Despite Frigid Temperatures, Montreal is Hot

Temperatures in Montreal were below zero last weekend and the snow was a foot high, but the city was nevertheless the hot spot for Harvard students during intersession.

Why did so many students decide to make the trek across the Canadian border?

One reason for the town's popularity is that its drinking age is 18. Harvard students were more than happy to take advantage of Montreal's night-life.

"Montreal has a great bar scene--lots of places, lots of character," says James S. F. Wilson '00, who visited the town with his friends during intersession.

Harvard undergrads were happy to take part in bar festivities.

"At one of the clubs they were having a series of contests," says one Harvard traveler who wished to remain anonymous. "One [contest] was a request for the biggest bra size. At first I ignored it. When the biggest size they could get was 34B, I said 'That's really pathetic.' I won a bottle of rum for the contest. I met a lot of new friends that way."

Although some students were happy that they could legally watch Superbowl XXXI in a sports bar, others felt that going to Montreal was the only way to escape the game's hype.

"The only way you can get away from the Super Bowl is to go to Canada," Wilson says.

Other students say they were disappointed by their club experience. Nancy G. Lin '99 and her friends looked forward to the club scene, but soon realized that not all clubs in Canada were for them.

"There's this area in Montreal called the village," Lin recalls. "Someone recommended the Sky Club. We didn't know it was gay. We walked in and everyone was male. There was a male dancer in boxers on the stage."

In addition to the club scene, students also say that they went to Montreal in search of high-quality Cuban cigars, which are illegal in the United States.

But students did not only go to Montreal to get around U.S. laws.

According to visitors, the city also has a lot of fun tourist spots, including an archaeology museum in Old Montreal.

"It was underground," describes Lin. "You basically walk around and you see old walls and foundations and pipe systems of Old Montreal."

Triada Stampas '98 and her friends went to the Biodome, an indoor simulation of four different habitats which housed several different animals including penguins and sea otters.

Most students say they drove to Montreal for the vacation.

"We thought a road trip would be fun." said Lori A. Ricard '99.

But driving for Wilson and his friends was not as fun as they had expected. The group almost had to pay $1200 for allegedly jumping the border.

"When we arrived there was no one at the post," Wilson says. "I pulled into the parking lot. A friend of mine went to the bathroom. I asked if they wanted to check our passport. The man looked at me funny and told me I had jumped the border. We were supposed to stay on the other side of the border. He ended up letting us go without paying the fine."