newatthis

Mon & Tue I looked in around 6-6:30, chatted a bit with the bartender, was informed that there were no dancers (yet?), and left, so I can't speak to the whole 6-9 slot. But I doubt if it got better. Wed about 4 dancers and quite a few (i.e. more than 5) on Thu. IIRC, Sunday was 2-3. This is all pre-9 pm. Wasn't there on the weekend, but my informant tells me it was more like Thursday.

Did you visit Campus only at night (say after 8 pm or so)? In August, there were essentially no women between 6 and 9 (essentially: there was a local woman who hung out at the bar occasionally and was fun to talk with, but no groups of young screamers). I did stop in briefly around 11 one evening and found it pretty much the way you described.

Don't know about Stock, but my impression is that most Campus dancers accept or even solicit such invitations. As I wrote in my other post According to one bartender, Campus has only 12 dancers on its current roster (pre-covid, there were as many as 80). He speculates that dancers were forced by covid to find other jobs and many discovered they could make more money by advertising on rentmen. I think that was already true for some time pre-covid, in contrast to the situations in the mid 00's.

Well, I did 😀. And I was there with a friend from the States who is planning to return in December.

This sounds like a great idea!

Took a long time for someone to catch this. I have left/right issues which translate occasionally into east/west issues. Of course I meant west. Thanks.

Motormouth masseur was a cold hire off rentmasseur. The other masseur and all the escorts, including the flake, advertise on the appropriate rent*, although that is not how I found them.

As promised in my other post, here are some details of last week's trip. The clubs General vibe and behavior pretty much the same as 2 years ago. Masking is obligatory when standing – observed more in the breech, especially by dancers. Clubs and restaurants are supposed to keep a log of customers' phone numbers for covid tracing; observed somewhat. Stock insisted, Campus had a notebook sitting out but no monitor, Taboo had nothing. Saloon maintained such a log; La Piazzetta did not. All the clubs had a dearth of dancers. According to one bartender, Campus has only 12 dancers on its current roster (pre-covid, there were as many as 80). He speculates that dancers were forced by covid to find other jobs and many discovered they could make more money by advertising on rentmen. My experience is that the situation is similar at Stock and Taboo. BUT…it only takes 1 dancer to make the day, and I found someone at both Campus and Taboo. I was not aware of new faces at any of the clubs. I recall seeing (I was not in town Friday or Saturday): Campus: Malik, Ricky, I-don't-know-how-to-count Carmelo, Brandon, Dylan. Mario and Guy still tending bar. Celebrated their 37th anniversary Thursday night with a big party that started after 9 pm. Mixed (m/f) crowd; room very full. Celebrity sighting: Reno Gold on Mado’s terrace in the afternoon and coming out of Campus during the party. Stock: Fabbio, Jay, Bryce. On ladies’ night all the tables were filled and 90% of the customers were women. Pretty sparse other nights. Taboo: Emilio, Antonio, a few young, cute, blond guys whose identities (dancers, friends of dancers, patrons?) was unclear (though one of them sat down next to me and started caressing my thigh). "Outside activities" Hired 2 masseurs. In one case I was seduced by a cute face with a big smile. He talked a good game on the phone but gave a mediocre massage and was a motormouth to boot. The second, Finn, is a well-known quantity in Montreal. Excellent massage skills, excellent HE, but a bit detached and cool. One escort – whom I liked a lot 2 years ago – was a no-show after 3 days of exchanging flirty messages. Four hours after our appointed time he texted “really sorry, won’t be able to make it today. How can I make it up to you?” A second escort, recommended by a friend, had a great condo in the Village, a very thick dick, and loved topping. No complaints. Third escort was the jackpot. Hired him twice. The Village The street population appears to have shifted east, concentrated on Ste. Cathérine between Saint-Timothée and Berri. Ste. Cathérine between Alexandre-DeSève and Dorion is mostly deserted except for a few bars and eateries. The new Bourbon complex building is occupied, but its street level is unfinished inside. The block where the Tabernacle Church used to be is completely fenced off and everything within has been demolished. There is no indication of what is being built and no construction equipment is on-site. On balance, I would say that openings and closings on Ste. Cathérine balance each other out. Second Cup, the Empanada restaurant, and Copper Branch have closed; Morelia (Mexican restaurant), a replacement for Steak Frites, Milla, and a second Starbucks have opened. Most restaurants were closed on Monday evening (surely due to covid). I found the street vibe pretty much the same as 2 summers ago. The most popular places (e.g. Renard, Le Date, L’Aigle Noir) had full terraces even during the week; other terraces seemed a bit empty. Signs of gentrification are everywhere (not just that second Starbucks😀), especially when you venture off Ste. Cathérine. Lots of new buildings, both condo and rental. My "third escort" lives in a beautiful 2-bedroom condo in a 4-year old building on René-Levesque; across the street 3 new residential buildings are being constructed.

and worth every moment of it, believe me 😜

Just returned from my first Montreal trip in 2 years. It was exhilarating and I'm in a serious post-partum depression. I hope to post details when I get a chance. The travel process turned out to be very smooth, if somewhat time consuming. It's important to follow the Canadian procedures carefully beforehand (see https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid) -- fully vaccinated, PCR test less than 72-hours before departure, use ArriveCAN (https://arrivecan.cbsa-asfc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca/privacy) to fill out questionnaires and upload documentation. Some things to know about ArriveCAN. You cannot complete the form more than 72 hours before departure. If you work with the web form, you also cannot save what you've done and return to it later. You can save stuff on the phone app (at least on Android), but that app kept hanging on me. Leave a good 20-30 minutes to complete the process, which involves entering information about flights, passport, etc., explaining your quarantine plan (see below), and uploading documentation. At the airport. Because all documentation is checked at the departure airport (no online boarding pass), leave lots of time...I arrived 2 hours early and waited an hour in line to check in. (I was on Air Canada, but I'm pretty sure all airlines do the same.) Arrival in Montreal. The line to border control stretched from the arrival hall all the way back along the corridor halfway to gate 76, but it moved very quickly to the top of the stairs. The hall below was completely full, but I was able to bypass that and use the NEXUS kiosks once I hit the top of the stairs. NEXUS holders still have to see a border control officer, but there were only 2 people ahead of me in line. Questioning was what I remember from my pre-NEXUS days (why are you visiting? do you know anyone here? and the like). The border control officer examined my passport, typed some stuff into his computer, and put a blue dot on the back of my passport (there were other-colored dots he could have used). When I handed in my NEXUS receipt at the customs check, they asked to see my passport, looked at the blue dot, and shunted me to the far left lane, which gave me direct entry into Canada. From what I could see, those with other-colored dots went into a clinic area where they were given a covid test (they do random testing on arriving tourists). If you fail that test, you are required to quarantine, which is why ArriveCAN has you prepare a quarantine plan. A friend who arrived a day after me faced much longer delays at the airport because a bunch of planes arrived simultaneously. If you plan to take the 747 bus into the city, you should know that as of August 23, during the hours when the metro is running, the 747 goes only as far as Lionel-Groulx. Returning to the US. You must have a covid test no more than 72 hours before your departure back to the US. This test can be a rapid antigenic test and is pricy (CAD$150). I made an appointment before I left home (definitely recommended) with https://elnamedical.com/en/covid/ at their downtown location. It was quick and efficient. I had the result in my email in a little more than an hour. Air Canada allowed me to upload my test result and check in online ahead of time, which made my departure very speedy (less than half an hour total from the time I got to the airport). It's quite possible that some of this will change as time goes on. Towards the end of https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/119965-what-do-we-know-about-when-and-how-montreal-clubs-will-reopen/ there is some discussion of vaccination passports in Quebec, for example. Happy travels!

Speaking of Saloon...does anyone know if the owners managed to sell it? (There's a thread about that somewhere, but I'm too lazy to search for it.)

His knowledge of Chicago and its neighborhoods was awesome. I remember a long, fascinating after-dinner walk with him many years ago.

Here's my favorite in this genre: https://thegay.tube/videos/730806/ducadimantua-l-amore-del-barbiere/?promo=31134 The barber scene starts at 0:40 (although the eye candy beforehand is worth looking at, too).

Has anyone found official information on the steps tourists must take to fly to Canada after August 9? There are many news articles out there and even press releases from the Canadian government, which appear to mandate that 2 items be uploaded to ArriveCan in order to be allowed to board a flight: vaccination certificate negative covid test result from less than 72 hours before arrival in Canada (there is a list of acceptable tests) At present tourists cannot access the ArriveCan app to verify this. I would hope this will become available soon; does anyone know when? In addition, I believe US Citizens need to present a negative covid test result from less than 72 hours before arrival back in the US in order to return home. The only options for such tests I can find in Montreal are mega-expensive (> $200). Do any of our Montreal-resident members have any advice on this?

This is fun! 😁

Airbnb. I had to cancel 2 reservations last summer and one this past June. But now....😋😁

I started this thread on 6/15/20, just after I had to cancel plans for a visit at the end of that month. Back then I would never have predicted it would be 14 months before I could return. I have my plane reservations, my apartment, and my vaccination certificate all ready. Still have to nail down the requirements for a covid-test and the "just-in-case" quarantine plan. You can bet I've been walking around with a big smile on my face for the past 24 hours 😁.

I beat you guys by 7 years. Flew to Paris (TWA) immediately following graduation; met up with a friend who had graduated a year earlier. Picked up a leased car (standard shift Simca) at a factory outside of Paris and had to drive back into town during rush hour through the Champs-Élysées. Spent about 7 weeks touring all over France, Francophone Switzerland, and parts of England and Scotland. He returned to the States from London; another friend joined me there. We took the ferry to Belgium and spent another 7 weeks or so in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Germano- and Italophone Switzerland, and Italy. Somewhere I have notes of that trip....

I agree. If for no reason other than nostalgia, I enjoy occasionally looking back at posts from people who are now inactive on this site (for example, old posts about Montreal strip clubs by marc anthony, tampa yankee, et. al.). Let's leave things as they are.

Yes. So a twofer if you're into birds.

Some more offbeat things, if you have time: Graceland Cemetery The view of the city from Montrose Harbor (and the bird sanctuary there if you're into birds) Walk around interesting neighborhoods/streets (Old Town, Orchard St, Norwood Park, ...)

👏

I see an option to mark individual forums as "read" but couldn't find a way to mark all forums as read. Is that possible?

Finally took a look at your beta. Once I reverted to the style we have now, I liked it just fine. I think @Colton's point above is right on the target.

Better version: put the frozen water bottle (a typical 16 oz bottle of water) on the floor and roll it back and forth with your foot -- a foot massage with the frozen bottle. I don't recall how long I did this -- maybe 5 times of a minute each with a rest in between. You should be able to google this. It worked well for me.