Oh my goodness - can I just say - the hotel we stayed at in Niagara Falls, New York was the most fabulous art deco creation and I snapped pictures of the absolute perfection - it was so chic! It reminded me very much of American Horror Story: Hotel - if you've ever watched that... The story takes place at an art deco hotel called The Hotel Cortez - and The Giacomo in Niagara Falls, New York looked so similar! Except - the rooms were exceptionally nice and tidy, not dated and deranged...ha-ha!
After a tasty breakfast at the hotel - we hopped into the car, crossed the border into Canada and y'all - there were just flowers everywhere! I'm not certain how Canada does it but even though it was in the upper 50's/lower 60's, there were flowers in bloom everywhere I looked. There was even a clock made of flowers - I mean...wow. We drove for about thirty minutes before arriving at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a perfect little town that sits on Lake Ontario.
We looked out over the waves cresting along Lake Ontario and in the distance you could see... Toronto! It's in the picture above, although I don't know if you can make it out. It's on the left side of the picture...far...far in the distance! We parked and walked along the main street of Niagara-on-the-Lake, stopping in at little shops here and there - I found the perfect buffalo check kitchen towel for my almost completed kitchen and an adorable mug (that I didn't need...) covered in Canadian animals and an outdoor motif - it was only $9.95 Canadian; with the exchange rate it was about $7, who could say no to that?
Niagara-on-the-Lake is just the most beautiful little town - there are flowers and perfectly landscaped areas throughout the town. The Prince of Wales Hotel is also located along the main street and the interior is absolutely lovely: stained glass murals, vases of fresh red roses and the most stunningly detailed wood floors! The hotel was named for the Duke & Duchess of York who visited in 1901 - and the hotel is certainly fit for royalty - I'd love to go back on day and stay at the hotel and potentially have afternoon tea!
After perusing the town for a couple hours, we popped into the Irish Harp Pub for a delicious lunch, made a stop in a bakery on the main street and then hopped in the car to make our way to Toronto! I grabbed a Nanaimo Bar from the bakery - a nanaimo bar is a Canadian treat that has a chocolate/coconut base, a vanilla custard center and a chocolate top and let me tell you - it's divine. I'm a fan of Schitt's Creek and they are always referencing having nanaimo bars, so I knew I had to try one while I was in Canada and I'm so glad I did. I may have to hunt up a recipe and make some of my own!
We took the Queen Elizabeth Way right into the heart of downtown Toronto (it took about an hour and a half - due to traffic) to our AirBnB, which was literally across the street from the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre. The eighth floor apartment had a view looking out onto the courtyard, the streets below and the CN Tower arcing into the sky right across the street - to say it was the perfect accommodation would be an understatement. We started using AirBnB a couple years ago (especially for international travel) and I can say with 100% certainty we would never go back to hotels - you just can't get the same accommodations with a hotel. We settled in and perused Yelp! to find a place to grab some supper.
We walked about half a mile to a tavern style restaurant where we had pretty routine fair (burgers, fish & chips, etc...) but we started the meal with poutine - french fries covered with brown gravy and cheese curds - a dish Canada is known for! I was a fan but I'm not sure how my parents felt about it... I'm just glad I can say I've tried it! I had three food items on my list for the trip: a Nanaimo Bar, Poutine and a Beavertail - and we'd only been in Canada for about 8 hours and I'd already checked off two! We meandered back toward our apartment, stopping to peer at the Rogers Centre, snap photos of the CN Tower and just taking in the sights and sounds of the city.
Friday was a very easy going day - just leisurely making our way through Canada to Toronto - but it was a wonderful day too! My parents decided to watch a couple more episodes of Stranger Things before we called it a night - because we had plenty to fit into the next two days in Toronto!
No comments:
Post a Comment