A waterfall of wine

We have treated Canada as a time to try and spend as little money as we can so we can save what little money we have left for New York. So far we are doing quite well!

A couple days after we arrived Sarah's cousin Alison and her husband Matt invited us all round to theirs for a BBQ. It was a gorgeous day so we were able to sit out on the deck and drink more wine! It was nice to meet all of Sarah's family, and again, everyone was interested to hear all about our travels so that took up most of the afternoon!

Sarah's auntie had taken a couple of days off work to show us around, so she took us to the Niagara Falls, which was spectacular. We had a walk around the perimeter to take some photos before getting on the Maid of the Mist boat tour, all decked out in our very sexy ponchos! The Maid of the Mist is only $15 and definitely worth it, although prepare to get very wet! The boat pretty much takes you under the waterfall so you can imagine how soaked we all got just from the spray of it! Good fun though and managed to get a few good pictures without wrecking our cameras.

NIAGARA FALLS

NIAGARA FALLS: FROM THE MAID OF THE MIST

We then went for a nice lunch accompanied by a glass of white wine sangria, before heading back to the car in search of the wineries. Our original plan was to then go to Niagara on the Lake and have a walk round it, but it started to rain and Valerie got a bit lost, so we found ourselves at a nice little winery. We actually ended up going to four, tasting their finest wines in each one! One of the wineries we visited was owned by Wayne Getsky, and another was owned by the only lady to have ever won the "Grape King" award! She specialised in Ice wine, and as she was waiting on her deliveries she didn't have much else in stock. I tried the cranberry flavour whilst Sarah had the raspberry.

WINERIES

The next day Valerie took us downtown Toronto, where we did a tour of the city on an open top bus. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too great so I was pretty cold by the time we got off! We saw the CN Tower, which is a must see attraction when visiting Toronto and i'm ashamed to say i didn't go up it! It is the tallest structure in the world and i am sure the views will be spectacular.

CN TOWER

We were also shown the hotel where "Three men and a little Lady/Baby" were filmed, which was Sarah's highlight of the day! We stopped off at the Old City Hall, which overlooks a lovely lake which turns into an ice-skating rink in winter.....

ME AND SARAH OUTSIDE OLD CITY HALL

We then grabbed some lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. We stumbled upon Abercrombie and Fitch, and once again i couldn't resist..... So i treated myself to a couple of nice tops!

As Valerie was back at work after her two days off, we spent the next few days with Sarah's cousin Alison and her husband Matt. They have two children, Madison and Owen. As Alison was working, Matt picked us up in the afternoon (not before we had a few hours to top up our tans) and took us on a drive along around all the rough areas in Brampton where he used to work. He's a cop and used to work in street crime so he could pick out all the crack addicts and prostitutes....... It was actually really interesting! We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sipping vodka and grapefruit juice in their back garden.

As Matt had the rest of the week off work, the following day he took us downtown and met is friend Dave for lunch, which again, turned into another drinking session! It's a struggle to keep up with this family! We then went to Matt's police division to meet some of his colleagues before heading back to the house to see Alison and drink more wine!

The next day Matt took us to really nice town nearby called Missisauga, and we went for lunch at a lovely cafe in Streetsville. A couple of Matt's colleagues joined us, and sure enough, the afternoon consisted of eating and drinking. Since we have been away i have been making a conscious effort to increase my tolerance level intake of seafood as it is really good for you, so i ordered the white fish and salad, which was delicious! I can't order it too often though as it always seems to be one of the most expensive meals on the menu. Anyway, Sarah and I spent much of the afternoon drinking wine, with the plan being that Alison would join us after she had finished work at 3. Unfortunately, Alison got a call just as she left the office from Owen's day care saying he had stuck a bead up his nose and they couldn't get it out. So instead of a relaxing Friday evening for Matt and Alison, they spent most of it in A&E. Luckily, all was well in the end and the doctor managed to get the bead out of Owen's nose!

That same evening we had plans to go out for a meal with Sarah's other cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Marlene. They have a two month old little boy called Jackson. Andrew came to pick us up from Matt and Alison's, and after Valerie had arrived at their house to look after Jackson, the four of us went for a meal and a few drinks.
We got in at about 11, and for the first time since we had been away, Sarah and I slept in separate rooms! It was quite a novelty!
The following morning we got up early to go for breakfast with Andrew and Marlene before they gave us a lift back to Alison and Matt's. The plan was to go shopping for the day, but I was feeling quite ill so i stayed behind in bed. I would like to think it was just a stomach bug, but i think i was just exhausted from all the alcohol i had drunk that week. I clearly couldn't keep up with Sarah's family!

That evening, feeling much better, Sarah and I went out with Alison and her friend Brooke. We went out in Missisauga and to a nice bar called Jam, before heading to a club called Ten. The music was brilliant, but unfortunately, the clientele definitely was not. We soon left after we got tired of 60 year old men chatting us up! It wasn't very pleasant!

We made the most of the good weather the following day and sunbathed for a few hours in Alison and Matt's garden. A couple of Valerie and Paul's friend had invited us round for a roast dinner, which we went to that evening. It was the first roast dinner i had had since being away, and it was just delicious. Sylvia is originally from Newcastle, so we even had Yorkshire Puddings to go with it. I was very happy!

I had a really great time in Toronto and was great to meet Sarah's family. In terms of what there is to do in Toronto, I don't think there is as much to offer as places like Vancouver. Obviously, Niagara Falls is spectacular and definitely a must see when in Toronto.