#MavericksInCanada Blog: Post #3
by Matt Smith
Bonjour, it's your host with the most, Matthew Smith. It's been a fantastic third day in the beautiful city of Montreal.
The day started the same as the first two. A traditional Canadian hotel breakfast buffet: hot dogs. In all seriousness, I have no idea whether that is traditional or not, but hot dogs have been breakfast twice now.
Anyway, after breakfast we went up to the hotel's penthouse to do some pool recovery. It is quite a view from the penthouse balcony. On the east balcony, we look up and see Mount Royal filled with trees accompanied by spotted French architecture. On the west balcony, we enjoy the scene of the city.
With an afternoon free of soccer, a couple of guys and I were able to explore some of the city. I wish I could tell you exactly what all the stores and signs were...but quite frankly, I don't speak French. All I can say is this city is very beautiful and well-treated. The streets and sidewalks are very clean, there are more bicycles than cars, and the buildings are architecturally pleasing. I hope that paints somewhat of a picture as to where we are for the folks back home. And if it hasn't, I guess Google Images works too.
Back to the soccer scene, we kicked off against another CS team. Towards the end of the first half,
Elvir Ibisevic had a monster header off of a
Diego Gutierrez cross. What a dynamic duo those two are, let me tell ya! The score remained 1-0 at the end of full-time to make our Canadian record 3-0.
Last but not least, it was dinner time. Fortunately we were able to stray away from our ever-so-healthy diets tonight due to our day off tomorrow. A few teammates and I went to the A&W for two reasons: 1) It was a really close walk from our hotel, and 2) We wanted to try the classic Canadian dish called poutine. Poutine, which is native to Quebec, consists of French fries, cheese curds and brown gravy. I'm not sure why the U.S. hasn't adopted poutine yet, but I sure wish we had.
My blog has come to an end. I hope I've given you a couple of non-soccer related things about our trip. After all, it isn't all about soccer; it's a great experience for all of us to see a different country and experience a different culture. We wouldn't have had this opportunity if it wasn't for the friends, family and fans back home who have shown so much support and excitement for our program. With that said, our team is extremely grateful for everything you guys have made possible for us.
Matthew Smith here signing off. Au revoir!
Check out previous entries from the #MavericksInCanada blog below:
#1 -- Bonjour, Montreal! (June 26, Stevie Siy)
#2 -- A Visit to Saint-Hubert (June 27, Diego Gutierrez)
For more from the Mavericks' training tour of Canada, follow Omaha Men's Soccer on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
