In July of 2002, following the annual summer work conference, Sean and I vacationed in Montreal. On the first day of our vacation - also Sean's birthday - our digital camera was stolen, along with all of its extra lenses and attachments. Things went downhill from there. On our last day in Canada, the stress of events preceding and during the vacation caught up with me and caused serious concern (read: bleeding and cramping) for our 16-week-old pregnancy. This was not helped by the difficulty in getting out of Montreal due to four canceled departing flights and multiple trips through Customs.
Please note, the security personnel at the Montreal airport thoroughly rifled through my unopened package of fig newtons, yet failed to discover the box cutter (a conference setup necessity) in Sean's carry-on baggage. Isn't that the type of instrument that led to these heightened security procedures in the first place?
Fortunately, we made it home, 13 hours later than expected and very worn out but otherwise okay. There were zero hostile in-flight incidents involving baked goods, thanks to Zippy the Wonder Guard's conscientious search of my fig newtons. After he handled them, I didn't want to touch them, much less eat them.
If you're interested in seeing some photos taken during our forays around Montreal, please email me for the link. (We bought a new, improved digital camera shortly after the discovering the theft of the original one.) The sights that touched me during that week represented the strangeness and decay of the city as well as some unexpected parallels to our personal lives at the time, so the photos and corresponding comments reflect that.
The Montreal tourist bureau would probably not approve.
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