We got to stay at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. I was SO excited about staying at this hotel. I had been in 4 other Fairmonts across Canada on previous trips and knew they are spectacular hotels. Unfortunately, this one did not live up to the others. It is no where near the level of hotel as the Castle in Banff or Chateau on Lake Louise. It doesn't even match-up to the Fairmonts in Jasper or Whistler. But, it was a fine, even a very nice hotel. Just not as grand as I had hoped.
The hotel was COVERED in NHL All-Star decor. Even my hotel room card key was decked out.
One night, I came home to find this sticker on my TV...advertising that we could, indeed, get the NHL Network.
From my room, I had a nice view of downtown and a pretty cathedral across the street.
Here is the front of the cathedral at night.
During the All-Star week, my NHL duties were very similar to that of last year. My schedule was different than a normal work week, but light...no more than 7 hours a day and as little as 3 hours (and I still get 2 bonus vacation days for working only 3 hours on Saturday & Sunday!!). Some days, I would work the late afternoon/evening shift and other days I would work the morning shift. We alternated so that I would work an evening and the very next morning and then have 24 hours off before I had to return. Like last year, I was basically helping keep track of VIP transportation. We all felt that the transportation office was less busy than last year. Plus, they had more people working. So, I felt like I had less to do, which was a little disappointing. I still enjoyed it, though. A few fun stories from the transportation office:- I got to help schedule transportation for 2 actors....Lauren Holly and David Boreanz.
- I also scheduled transportation for many hockey players and team owners, including Dallas' All-Star Mike Modano and owner Tommy Hicks (JR, the son, who is quite cute)! I even got to talk to Tommy briefly one day when he stopped by our office to check on their transportation to the airport going home. He wanted to do a drive-by Schwartz' Deli to pick up food for their private plane. We weren't really able to do things like that, so had to tell him no. He was cool about it and scheduled himself a separate car to take him to get the food for everyone on his plane. He sat in our office for about 20 minutes taking care of all that. I thought his Cowboy boots with the Dallas Stars logo on the shins were a little much! Also, the HUGE gold ring with a star on it! Tommy also ended up sitting behind me at the game on Sunday night!
- The car drivers (all volunteers, mostly hockey lovers) often came into the office VERY excited about the players they got to pick up in their car. One day, a driver walks in and the dispatcher asked him, "So, did you get anyone good yesterday." And the driver responded, totally serious, "Yeah, I got the VP of Finance"!!! That, you see, would be one of my bosses! I laughed SO hard and so did my bosses when I told them the story.
On Wednesday-Sunday, breakfast and lunch were provided for all staff in a room in the hotel. I ate there several times, depending on my schedule. It was very convenient to have the food right there when working, but I really prefer to get out and experience the city I'm in, rather than be stuck inside eating hotel food! Some of it was pretty good, though.
I ordered room service for dinner twice. The night we arrived and got in around 9pm, I was starving and ordered then. I also ordered the next night when I had to work until 9pm and had to be back the next morning at 8am. I've never ordered room service where they wheel an entire table into your room...complete with fresh flowers! This Greek salad wasn't nearly what I'd hoped for....but, I had read about their creme brulee and had to try it....fantastic! 
On Friday night, we had dinner at Le Queue de Cheval with NHL finance people. Le Queue de Cheval is an excellent steak restaurant that was located near our hotel. One of my bosses, Mary, invited me to go with a small group - I had to work until 10pm that night, but Mary said their reservations were at 9:30 and they'd barely be starting by 10. I was so glad I got to go! It was really good food & wine and a very fun night. When I arrived, they were just finishing up appetizers, so I missed out on just that. My filet mignon was so good! We also had great sides to share. The restaurant was filled with hockey folks. One table over was Pat LaFontaine, who used to play for the NY Islanders, among other teams. Pat now has an organization where he is building activity rooms in children's hospitals....really nice rooms with tvs, games, etc.... His thing is to build a room in each city where the All-Stars game is held, so he was in Montreal to unveil the new room there - a big publicity gig. He was sitting with some of his friends/family, as well as the man who is the NHL liaison for Pat's organization. The NHL guy works on my floor, so I know him slightly. Mary knows him and had met Pat several times, so on her way to the bathroom, she stopped by their table to say hello. Well, at my table were 2 guys who grew up on Long Island, thus they are Islander fans and huge LaFontaine fans. So, Mary asked Pat if he would stop by our table to say hello. So, on their way out, they did! My boss, Brian, shook his hand and said, "You're a big fan of mine!" It was soooo funny! Brian turned it around pretty quickly and said, "IF you knew me, you really would be a big fan!" We laughed so hard and forsee that story being told around the office for a long time! Pat's table had a birthday cake brought to their table - the waiters did a very loud song/chant thing with a cake with a sparkler on top. We commented that it looked fun and joked that someone at our table should be having a party. But, we didn't do that and just ordered 3 desserts to share. When Pat stopped by our table, we asked whose birthday it was and he said no one, but he always makes it someone's birthday at that restaurant because it is such a show! Then he commented that it could also be someone's birthday at our table! They left, we got our 3 desserts. Then, came out the birthday cake for Mary -- Pat had told the staff on his way out. It was hilarious! When we got back to the hotel, we stopped by the bar in the lobby to have a drink and say hello to other NHL folks hanging out there. I didn’t stay long – I had already had way too much wine and had to be at work at 8:00 the next morning. It was a late night, but well worth the fun.
All the workers/volunteers for the week were given an entire wardrobe. Many people had jobs outside or highly visible jobs. I did not, so I didn't need to ever wear this stuff. It was an amazing amount that I got that I will never wear....I think I may try to sell it all on ebay!
There was a hat, a short-sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a polo shirt, heavy duty gloves, a hockey puck, a fleece (which I LOVE and will wear), and a scarf!
I thought it would be funny to put on all the outer wear at once and model it. Notice that every piece has the All-Star logo on it!
Here's an outtake when I didn't beat the camera timer!
So, that's how I lived and worked in Montreal. More posts to come on my explorations of Montreal and the All-Star festivities I got to attend.
Central Park bench
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Tonya....is this right?
I liked the guitar much better, but I sure
Toby, Tamara, Jenn, and Todd look
The boys playing with their
Sunday was Jessica's birthday so we went to brunch that morning. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was really cute and great food! We also went and did some shopping on South Congress which was fun. I am still not sure that I made the right decision to not buy an awesome vintage coat I tried on.
