After a well rested night, we decided to wake up and head down to the buffet breakfast. We fueled up on healthy food, before heading to the room to change into workout clothes. Yes, we decided to workout on vacation. When Sal and I go away, we always try and make sure we're always physically moving, whether it's swimming with sharks in Dominican Republic or biking a 10 mile path in Vermont. We enjoy working out together, and it's something that we don't get to do too often when we're home because of our work schedules. I was able to get in a 5K on the treadmill, and an ab workout. We were sweating by the end of our hour workout, and ready to shower and start our day.
Today would be our day. We hopped in the truck and started our drive to the wine tasting that we had scheduled. Sal and I have become those people, yes you know what I'm talking about, the adults that attend wine tasting, and sip wine with other wine lovers. I have to admit though, I love it. On our drive there we admired the botanical gardens and the beautiful bodies of water, as well as a few large vineyards. Pellar Estates, though, was probably the most modern and gorgeous looking estates, even in the negative degree weather.
While we waited for our tour and tasting to start, we walked around admired the architecture of the building and met individuals that came from near (other cities in Canada) and far (Italy)! When the tour started, the guide tried to save us as much time outside as she could, but we did eventually go outside to see the vineyards, which was pretty awesome if you ask me, considering at our Vermont tasting, we didn't see where they grew the grapes. Afterwards, we went into their basement where they stored the wine, and enjoyed a fine tasting, where the guide showed us how to drink three different wines to really enjoy the taste of it. It was interesting to listen to all the different ways to make it taste better, and by the end of it Sal and I had purchased a bottle that we will hopefully be drinking soon! I think I could've bought more than one bottle though, that's how much I enjoy wine! We also grabbed two souvenir 'glasses' to add to our collection.
On our way back to the area we were able to snap a picture of a beautiful view overlooking the river.
Then we were off to see Niagara Falls up close and personal, but not before we paid for parking once again! We quickly went inside the building though to take a look at all the shops and the view from the inside. While we were inside we found out that although the Maiden of the Mist doesn't run in the winter, we could still go Behind the Falls! We essentially went underground, and behind the falls, where it was even colder that it was outside next to the falls, if you could imagine.
I think this might've been my favorite part of the trip though, being able to take pictures this close to the falls... together. It was romantic, and I might've mentioned, several times, that it'd be the perfect spot to pop the question. Sal just laughed... guess he has bigger plans up his sleeve!
When we had enough of the freezing cold, we headed back up to see Niagara Falls in all its cold, cold glory. I wasn't kidding when I said it was cold, the mist from Niagara Falls turns everything to ice. While it makes for a beautiful picture, it also makes for two frozen individuals.
Afterwards, we headed to Tim Horton's to grab a quick bite to eat - soup and a panini - because it was the only place, it seemed, that we could park without paying a dime! We didn't realize until later that supposedly Tim Horton's is a big deal. On our way back to our hotel room, we stopped and booked reservations for dinner at the hotel restaurant. We relaxed a bit after an exhausting day, looking out at Niagara Falls from our view, that we might've preferred over being up close to it. We faced the small couch towards the window, and just sat there for what seemed like a long time, but in reality was probably only a couple of minutes, and just enjoyed each other's company, not speaking. It really stands out in my mind as a really intimate moment during our trip - looking out at this great wonder, together.
We began getting ready for dinner, and headed down to enjoy what was probably the best food we had eaten in Canada. While I enjoyed a shrimp dish with rice and veggies, recommended by our waiter, Sal enjoyed the steak, of course, with fries and veggies. It was incredibly delicious, and I even had room left to enjoy a taste of Canada's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which I'm sorry to admit, isn't as good as the ice cream here in the U.S.
The design of the restaurant only made the night that much better - it was spectacular, and yet calming and inviting.
When we were done, we decided to head on outside and look at all the lights that they had up, from Disney characters to Christmas and Hanukkah characters, and while I snapped more than one picture of the lights, I thought this one was the best. It changed from the American flag to the Canadian flag.
When we had finally seen all of the lights, we went back to our hotel room, with plans of popping open our wine, but I guess our minds had other ideas, because we ended up in bed, fast asleep... well at least I did. On our last morning there, we went down for our buffet breakfast, and then started packing up our room, but not before I snuck in one or two more pictures of Niagara Falls, because I clearly didn't take enough pictures! At more than one point during our trip, it started snowing, but the snow there was like rain in Florida, it would go on for about 5 minutes, and then it would stop and it'd be as if it never snowed, or rained. What amazed me was the fact that one minute it'd be snowing and you couldn't see anything, even if you tried... like the falls had disappeared all together, and then the next minute you could see the falls, and they seemed even more beautiful than the last time you saw them.
We've been told that we went during off season, and it's better when you go in the summer, however, I'm not quite sure I'd go back to Canada, and I think Sal would agree with me. It was a wonderful experience, and we now have many, many more memories, but I think one trip to Canada is enough for me.
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