I'm getting tired of people trying to rip me off!

Well, the luxury of the Montreal Sheraton is long behind us as we sit in our cabin in PEI, listening to the rain fall. We had fun in Montreal, but we really didn't do too much. Brendan hasn't been feeling well, so we stayed around the hotel a lot more than we normally would have. We did manage to go to the underground city (shopping and restaurants) and the Biodome. I think we all needed the down time to rest, watch a movie or two (the Game Plan was funny) and just chill out. We walked around the city a bit and the boys took me out for my Mother's Day dinner. We went to this great Indian buffet, called the Maharajah. It was amazing! We found it in a magazine in our hotel room and the hotel guys said it was the best choice for something different to eat. There were well over 100 things to choose from and even Dylan liked it! We tried all different kinds of curry, rices, soups, salad and grill items. Dylan came back with one plate full of food that reminded me so much of what he used to eat in Turkey - cucumbers, rice, chicken on a skewer and naan bread.
The funny thing about Montreal is how much of a "big" city it is in comaprison with Toronto and Vancouver. It has a very different mentality and it reminded me a lot of London. Someone is always trying to rip you off, the downtown core is filled with clubs, strip bars, restaurants and everyone is smoking! There are always sirens going, homeless people fighting with tourists and police are everywhere. (Oddly, none of this made me feel unsafe the way Niagara Falls did.) We ventured out one day in search of some really good poutine. Dylan had googled and researched the best places to try, but one of the guys at the hotel told us there was a better place and we could walk to it instead of taking the Metro. We found the place with no problem and ordered two big plates of poutine and some root beer (now when I lived in Montreal, I remember poutine and a pint of beer, but times have changed). I got a great picture with the thumbs up from everyone - and then they took the first bite... and there were two big thumbs down. It never crossed my mind that there was a significant difference in poutine out west and the real, authentic stuff. Westernized poutine is made with beef gravy and the real stuff is made with chicken gravy. Two very disappointed boys trailed behind me on the way back to the hotel and even a stop for some ice cream didn't really cheer them up.
After three days of chilling out we packed up and called for a taxi to take us back to the train station. We piled into the cab, and we were off (it's about a 5 min car ride), but our driver never turned on his meter. I pointed this out and he informed me (in french) that it was broken. The french was for the benefit of the english speaking tourist, because when were loading our luggage in to the car, he was talking on his phone in english. I didn't say anything because I had my receipt in my wallet from the cab ride that had taken us from the station to our hotel when we arrived. So, we get to the station and he says to me that $10 would be fine. I mentioned back (in english) that it had only cost me $5 for the same trip 3 days earlier and I would be happy to show him my receipt from one of his fellow drivers. He said he didn't understand what I was saying, so I mustered up enough french to clearly get my point across and he interrupted me (now in english) to tell me, "but you have luggage". I felt the need to point out that I also had luggage on the first trip, and on that trip the driver had loaded it in to his trunk and unloaded it to the lobby of our hotel, unlike this trip where I had loaded all the luggage myself. I told him that I felt $5 would be fine for our trip. There was some more french/english conversation exchanged and I paid $5 for our cab ride. Why can't people just be nice?
I am currently having a battle with Budget car rental who informed me the reservation page I have (from making my reservation on their 1-800 #) is incorrect and my car is really going to cost an extra $400. Of course it's the long weekend now and we can't do anything until Tuesday, so things are temporarily on hold. Seriously, why can't people just be nice? How many millions of dollars is Budget making in a year? They can't just honour a reservation and yell at their employees later?
My annoyance with people was stalled in its tracks when we arrived in PEI at our campground and the very nice couple who own the place were here to greet us. Not only that, but Marlene had made some homemade chocolate chip cookies for the boys because she thought they would be missing the comforts of home after so long on the road. Now, these are nice people.

When we drove across Confederation Bridge and arrived on the Island, the first thing Brendan said was, "this looks just like Westham Island". I had to laugh, because it really did! It is cool how all the dirt is red, though. It is very picturesque and quaint, and tiny. When we drove across the bridge, we could see both ends of the Island! Their highway is like Hwy 10, but with many dirt sections and all the roads are little country roads, with happy little names and if you need to go somewhere, you will be given directions like "turn left at the white house and drive until you pass the church." The funniest thing we've seen so far is a sign that says "caution, church traffic". It was a real, gov't issued road sign, but the kicker was that the church couldn't have held more than 100 people!
After we settled in to our one room cabin (it is very Little House on the Prairie here), we went in search of groceries. We were directed to the grocery store in the next town over. It was a little co-op store and we picked up our supplies for the next few days. Back to camp we came and made our dinner (pork chops, rice and corn) in the little lodge on the property. I got some laundry going, the kids explored in the rain, and now everyone is tucked in bed and (dare I say?) happy.
Now it's time for me to turn out my lantern (I'm not kidding), before the computer dies, and go to sleep. I get to listen to the sound of rain on the pond and the roof as I drift off and contemplate how we will experience Island life tomorrow.

ps - no, there are still no pictures :(