Mile End: the bagel rivalry and the mixed quarter
St-Viateur versus Fairmount, the Ukrainian church, the indie cafés, and the old Jewish-Greek streets. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Fairmount Bagel
Start at the older of the two shops, on Rue Fairmount — open around the clock, a narrow room, wood-fired ovens at the back. Eat one warm, plain or sesame, on the sidewalk. You're here to take a side in the rivalry, and this is the first witness.

2. St-Viateur Bagel
Two blocks north, the rival. Same hand-rolled, honey-water-boiled, wood-fired bagel; partisans will tell you the difference is everything and outsiders can't taste it. Buy a second one and decide for yourself. The argument is the point, not the verdict.

3. Saint Michael's and St Anthony's Church
The Byzantine-domed church on Rue Saint-Viateur, Irish-built, later Polish, with a minaret-like tower that confuses every first-time visitor. It tells the whole story of the quarter: one building, several congregations, a century of arrivals. Step inside if the door's open.

4. Rue Saint-Viateur
The neighbourhood's quiet main street — indie cafés, a couple of bookshops, the kind of corner shops Montrealers call a dépanneur (corner shop). Slower than Mont-Royal, more lived-in. This is where Mile End does its actual day.

5. Avenue du Parc
The old Greek spine, where the souvlaki houses and the import grocers still hold a few doors among the newer places. The mix that made Mile End — Jewish, Greek, Portuguese, now everyone — is most legible along here. Walk it north.

6. Rosemont station
The Orange line stop at the northeast edge, past the church and the parc. One stop back toward the Plateau, or onward. End with a coffee from one of the Saint-Viateur cafés if you doubled back; the walk earns it.

Mile End: the bagel rivalry and the mixed quarter