Everything's the same the world over...

A Montreal Bixi bike, sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan.

Globalisation? Don't you just hate it? Wherever you go, everything's always the same and here's another example: Boris Bikes – in this case 'Bixi' bikes – but why not? Beats hailing a taxi any day and it's sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan, a huge mining company and producer of aluminium.

As mentioned in the previous post, it's been raining here the last couple days and it's raining now. My plan is to get out on a Bixi tomorrow, but if the rain persists, even on the other side of the Atlantic, I'll be sending myself an 'abort' text.

It's safer to cycle over here than it is in London. They have the cycle lanes sorted out, but I'll report tomorrow – if the rain eases up.

A whole row of Bixi bikes. 

Bixi, by the way, is a combination of the words 'bicycle' and 'taxi' and the plan for tomorrow, hopefully, is to ride over to the river and back and take in the 'old' part of town, which is full of cobbled streets.

A big breakfast...much needed!

Now you see it...

They say the Americans 'supersize' everything, well, the Canadians do too. But first, I must take back what I said yesterday about the hotel reception area being a bit skanky. After a fairly good night's sleep, I saw the hotel in a different light and discovered I quite liked it. I was going to go out for breakfast, but decided instead to be sensible and use the breakfast vouchers provided.

...now you don't!

The end result was this amazing breakfast, which cost me just five dollars - that's what, £2.50? What did it consist of? Well, there were potatoes, like sauteéd potatoes, then there were two fried eggs, I chose ham, but could have had bacon or sausage and, as you can see, there was a huge pile of fresh fruit too. There was also what I think they call cinnamon toast – very tasty – and the whole lot was washed down with a cup of tea.

Now, the fruit was the only stumbling block for me. I've never been a fan of Hawaiian pizza because of the pineapple and it's that combination of sweet and savoury I don't like. Today, the fruit and the fried eggs? No. But other than that, it was fine and either way I ate the lot. It set me up for the day, which was good.

Weatherwise, it's not so good: driving rain. Amazing! I spend the whole summer in the UK in the rain and then I fly over here and it's more rain and cloud. I'm told it's now sweltering in England.

The view from my Montreal hotel room...

Holiday Inn, Midtown – the view from room 1601

The time is 0724hrs local time and I've got to go and have breakfast – for which they've provided me with a voucher. I thought I'd take a shot of the view from my bedroom window. As you can see, it's pretty cloudy out there, but it's not cold. Apparently, they've been having really good weather here, but now that I've arrived, of course, it's gone and clouded over.

"We'll also look back at what marked the beginning of the end of Creedence Clearwater Revival..."

Yes, even the morning radio is a tad better quality than back home. I'm listening to Canada's Radio 2 and it's, well, lots of good 'cowboys on the trail' outdoorsy music.

Breakfast beckons! Then on goes the suit and I start working – something else that's the same the world over.