REMEMBERING MONTREAL AND BURT BACHARACH by Lu Sobredo It was a warm summer night in 1988. It was my first trip to Montreal, Canada. I did not know what to expect. I would soon discover when I picked up the hotel phone. Those were the days before cell phones. For the first time in my entire adult life, I traveled outside the U.S. by myself. I had traveled with my family in my youth. And after college and a job that pays, I traveled with my college best friend Donna to Hawaii and all over Europe, except Spain. Spain came later as my destination of choice after I married the love of my life in the early 1990s. But back to my first night in Montreal. I picked up the hotel phone to call home to reassure my Papa and Grandpa (I lost Mom to the big C only six years before) that I arrived safely in a luxurious Marriott Hotel in Montreal. The shocking part was discovering that the phone operator greeted you in French. I was rattled at first, found myself responding in Spanish. How ironic,
Lu Travels Abroad is a Blog that celebrates travel. Inspired by family despite a chronic illness, I travel to feed the soul. When physical travel is not possible in the time of pandemic, I travel with my mind's eye and surrender to the creative and the Divine. As the pandemic eases, I am more than ready to travel the world again. And I did as of Fall 2021