#concordia
Statua femminile di Concordia
I sec. d.C.
Napoli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Photo: © Luigi Spina
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Petit montage en boucle de la rotation de la sculpture cinétique “Di-Octo II” de Anthony Howe.
Cette oeuvre est à l'angle du bd De Maisonneuve Ouest et de la rue Mackay (Université Concordia).
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Small looping montage of the rotation of the kinetic sculpture “Di-Octo II” by Anthony Howe.
This work is on the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard West and Mackay Street (Concordia University).
Antonio Carneo (Concordia Sagittaria 1637 - Portogruaro 1692), Madonna with child and Saints, 17th century
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Cafe Castel
Location: 1015 Sherbrooke Street West
Metro Station: Peel
Attention all McGill students. This next one’s for you.
It was a cold fall’s day… a Friday… during my 4 hour break from school. I decided to go on an excursion to a new cafe… but things started going awry… Okay, I sound way too dramatic.
But really, I was never suppose to come here in the first place. I had decided to go to Humble Lion that day. I heard its a McGill student central since it’s right next to McGill… that shouldv’e been my first warning. What was I thinking? Going to Humble Lion on a Friday afternoon in the middle of midterms (sorry for mentioning the ‘m’ word in the during the holidays, won’t happen again, I promise). It was obviously full when I got there. I walked around, pretty disappointed. It was cold. And I had a heavy bag. And was desperate for some coffee.
On my way back to Concordia, I saw a shop with beautiful windows that drew me in: Cafe Castel. I decided to give it a try even though it wasn’t on my list at the time. It’s good to do things beyond lists sometimes.
Going in, I was surprised to see that the place offered a lot off seating.. with not many people inside. Compared to Humble Lion, it was pretty deserted. But this did not reflect the quality of the cafe.
I obviously sat next to the huge window, below the gorgeous skylight. The lightingin this cafe is definitely the highlight,haha, get it? Anyways, bad jokes set aside, this place is seriously beautiful. And their pretty latte art just made it even better! The barista caught me taking lots of pictures of their decor and really loved my photography: friendly staff! It’s always lovely to meet great baristas.
Another great aspect of this cafe is (probably) the food. It looked pretty good and whoever came in tended to get food instead of a drink. This said, it’s not your typical basic cafe, it’s more of an eating cafe… if that makes sense? Coffee’s good though, don’t worry. And it was a great place to study.
It’s also connected to a hotel, which is cool.
After visiting this cafe, I checked their location on Instagram and found out that it is in fact a well known cafe. Some of the pictures I saw had really cool latte art. Like bears and stuff. On your coffee. I hope I get a bear on my latte next time… Hope you get one too when you visit! ;)
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Location: 1250 Ontario St E
Metro Station: Beaudry
Ever since I was little, my grandmother would bake me this yellow dessert. She would call them Sfouf and would tell me she would always make them for my dad back in Lebanon. We are Armenian, but my dad’s side of the family is entirely from Lebanon. You can imagine how much of the Lebanese culture has stuck with my family and how much they enjoy recreating dishes and activities that remind them of their childhood. For me, “Sfouf” was more than just a dessert, but also a little memory I would always associate with my grand mother and my father.
When I heard that there was cafe in Montreal named “Sfouf”, I was definitely intrigued. I wondered if it was a coincidence, or if the owners intentionally wanted to name their cafe after a yellow dessert. When I saw their yellow logo, I knew it wasn’t an accident. I decided to go there myself and take a look at this original-sounding coffee shop located close to the Plateau.
Walking in, Sfouf looked like a normal indie coffee shop. Obviously, it looked unique with its beautiful decor but nothing too extravagantly different. It blended in nicely with the Montreal coffee scene.
I especially loved the plants that were decorating each corner of the cafe. Plants are very important to me as they liven up a space and make it feel like Summer despite Montreal’s cloudy weather.
There were many corners to this coffee shop. They have your usual huge desks that were filled with students & their laptops (including me). They have couches, great to hang out for some chit chat. And… they had a little corner for children! They call it “Le Petit Sfouf” and they have provided toys for kids to play with while their parents enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Very nice addition!
I ordered a cappuccino off of my Indie Coffee Passport and quickly opened my laptop to get some work done (AKA pretend to work while I take at least a hundred pictures of the coffee shop).
As I was “working”, the barista brought my *beautiful * cappuccino.. along with a piece of Sfouf! That’s right - they offer a free sampling of Sfouf with their drinks for those of you who are curious. And it was delicious.
I deeply appreciate coffee shops like this one. They have created a wonderful spot for Montrealers to hang out, all the while keeping their culture and spreading it around. Now more people will know about Sfouf! It definitely feels like the world knows about my little family story now. I will for sure bring my grandmother here one day.
Small tip: When you go, make sure you take a picture of their “corner” pictures below; it’s their most photographed corner!
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Darling
Location: 4328, boul. St-Laurent, Montreal
Metro Station: Mont Royal
End of April… marks the end of finals. School’s out!… Well only for about 3 days until I go to summer school.
Nonetheless, gives me enough time to explore my city without any pressure from my academic responsibilities!
Today, my boyfriend and I were planning on having a lunch type date in the Mile end until our plans miserably failed when we realized our chosen restaurant wasn’t going to open for another 4 hours. We decided to hop on a random bus on the corner of the street since it was pouring like crazy and we didn’t feel like staying out in the rain. We got off a stop when we started feeling like we knew the neighbourhood and ended up in the Plateau… again.
After finding a place to eat, we decided to walk around some new areas in the Plateau we hadn’t discovered yet. Although it was raining, breathing in fresh air was so refreshing considering we had been locked in our room the past 3 weeks trying to stuff 5 courses worth of information in our heads.
I felt like I was in a European dramatic movie - walking in the rain with a little umbrella with my favourite person, discovering places with nothing else in mind. Queue the Parisienne music.
We suddenly stumbled upon an exotic looking shop on the corner of a street. From the outside looking in, while we were dripping with water, we could see plants and wine and bright lights and greenery and comfortable couches and… coffee! Sold.
We went into the coffee shop and was immediately warmed with welcomes from the waiter. A coffee shop - but a different kind at that. The first thing that caught my eye was with no hesitation the lights on the ceiling. I don’t really know what the letters spell out, but they sure look aesthetically pleasing so I rolled with it.
The section next to the windows was very casual with the couches. There were mini candles decorating each table and plants flowing around every corner, making the space extra inviting - battling the coldness of the weather outside. As the Jazz music was playing in the background, we took a seat on the couches, avoiding the tables since we didn’t have laptops since we didn’t have school. Emphasis on the comfort!!! No school equals we can sit on the nice couches and relax.
I saw students around me on their laptops still working very hard on their studies… accompanied with their glasses of wine instead of the usual latte. I liked it. I love coffee but i live for these different little details in shops.
Let me explain the wine though, because it is a very important part of this “coffee shop”. It’s not really a “coffee shop”. It’s a hybrid. Half coffee shop, half bar. You heard that right. It’s also a bar. Order food, order alcohol, order coffee - sit at the huge circular bar for a nice glass of wine or beer or anything else, or sit on the couches like me and still order your usual. I got a chai latte this time so I tried to be a bit different than my regular latte. And it was delicious! One of the best I’ve ever had.
I felt like I was in a different country in this cafe. With decorations like mini instruments on the walls, to the candles on the tables, to the vintage looking decor, I also felt like I was in a Jazz club. Everything was so perfectly shaped together.
I know I say I love all the cafes in Montreal - and I do, don’t get me wrong - but this place is really one of my favourites now. It made me feel like I’m in 1920s Paris and I lived for it. Next time, I’ll even dress for it.
Sometimes, your plans might go awry and your chosen restaurant will open only 4 hours later. However, sometimes… those moments are calls for better adventures and more exploration with improvisation. Let the rain guide you to beautiful shelters.
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HVMANS cafe
Location: 1455 rue Sainte_Catherine Ouest, Montreal
Metro Station: Guy-Concordia
Hello hello!!! I have officially closed all my school books and made myself a nice cup of tea. I am ready to tell you about the all new coffee shop that literally opened about a week ago and how it quickly turned into my favorite spot near school.
But let me start with a little background story (obviously). So Monday around noon, I came to Concordia for my class. All along the metro ride there, I was wishing I was home instead, drinking coffee, doing something relaxing. Monday blues had hit me hard. Even though my first class started at 2. And I only had one class. Okay… not the worse Monday you can have, but it was still Monday. And I walked into school unhappy. But my bitter unhappiness suddenly turned into confusion..
As I walked up to the second floor, I realized that none of the lights in the school were turned on. It took me a while to realize that Concordia was having a power outage. Cherry on top of all the issues this school has been having this semester.
They evacuated the building and my class got canceled. My Monday was getting a bit better and a little more interesting.
I’m in downtown at this point - with no laptop or notebooks. I can’t do any school work. What do I do? Yap, you guessed it.
I decided to try HVMANS cafe that just opened next to the EV Building. Let me tell you - every single cafe crawler I know had tried this place within days of its opening. And fell in love. So yes, I was excited to see it for myself.
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I walked into the cafe, immediately greeted by beautiful sunlight entering from their huge windows.
I noticed their decor was mainly concentrated on a very pale color palette - mainly white and pale wood with strong greenery accents. The windows amplified any light that came in, and the white-ness of the entire place reflected even more brightness and made the space shine. I’m a huge believer of light and its benefits to our mood. I was instantly happy. My Monday blues were cured.
Although the cafe was mainly white, they had decorated the space with many little plants (including cacti), which provided a beautiful contrast and amazing prop for those Instagram latte pictures. Plants are becoming a trend in Montreal cafes and I’m absolutely loving it. More please!!! They add so much life, yet have a subtle elegance.
The chairs here were extremely comfortable and they have many tables - and a lot of window seats. I don’t know about you but window seats are my absolute favorite spots in coffee shops. I sometimes hunt for those seats when entering a coffee shop and have my eyes set on the window seats. It’s a bit stressful. But not here, because almost their entire cafe is windows. Chances are - you’ll get the exact seat you want. They have many individual tables and a big desk at the very end if that’s what you prefer. I think I changed my spot about 3 times so I could experience different settings in the cafe.
Let’s talk about coffee. First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever stayed so long at a coffee shop before (6 hours) and I don’t think I’ve ever ordered so many drinks at once! I took a chai latte (which was recommended by my cousin), a regular latte and a matcha latte. And a croissant on the side.
Ok, let’s start with the chai. Heaven. and gorgeous. and heaven. Best chai latte I’ve ever had in my entire life! The cinnamon wasn’t too empowering, the spice wasn’t too much and the amount of milk was just right. I think I finished it in 5 minutes. I didn’t even take a bite out of my croissant in between sips like I normally do. I need to go back there for another chai. Soon.
The regular latte was my friends’ and she loved it. The latte art on this one was really nice. I need go to back to try their regular coffee since I didn’t this time (oops).
And the matcha - delicious matcha! Matcha lattes are one of my favorite drinks and not a lot of cafes do it right. It’s really easy for matcha to taste like fish (it’s not suppose to) so I really try to look out for coffee shops that get it right. And HVMANS did. I go to Leaves cafe for my matcha but now this place is a good competitor. And you can see that I had a lot of fun taking pictures of it too.
Another aspect I loved were the people. The barista was super nice and forgave me for my broken french (I really tried). And since this cafe was all new, and right next to a university that lost power for a few hours, a lot of Instagrammers stopped by at my same time. I was able to meet/see some of my favorites, which made my experience here even more exceptional.
So, hvmans of Concordia, if our school ever has a power failure again, you know what to do. You know what the real drill is!!! HVMANS: the perfect hideaway on a Monday.
IG: legendoftamar
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Concordia Augusta (I sec.), dall’Edificio di Eumachia - Pompei, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Napoli.
