Intro
Since living in Europe I have always had an admiration for what goes on overseas and the "bigger" picture of the world. I tend to think of myself as a connector and have been introduced to some great people in my life both inside and outside of work. In mid summer I had a friend, Ruth whom I have known for about 10 years come into town for a visit and to run a half marathon. She is a great person and has her foot firmly in the international door of aviation. Needless to say during her visit she mentioned an upcoming aviation assembly that would be taking place in Montreal Canada in late September and told me that I should attend. A good buddy of mine was there when she made the offer and he said he would like to attend also and needless to say we were able to make it happen. In my job we are afforded to training flights a year when we ride in the cockpit and discuss issue and ask questions to pilots and they do the same to us as we fly across country. As luck would have it the year before I scheduled a training flight the year before during the start time of the upcoming conference in Montreal so I was able to attend with minimal hassle. We had to go through a credentialing process and Ruth and one of her contacts helped us obtain sponsorship through one of the international labor organizations and we were set! We would not be able to attend the entire event but even a day or two was great for me because the exposure and experience was invaluable for me. There would be 192 different countries represented at this conference which housed at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) HQ in Montreal and I felt like a kid in a candy store.
Burlington
Due to regulations I had to fly into Burlington VT and rent a car and make the 2 hour drive into Montreal. This was fine for me because I had never been to VT before and I was looking forward to seeing something different and this time of year the weather was perfect. I arrived around 9 am on Sunday morning and Tom was not scheduled to get in until around 4:30 that afternoon so I had some time to kill and check out VT. I was tired from the "red eye" connection I had through Newark and decided to check Airbnb to see if I could find a place to rest for a few hours. Everything worked out great I was able to find a place close to the airport and downtown I only had to pay $35 and I had a place to relax after the nights travels. I headed into downtown Burlington around 1 p.m. and checked out Church Street which is the main street in downtown with sidewalk cafes, shops and local establishments with people outside enjoying Sunday brunch. It seemed cold to me and chances are the weather was in the low 60's but that did not stop anyone from enjoying the fresh air outside as they sipped coffee or had a mimosa with brunch. The town is beautiful and with Lake Champlain views from the side streets and the leaves starting to change colors I knew I was in New England. If you're ever in the area I recommend checking out Church Street and downtown Burlington. Seems like a small version of Portland OR and had a vibe of the Pacific NW to me with one of the local shops being the Vermont Flannel Company I think you would agree. The people seemed to have a similar au natural style no make-up and the "hipster" flare. I did hear a few people speaking French and I could sense the European influence in the area. I also found a couple french speaking radio stations which was a unique touch considering in CA and TX the only other thing I heard was Spanish on the radio. Speaking of radio something was brought up to me and as I made my travels I have to say I agree with the following; I thought country music / radio stations was a stereotype living in a small Texas town. I just assumed because I was from Texas that is why they were playing country music and I have come to realize the stereotype is more of a rural stereotype than a Texas stereotype. Every smaller community I have traveled to in the U.S. from the NE to the West Coast and the South has it's fair share of country stations and it seems to me to resonate with the rural areas as oppose to being a Southern or Western stereotype.
Bienvenue Montreal
Tom arrived around 5pm and was hungry and it was Sunday so we decided to stop watch a little football and eat and then hit the road. Needless to say we did not get on the road towards Montreal until around 7:30 or 8. Our border crossing only took about 10 minutes and was nothing like the experience I had a couple months ago when we took the bus from Seattle to Vancouver. I printed out some directions just in case and sure enough the map on my Iphone literally stopped working at the Canadian border. It would still show where we were on the map but the actual directions did not work. Most of the signs were in French but we managed to find out way to the Marriott located in downtown and get checked in by 10:30 on Sunday evening. It actually felt like we were in a different country unlike Vancouver which just seemed to me to be an extension of Washington state. We cleaned up and wanted to check out the town since Monday was a registration day for us we did not have to be up very early. We asked around and ended up taking a cab to Rue Crescent (Crescent Street) it was in the low 50's and the wind chill made it feel cooler. We were both hungry and ended up getting a full meal around 11:15 in the evening which you can't do in the states at that time of night. There was not much else open but the place we stopped at seemed to be the only thing going and it had a good crowd. They had heaters and blankets but we ended up opting for seats inside. There were people outside drinking eating and enjoying themselves and they acted like it was just another day. It was COLD!
Busy Monday
Ruth came by the hotel lobby to pick us up at 11 and we headed out to get something to eat and head over to the ICAO HQ which was just a few blocks from our hotel on Rue University. Ruth took us to a traditional Montreal smoked meat restaurant for lunch and it was amazing! Luckily we arrived around 11:15 before the lunch rush and the tour buses but by the time we left the place was packed with a line outside. The place we ate was called Montreal Brisket http://www.briskets.ca/home.
We headed from there to the HQ building which was impressive to say the least. Ruth took us behind the scenes and we were able to help her sort some of the agenda items that were up for discussion at the assembly and one of the major topics was the environment and "greener" and more efficient earth friendly methods in the aviation industry. The building was probably 15 floors and housed many different organizations and countries. ICAO is made up of 191 member states and is to the world what the Federal Aviation Administration is to the U.S. Taken directly from Wikipedia "The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure,flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation." The assembly that we were attending meets every 3 years to discuss different items and issues and make changes as needed to evolve and move the aviation industry forward. We were able to get our credentials as observers to attend the assembly through the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Association. This place reminded me of the United Nations building in New York and the conference rooms had ear pieces you could wear to hear the translation from one of 4 other languages (French, Arabic, Russian, Chinese) into English. It was really quite a neat ordeal and I was so thankful to get the opportunity to see it first hand.
We finished up and took a walk down to the "old port" section of the city which reminded me a little bit of New Orleans as far as set up or layout is concerned but much different in atmosphere and the people. There was a walking street that had cobblestones and many shops, bars and restaurants. We wondered through the old port and saw the sights and ended up close to where we started at the W Hotel which has a great happy hour! They have $5 drinks in the hotel bar and the Canadian dollar is on par with the U.S. dollar so it worked out to be a good deal. We ended up heading back to the hotel and relaxing and then headed out a little later and got a bite to eat and ended up watching Monday Night football at a very nice restaurant bar called Houston's located adjacent to the W Hotel. Everyone that worked there seemed to be so friendly and the crazy thing about it was they were allowed to drink and visit with the patrons while working?? I guess the relaxed Canadian attitude that we always hear about really was true. I recommend both places if in Montreal and you need a spot to relax. They told us about another area called Boulevard Saint-Laurent which was another area of Montreal that had bars and restaurants etc. that sounded cool as well.
Opening Day of ICAO A38 Session (Tuesday September 24, 2013)
Tom and I headed over around 1030 to the ICAO HQ with our credentials in hand it was a good thing because the place was crawling with people inside and outside top to bottom. The main Assembly hall was packed as well as the balcony overlooking the venue. They had overflow seating in conference rooms adjacent to the assembly hall and they needed all the extra space they had. Tom and I saw a few people we recognized the F.A.A. administrator Michael Huerta the secretary of Transportation Anthony Fox and the NTSB secretary Deb Hersman whom Tom recognized from national T.V. because she is always interviewed after major accidents and incidents giving the NTSB perspective. We were able to score a couple seats in the lower section on the back row right in front of the translators booth's and we needed the ear piece because the Premier of Quebec, Pauline Marois gave a speech as well as the mayor of Montreal. There were some true heavy hitters in the room and we were able to sit back and observe it all...one of the things that stood out to me was when Premier Marois made reference to Quebec basically succeeding from Canada. I have heard this before and not that it would actually happen but just the mentality was surreal to me! We broke for lunch and went to a luncheon provided by the dignitaries of Nigeria and they gave a speech as well. It was really very interesting to me and we had a great time! We had a mid day break and came back to follow up on the afternoon session before breaking for the day. We were only able to attend on the opening day because we had to fly out on Wednesday.
One of the interesting things that happens daily after each session is an evening party or reception hosted by different countries from around the world. I heard many stories from different people about which ones were the best (Singapore, Italy, etc.) but we were only able to attend the first one and it was the Pan-Asian reception hosted by Singapore, Korea, Australia and India. The food was amazing and they had servers in traditional clothing which added to the already great atmosphere. We were both able to do some great networking and meet some high ranking people in the aviation community we talked to the FAA Administrator Huerta for a while and the directorate of ICAO as well as many other influential people. I love networking and this was the perfect place to do just that!
Tom and I stopped by the W on our way home for cocktail and then called it day. One of the things I learned from the wait staff is they stay open however late they need to in order to keep the business. If they have no customers at midnight they leave but they can stay open up until 3 am daily which is far later than we do it in the states.
Return Trip
We had mid afternoon flights out of Burlington and check out the Marriott around 8 and made our way South back to the U.S. our return trip across the border was just as easy with no issues. We stopped at a small town diner on the Canadian side of the border and had some breakfast and were at the airport noon. I was able to catch an earlier flight out through Chicago and Tom went through Washington. We were both on Flight Deck Training (ride in the cockpit) to discuss and observe the pilots perspective which is always neat to me. It was a great way to spend two days off and to get to see and do things that most don't get the chance to do. To bad the ICAO assembly is only held every 3 years. I look forward to the next one and somehow I want to find a way to stay for the entire two weeks next time! I enjoyed the Northeast and would love to go back in the fall and stay longer but I would rather take a little bit than nothing at all...
Notes
Holder - A great place to eat when out and about website
Houston Bar and Grill - Another great place to check out website
Houston Bar and Grill - Another great place to check out website
Rue Cresent - Area for nightlife with food etc.
Restaurant Via 1418 Crescent Rue - Nice Lounge
Wunderbar in the W Hotel don't miss it!
http://wunderbarmontreal.com/index_e.html
Restaurant Via 1418 Crescent Rue - Nice Lounge
Wunderbar in the W Hotel don't miss it!
http://wunderbarmontreal.com/index_e.html
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