Priceline hooked us up this time, with a room at a fancy downtown hotel for US$90 per night. The Sheraton Centre had great views from even our ninth floor room; this set of tilt-shift photos from the rooftop gives an idea. We also enjoyed the cavernous lobby with pervasive free wifi, furniture with embedded chess and backgammon boards, and recesses filled with books. I inserted a book of my own, complete with a gratuitous slam of our generally cheery hosts: "Those Canadians are fools." (8-page PDF version.)

Books were in plain sight everywhere, starting with the plane passengers and including many book discounters in the city. I saw a guy sit down with Ulysses while we sipped coffee at Cafe Debut. He wasn't making very good progress though, as he paused frequently to tap something into an electronic gizmo or ogle female pedestrians.

We spent most of our time, as usual, wandering in neighborhoods that looked interesting on the map, and stopping for food and drink whenever appetite and restaurant coincided. We searched the old downtown area for the bank that featured in "The Score," later to realize that it was inconveniently in Montreal. The waterfront area around the CN Tower is quite developed, but pleasantly uncrowded, perhaps because half the condo high-rises are still under construction. The tower itself was not awe-inspiring, despite it's outdated claims to being the world's tallest. Perhaps because it is set apart from the city skyscrapers, or perhaps because it is mostly an undecorated concrete stalk, it did not overwhelm up close, and looks best in the distant background of our photos.

Growing up in the U.S. trained me to despise Canadian currency, since their coins are undervalued slugs that you try to pass on soon after carelessly accepting one. Their banknotes, however, are handsome and colorful. And they have scrapped $1 and $2 bills in favor of coins, so you can actually spend your pocket change usefully. Prices were generally what we're used to, and I was chagrined to learn, toward the end of our visit, that the exchange rate is no longer much in our favor. I gave my last toonie to the driver who took us to the airport, at a savings of $25 to our incoming taxi ride, on a comfy new bus complete with seatback outlets, free wifi, and a running commentary of local lore.