Canada

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Did you solve the Montreal Mystery in my last blog post? Did you guess which Montreal mansion was the location for our decadent brunch?

Plaudits to Steph Sirois (@StefS31) and Linda Coffin who answered correctly that the mysterious Montreal mansion in the video is Mount Stephen Club! Both Steph and Linda have personal connections to the property, one from college reasearch and the other from growing up two blocks away... Bravo, Montrealophiles! (Shoot me your mailing addresses, and a prize will help you celebrate your smarts.)

The Mount Stephen Club occupies the late 19th century mansion of George Stephen, the co-founder of Canadian Pacific Railway. This extravagant home in Montreal's Golden Square Mile was architecturally inspired Italian Renaissance palaces. The interior is extravagantly finished in detailed Cuban mahogany, English walnut and exotic woods and boasts many marble mantles, stained glass glass windows, and grand staircase fit for royalty.

Montreal, Canada (Photo credit: Michel Filion)

Kristin Kizer posted a tidy sumary of Montreal's most noteworthy landmarks. (Did you know there's also a Montreal, Missouri and a Montreal, Wisconsin? We'll check them out another day. Kizer's landmarks are in Montreal, Canada, the largest city in Quebec province.) Just over an hour north of my home in Essex, New York, Montreal is an alluring and convenient destination for my wife and me. When we want a change from the Adirondacks' Champlain Valley, we head north for world class dining, concerts, art exhibitions, accommodations and cultural outings. We feel fortunate to live close enough to Montreal that we can meet friends for dinner or a concert and still drive home to sleep. But even if you live farther afield, check out these top Montreal landmarks to discover what you've been missing.

After Sunday's USA/Canada hockey game the web swelled with patriotic strutting, one-upmanship and friendly chiding. Americans find a unique pleasure in defeating Canadians in hockey, and our neighbors to the north are uncharacteristically proud and sensitive when it comes to their national sport. Amidst the post game chatter I'm drawn to the underlying dialogue, the familiar and yet surprisingly unfamiliar relationship that exists between us. Tom Brokaw's mini-expose which aired on NBC before the opening ceremonies is an intriguing fragment of this dialogue.