?

[Mrs. P]

I'm going.

I was originally planning on going to Skate America because it's within driving distance, but I found that I was far more excited about the lineup at Skate Canada. I had to wait until now to see whether I could pencil it out.

Anyway, I found a decent plane flight and an all-event ticket, so I'll see you all next month (if you want to say hi, that is, lol).

 

[pmidi]

I’m going too. my first SC event and I’m excited. I hope to meet up with some of you that are going.

 

[apgold]

Does anyone want to have a GS dinner to meet up?

There don't seem to be many great food options near the Place Bell, other than mall type stuff.

Open to suggestions and times Thurs Fri or Sat eves between events.

 

[Mrs. P]

Does anyone want to have a GS dinner to meet up?

There don't seem to be many great food options near the Place Bell, other than mall type stuff.

Open to suggestions and times Thurs Fri or Sat eves between events.

Maybe it would be worth doing something in Montreal after Thursday pm practices?

There is also a big gap Saturday between men/pairs and dance/ladies.

 

[Bookseller]

Also going. We'll be at all events and practices, 'cause that's what we do! Seats are to the left of the judges, about 8 rows up. All the really good seats were already gone just a week or so after they were for sale. But I like being in the corner. A lot of action happens in the corners.

 

[Jeanie19]

Also going. We'll be at all events and practices, 'cause that's what we do! Seats are to the left of the judges, about 8 rows up. All the really good seats were already gone just a week or so after they were for sale. But I like being in the corner. A lot of action happens in the corners.

I wish I was going, but I will watch it live. :agree: I like sitting in the corner.

 

[Mrs. P]

Maybe it would be worth doing something in Montreal after Thursday pm practices?

There is also a big gap Saturday between men/pairs and dance/ladies.

Does anyone want to have a GS dinner to meet up?

There don't seem to be many great food options near the Place Bell, other than mall type stuff.

Open to suggestions and times Thurs Fri or Sat eves between events.

This pizza place looks good -- http://www.bottega.ca/welcome/

It's about a 20 minute walk, but we can share a taxi/uber if we need to get there faster.

They also take reservations...

But yeah, it seems the major clusters of restaurants require a taxi ride or a long-walk.

 

[4everchan]

the rink is conveniently located by a subway stop... but it's in the middle of nowhere... for dining or sightseeing, if you have time for that, just take the subway, going a few stops down you will be at Jean-Talon, near little Italy, Laurier/Mont-Royal, lots of options for dining and wining... Berri is right in Quartier Latin, and it's fun to walk, eat, drink on St-Denis. A couple stations later, Place-d'Armes, Square-Victoria and you are right in the old city....

All of this is on the Orange line, depending where you end up, 10 to 25 minutes from the rink by subway. Subway is 3.25$ so it's worth it getting out of Laval, which is otherwise a very boring city.

 

[Mrs. P]

^ Thanks for the info 4everchan.

I ended up booking lodging through airbnb near one of the Orange line stops. I'm not too far Little Italy. And there does seem to be a lot of great food options.

Based on the schedule, the options seem to be:
* Dinner in Montreal after practices Thursday
* Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch in Montreal before competition starts Friday or Saturday. (But this would require people missing warm-ups and I know some people do want to go to those)
* Early dinner in Laval Saturday between Men/Pairs FS and Free Dance/Ladies FS. We have a little over 2 hours (basically 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.), which I don't think is enough time to go to Montreal and back. This would strictly be about socializing and not eating amazing food anyway given the time constraints, lol.

I'm also up for nightcaps in the evening, but I have no clue how late bars open and the sessions don't end until the 11 p.m. hour.

 

[apgold]

^ Thanks for the info 4everchan.

I ended up booking lodging through airbnb near one of the Orange line stops. I'm not too far Little Italy. And there does seem to be a lot of great food options.

Based on the schedule, the options seem to be:
* Dinner in Montreal after practices Thursday
* Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch in Montreal before competition starts Friday or Saturday. (But this would require people missing warm-ups and I know some people do want to go to those)
* Early dinner in Laval Saturday between Men/Pairs FS and Free Dance/Ladies FS. We have a little over 2 hours (basically 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.), which I don't think is enough time to go to Montreal and back. This would strictly be about socializing and not eating amazing food anyway given the time constraints, lol.

I'm also up for nightcaps in the evening, but I have no clue how late bars open and the sessions don't end until the 11 p.m. hour.

I think having dinner in Little Italy would be fun, maybe Thurs night? I don't think we need to pick a place yet unless there is a large group.

Usually people tend to flake out on these types of get-togethers (I know from experience at last year's SA and SC in 2016) and only a handful wind up going. Just a heads up that I have dietary issues with most cheese and tomatoes, so I'd prefer an Italian place that serves more than just pizza.

I'm staying in Laval 2 subway stops from the Place Bell. Being a New Yorker, I love riding metros in other cities so I'm fine with traveling across the river.

 

[Mrs. P]

I think having dinner in Little Italy would be fun, maybe Thurs night? I don't think we need to pick a place yet unless there is a large group.

Usually people tend to flake out on these types of get-togethers (I know from experience at last year's SA and SC in 2016) and only a handful wind up going. Just a heads up that I have dietary issues with most cheese and tomatoes, so I'd prefer an Italian place that serves more than just pizza.

I'm staying in Laval 2 subway stops from the Place Bell. Being a New Yorker, I love riding metros in other cities so I'm fine with traveling across the river.

Thursday night sounds a good idea and yeah, we can just agree to meet at the arena and then head out from there.

 

[Haleth]

We'll be meeting friends from Ottawa for a meal at some point, so I'm not sure when that will happen yet, though I had given them Thursday night as one of the options. So I can't say for sure whether we'll be available.

I know that people on other social media sites are thinking of meeting up Sat and/or Sun evenings as well. There may be more casual "finding food together missions" during competitions as well.

I've been given a couple recommendations for ChinaTown from a local whose family eats there regularly, which we might use if we end up being tourists nearby, but I'll be looking the most for French-Canadian food like we enjoyed the last time we were in Montreal because I haven't had excellent examples of that since we were in QU and NS.

ETA: who am I kidding, I'd love to use those recommendations in Chinatown _and_ eat good French-Canadian food. With luck and the extra time we'll be in Montreal, maybe I'll get my wish

 

[Heleng]

I’m going! Decided after seeing Piper and Paul last weekend. I figured it’s my only chance to see their fantastic (IMO) programs live, since good GPF tix seem impossible right now (but please do alert me if you know of any that become available ). Attending with a friend who doesn’t follow figure skating (though doing my best to change that LOL), so only attending Fri/Sat events, no practices. Up for GS meetups, possibly Fri for lunch/brunch in Montreal before competition starts, and for sure Sat for dinner in between events. Looking forward to connecting with other GSers!

 

[4everchan]

those wanting to know about bars in montreal... they stay open until 2-3am... every night... so you don't need to worry if you want night caps... but for this you need to make sure you go to a bar... some pubs will close earlier... and some pubs will serve alcohol but no more food... however, thursday to saturday, things are open later.

Montreal is full of micro-pubs and breweries... just do some research ahead of time and you won't be thirsty.

as I will be home, i will excuse myself from gatherings... it's enough that I have to skip work to attend... i don't think i can justify extra time but the skating itself.

however, i remain available for specific questions.

What you may want to experience is a typical Montreal brunch... but that is tricky to plan as there are often line-ups to those places... so some may miss some of the skating... but on Sunday, if you went very early... as people tend to go a bit later, you may avoid the lines and make it just in time for the gala

 

[vla13]

I would love to meet up for dinner on Thu! I'm coming to SC by myself, and haven't been to a competition in years, so I would love to meet people to talk to.

 

[Haleth]

A local couple who we'll be meeting on Wed in Montreal for dinner also gave us some additional restaurant recs. Note that these are not necessarily anywhere near the rink, but if you go to Old Montreal or elsewhere they might come in handy:

http://www.gibbys.com

http://aubergesaint-gabriel.com

http://modavie.com <-- This one has live jazz or blues in the evenings!

I realize I forgot to add the Chinatown recs (dumplings) from other locals:

Mai Xiang Yuan https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g155032-d2172881-Reviews-Mai_Xiang_Yuan-Montreal_Quebec.html

Qing Hua https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g155032-d980531-Reviews-Qing_Hua_Dumpling-Montreal_Quebec.html

 

[Mrs. P]

I would love to meet up for dinner on Thu! I'm coming to SC by myself, and haven't been to a competition in years, so I would love to meet people to talk to.

Cool, so far, tenatatively, it's apgold, via13 and myself for Thursday night ! I hope others can join us.

Also, I saw there's a restaurant at the arena, I can check to see if it will be open in between sessions Saturday night --- would people be interested in a meet-up then?

Also...if anyone likes to run -- I'll probably be running everyday while I'm there. Can't wait to try different routes in Montreal!

And thanks for the recs, Haleth! I actually really am craving super crispy pan-fried noodles and hope to have some while I'm in town.

 

[Bookseller]

Cool, so far, tenatatively, it's apgold, via13 and myself for Thursday night ! I hope others can join us.

Also, I saw there's a restaurant at the arena, I can check to see if it will be open in between sessions Saturday night --- would people be interested in a meet-up then?

Also...if anyone likes to run -- I'll probably be running everyday while I'm there. Can't wait to try different routes in Montreal!

And thanks for the recs, Haleth! I actually really am craving super crispy pan-fried noodles and hope to have some while I'm in town.

I will be at SCI with my friend Missing and would love to join the Thursday night dinner gathering. So count us in!

 

[Haleth]

Cool, so far, tenatatively, it's apgold, via13 and myself for Thursday night ! I hope others can join us.

Also, I saw there's a restaurant at the arena, I can check to see if it will be open in between sessions Saturday night --- would people be interested in a meet-up then?

Also...if anyone likes to run -- I'll probably be running everyday while I'm there. Can't wait to try different routes in Montreal!

And thanks for the recs, Haleth! I actually really am craving super crispy pan-fried noodles and hope to have some while I'm in town.

No problem!

Sadly I checked out the rink's steakhouse reservation system a few weeks ago and it looked like people already had booked it up during the breaks on Fri-Sat.

It looks like our friends are picking Wed night for our dinner, so Thursday evening looks more like a possibility for us. However, we had been thinking of going on the ghost walking tour in Old Montreal as a silly lark at 8:30 that night if the weather cooperates (though it looks like it might be too cold for doing a walking tour so we'll see). If we did go on that we'd want to eat early enough to get to the tour.

We're going to be staying in the Plateau district across the street from a Metro stop, so we would find it easy to to go somewhere near a stop, but we're open to taxi/Uber as well.

Otherwise, I know some people who were talking about a short dinner near the rink on Sat during the break, or something on Sunday (brunch or dinner) when there would be freedom.

Who will be going to morning practices on Thursday btw? I hope to make those...

 

[Mrs. P]

^ Ooohh walking tour of Montreal sounds kind of fun and fall! I'd might be up for that. We could always go to a place in Old Montreal (and your recs are there)....

Less than a week to go (!)

I'm not going to the morning practices since I'll be flying in and meeting with a friend. I hope to catch some of the afternoone ones though!