Ah, the Rail. Haven't been there in a while, but I'm going up to T.O. in April for a bachelor party. Looking forward to hitting the Rail then.
Toronto is one of my favorite cities in the whole world, but I think if I'd been to Montreal more than once, it would surpass Toronto easily. Lots of good shopping, lots of good eats, and good nightlife too.
I've been to Montreal a few times. A lot of my friends from high school ended up at McGill. Montreal's cool, but the whole French/English cultural divide can be a little weird. But, like you said, you can't beat the strip clubs.
I'm off to New Orleans with my wife at the end of the month for her birthday. We're looking forward to comparing Nawlins strip clubs to what places like Toronto and NYC can offer.
I actually didn't have any problems with people giving me sh!t as an American. Maybe it was because my tattooer friends gave me a list of neighborhoods / places to stay away from and specific bars to go to. Brutopia was excellent, Biftec was good too. Maybe it had something to do with travelling with my Swedish friend who is outright Socialist. He's a horrible commie bastard but I love him like a brother. Quite odd considering I'm a rabid libertarian.
Basically I spent one day (mostly the night) in Montreal so all I did was get really drunk and walk around, take cabs, etc. I go to Toronto for the weekend at least 3 or 4 times a year, so I know the city quite well. I love the record shops, restaurants, botiques, streets... etc. I really want to go to Montreal for 3 or 4 days this summer and give it the same opportunity.
What do you know about Quebec City and Halifax? I have heard that Quebec City is also very nice, and my boss enjoyed Halifax when we went on a cruise there.
I love Canada, the Canadian people, and their cities. I enjoy travelling in Canada very much. Just don't get me started on politics when I'm drunk because as I said, I'm a rabid libertarian. I usually just talk about the AK-47 in my closet and get the hard-core America haters to shut the hell up!
tkx...