irena and i picked a weekend in late october to visit our friends in montreal. mag’s married french man luis a few years ago, after studying abroad in the south of france and falling madly in love. they recently moved state-side (kinda) and we figured it would be a lovely time of year for a visit to our now northern living friends. i took the 10 hour train ride up from grand central direct to montreal. amtrak had their viewing train hitched to the front, so i basically had my face plastered to the window for the majority of those 10 hours, ooing and ahhhing over the reds, oranges and yellows that filled the country-side with warm autumnal hues. i even caught up on some much needed sleep on that train! irena flew and we met at our friend’s house. we spent the weekend mostly eating…because that’s what we do best! we explored markets, sipped coffee in many a cafe, and cooked dinner on our last night together. on our way home, we stopped in vermont and ate at a cafe recommended by a friend, toured the ben & jerry’s ice cream factory and tasted every beer at the magic hat brewing company. i’m still full thinking of that weekend!
how much?
one way amtrack ticket from grand central to montreal: $62
3 day subway pass: $14 (US dollars can be used interchangeably at grocery stores, cafes, subways…no real need to change $)
car rental in vermont: $33 plus $6 gass = totally worth having a car and exploring the city when split with a friend
ben $ jerry’s tour: $3 (though it could have been free had we checked into foursquare.com before our visit…!)
overnight greyhound bus back to ny (which was quite interesting!): $52
of course there was money spent on dinners and drinks and such, but montreal is totally affordable and an easy weekend trip from the city!
passport to eat 
mmmm everything looks so adventurous, tasty, and affordable! 🙂