Category: travels

This morning, before we left Port Antonio, Marlene made this terrific Jamaican breakfast for us: callaloo with saltfish and freshly fried Johnny cakes 🙂

Today we took a trip to the top of the Blue Mountains and then biked all the way down to thunderous waterfalls. The Blue Mountains, clothed in lush green trees and shiny tropical plants, are named after the soft mist that crowns them permanently.

These majestic mountains, Jamaica’s longest range which includes its highest peak, remain relatively untouched on account of the narrow, winding roads that few are bold enough to navigate. Yet they are studded with tiny yellow and orange houses, folded neatly into the greenery, with what must be vertiginous views.

On our way to the top, we passed through Charles Town and I saw a sign for the Maroon Museum. Jamaican Maroons are the descendants of African slaves who escaped and established free communities up in the mountains. Jamaican slaves revolted and fled with such frequency that the British were forced to free them in order save their sugar business from constant disruptions. “The forests offered the Maroons everything they needed for their survival. They developed strong spiritual connections with the mountains, still manifest through the intangible cultural legacy of religious rites, traditional medicine and dances.”

We were shown a house where Obeah is still practiced, a belief system similar to Haiti’s Voodoo. It has been criminalized by law for hundreds of years as the Church considers it black magic. However, many Jamaicans are trying to get these anachronistic laws repealed. They see them as a throwback to the country’s colonial past.

After a busy day, we were lucky to come home to delicious beef curry, vegetable rice, potatoes and plantains all prepared for us by the lovely Marlene. Port Antonio has been full of charm and comfort. Tomorrow we’re off to Montego Bay.

One more thing that blew my mind was Cité Mémoire, a project by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon. For the next four years, Old Montreal’s building facades, cobblestone streets and trees will be lit with multimedia projections inspired by the history of the city. Each projection can be activated by anyone using a cellphone app. My favorite, by far, is an Algonquin creation myth which comes to life in a narrow, cobblestone alley off of St Paul. As the story is narrated on one’s phone, accompanied by rhythmic indigenous songs and music, the street fills with seawater churned by breaking waves, ocean foam, and schools of tiny fish. The projections are interactive. If one decides to wade into the water flowing under one’s feet, swaths of red are left behind before they merge back into the dancing water. Towards the end of the story, living and breathing algae and colorful vegetation seem to bloom into the alley. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Teaser – Cité Mémoire 2016 from Montréal en Histoires on Vimeo.

The two flights to Montreal weren’t that great – tiny, shaky planes and lots of motion sickness and Dramamine for me. My hotel however is dope. Le Cantlie is situated in the middle of downtown, on Sherbrooke, right on the edge of McGill’s main campus.

I checked in around 5:30pm and met Pierre, my guide, soon after. He explained the city’s layout: the St Lawrence river forms its southern most border, Old Montreal sits on top of it, followed by downtown, and then the mountains. The city is named after a three-headed hill called Mount Royal. Its old port was considered the gateway to America and it transformed Montreal into a thriving commercial hub.

My first impression, after having adjusted to the serious level of cold that’s already entrenched here, was how artistic the city is. Every quartier or neighborhood is designed by different architects and artists based on their own unique vision of what the financial or entertainment or cultural centers of the city should look like. From buildings and public art, to benches, streets lights and trash cans – everything’s designed meticulously around ideas of community usage and engagement and a cohesive aesthetic mission. For example, a side street that was used for truck deliveries, Ruelle des Fortifications, was converted into a glass-covered promenade in 1992. It now links several historical buildings that have been renovated, creating a beautiful indoor village.

After the Royal Bank left Old Montreal for downtown in 2010, its magnificent Tower, which used to be Canada’s tallest landmark at one point, was left sad and abandoned. Not for long. The opulence of the building was preserved (down to its teller windows, beautiful floor tiles, intricately carved gold doors and sparkly chandeliers) when it opened this year as Crew Collective & Café. The cafe is great but what I loved even more was how start-ups, entrepreneurs and artists can rent space at affordable rates in the same building, whether for an office or a small meeting room paid for by the hour. It’s all about community.