Happy Monday friends! I hope that you have had a wonderful week and are excited for this weekend! Today I am excited to share with y'all our sail away experience from our time on our Holland America Cruise.  

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a cruise departure and seeing Montreal from the water was so neat. It is interesting that we have been to Montreal so many times yet had never gone to the port on a cruise so it was a really neat experience to have. The day, as I said, was a warm sunny day so it really made for a beautiful sail away. 

If you are not familiar with the Port of Montreal, it is a port that is located on the St. Lawrence River and is operated by the Montreal Port Authority. What is interesting is that the port originally was in the historic area (now known as the "Old Port of Montreal"), but over the years the port has expanded due to the vast growth of the number of ships that come in and out of this port. The port of Montreal is now along the waterfront and as you are on the ship cruising out (or in depending on when you leave or arrive) you can see the multiple number of restaurants, shops, water related activities, the La Grande Ferris Wheel, and many other lovely things to experience in Montreal. 

This was probably one of my favorite "sail away" experiences that I have had on a cruise vacation. Boaring the Zaandam had been so peaceful, easy, and lovely and that just continued to be the theme as we did our sail away. It was fun and relaxed and really was just a lovely sail away that set the tone for the remainder of the cruise. 

There was a huge concert going on as we pulled out in the early evening and it was so fun to see from the boat! 

As we approached the bridge it looked like it was going to hit! It was incredible to see us smoothly sail under the bridge yet it be so close!

After spending a lot of time absorbing the incredible beauty that we were seeing we headed in to meet up with rest of the press team in the captains lounge which was incredible. It was truly a beautiful evening a beautiful sailaway time from the Port of Montreal! 

Thank you so much for reading! I can't wait to share more with y'all about our cruise with Holland America! It was simply lovely!

If y'all have been around this blog for even a short amount of time than you know that I love music ...and this holiday season has been incredibly special as every weekend has held a beautiful Christmas concert of some sort. Some have been local (and included a high school choir- which y'all know I would love!), some have been at a nearby university, and two weeks ago we headed up to Montreal for the CBC Sing-In which was so incredible! 

We had never done this before and it was a little bit of a trip but it was simply delightful! The CBC Sing-In (it was the 39th year of it happening!) is Montreal's biggest and oldest sing-along which takes place at the Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul and also is held at Bourgie Hall. 

Several months ago I was looking for holiday activities to do in the surrounding area and came across this event. The tickets (which are free but are still required to guarantee a spot at either location) went on sale in November and we grabbed a few- excited to experience this event. 

Y'all... it was seriously just lovely. The concert featured a choir, the Sing-In Brass and percussion ensemble, and  organist Jonathan Oldengarm and conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée.

If you would like to see more photos from the event (or listen to it) you can find more on the website HERE! 

It was such a fun holiday event to do and we are already planning to go back again next year! 

Happy Thursday friends! I hope your week is finishing up well!