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TOUR OF MONTREAL

The Grayline tour of Montreal we took was excellent.  Next to our bus, greeted by my blue-bar pigeon and friends. Tour guide. There are "small" bumblebees in downtown Montreal with a story. Three founders of Alveole were beekeepers.   To bridge the gap between city dwellers and nature, they built a rooftop hive, starting with 10,000 bumblebees and a queen.  In mid-summer, the population grows to 50,000. They pollinate the flowers of  downtown Montreal. Are docile and do not sting people. Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral. Notre-Dame Basilica. The English Pug and French Poodle. Next, Chinatown. More of Montreal. Yes, a McDonald's. Stopped by a shopping area. More of Montreal. Approaching Olympic stadium where the 1976 Summer Olympics were held. McGill University. Definitely a university city.   McGill, at #27, has the highest world ranking.  Enrollment: Université de Montréal (UdeM) : ~66,972 students (includes affiliated schools) Concordia University...
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AMERICA'S BEST COLLEGES, 2026-2027 and NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK ZERO: Hawaii vs Stanford

Yes, we're still on our total eclipse trip, but that was two weeks ago.  Since then, our Azamara Journey found its way to Montreal, and we are enjoying what this city has to offer.  I'll report on our city tour we took yesterday, tomorrow.  For today, this is Week Zero of NCAA football, and as Hawaii plays Stanford today, thought I'd compare how these two universities compare. I went to Stanford, and graduated in 1962 in chemical engineering.  Read my posting of 2June2026, which describes my academic life .  Even though I was born and grew up in Honolulu, I never took a course at the University of Hawaii.  However, after I graduated from LSU with a PhD in biochemical engineering, I returned home, and now have had had an office on the main Manoa Campus for just about exactly 54 years, from August of 1972 to 2026.  As Hawaii plays football at Stanford today, I thus am linking this game to what is described in the title above. On 25August2026, Time magazi...

ALL ABOUT MONTREAL

 Montreal: Is an island, the meeting point of the Saint Lawrence River and Ottawa River. One of 234 Hochelaga Archipelago. 193 square miles. 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Connected by 20 bridges. Is the second-largest city in Canada next to Toronto. Toronto:  3.3 million residents, over 6.6 million in the Greater Toronto Area. Montreal:  1.7 million, about 4.3 million in the total metro area. Montreal is 315 miles east northeast of Toronto, 122 miles west of the national capital, Ottawa, and 160 miles southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City. Takes name from Mount Royal, a triple-peaked mountain around which this settlement grew. 90% are fluent in French, and 59% can speak both French and English. Is #2 to to Paris in French-speaking population.  You'd never guess the #3 city of Francophobes?  Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Named UNESCO City of Design in 2006.  There are two others, in Berlin and Buenos Aires. 12th mos...