Meat

Meat, don't worry this has nothing to do with our experience in "Gay Friendly" Montreal, but rather with actual meat,like the kind you eat...uh you know what I mean!
So, Marty's buddy was in Montreal earlier this spring for the Grand Prix, and he was introduced to Schwart's Deli, which, he insisted we needed to check out. So, after spending the morning as tourists in the underground city (translation: "hours of walking"), we hopped on the metro and got off at the station we thought would be closest to this infamous deli. Marty is fantastic at navigating the transportation systems, thank God, because as most of you know, I am not!!! Anyway, we got off at a metro stop and started walking, and walkin, all up hill mind you, until we started to smell meat and see a line up! The smell of red meat, blood, really, was strong and it filled the air as we got closer and closer to the line up. By the time we got there our feet were sore, mine because they were stuffed into these totally adorable , yet completely un-practical, Walmart Buckle shoes and Marty's, because his feet supported not only the weight of his 6 foot 4 frame but also the weight of the backpack on his back, the one that held all the things his girlfriend (me), figured a tourist could possibly need while exploring a new city. All we wanted was a sandwhich and a cold drink, but....to our dismay food and drink was a LONG wait away! There were two line ups and if you gave the vagrant standing between the two lines some change in his paper cup, he'd tell you which line was for "take out," and which was for "dine in". I dropped a couple of quarters in his cup and he pointed to the "take out" line, which was just as long as the "dine in" line. We stood there in awe as a butcher came out every few minutes to invite a handfull of customers into the deli! I could not believe people lined up at this little hole in the wall establishment like it was a Starbucks!!! I wish it smelled like a Starbucks! Eventually we made our way inside the very crowded, sweaty store. We stood facing the counter and the butchers slicing meat, taking orders and building sandwhiches. It was loud and everybody seemed to be yelling! Since I could barely see over the counter, Marty ordered two smoked meat sandwhiches for himself and a turkey one for me. This was no Subway, sure they made the sandwhiches right in front of you, but you didn't have any choices, there was no bread choice, no lettuce and no sauces. What you get a Schwart's deli is this: a HUGE hunk of meat in between two TINY pieces of white bread, that is it, no more, no less! They wrap the sandwhiches tightly in waxed paper, toss them in a paper bag and send you on your way as fast as possible. We emerged from the caos in search of a quiet bench, anticipating biting into the best sandwhiches on earth! Gotta admit, if you like meat, these sandwhiches are tops. I have never seen sooo much meat on one sandwhich, ever! I admit it was way too much meat for me, nearly made me gag, but once I fed some of it to the pigeons, I was able to enjoy it, no one can say I havn't had enough protein today!