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Today was an early start. Up at 6am and then down to breakfast and ready by 8am for our pick up outside our hotel. We were the first to be picked up and at the next stop 16 people got on! We had one more pick up, which was in Hamilton, about 30 minutes out of Toronto for two other people.
We travelled on the expressways most of the way. Our first stop was at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a small town which was beautiful and quaint. There were boutique shops, along with bakeries and of course, Starbucks! Here we spent an hour. We walked down to the lake where we could see the city of Toronto in the distance (apparently 56km across Lake Ontario). In the township there was a hotel call the Prince of Wales Hotel. Queen Elizabeth has apparently stayed there.
From Niagara-on-the-Lake we travelled to our next stop, being the Living Water Wayside Chapel - the smallest church ever!! We didn't renew our vows though! Haha! Also at this stop was a fruit stand selling the famous Canadian peaches.
Next was Rief Estate Winery where we had three tastings, a white wine, a red and what they call an Ice Wine. This is where they pick the grapes after having three days in a row at -12 degrees and they pick them at night time between the hours of 2am and 5am! They are also pressed in this time to keep the temperature constant. This wine is very sweet and really a dessert wine.
Next stop was the floral clock, which has a design representing the 150 Federation of Canada celebrations.
A photo stop was next for a hydropower station on the river, plus a bridge spanning the river that is the boarder crossing from Canada to America or vice versa.
Finally we arrived at Niagara Falls. We firstly did the boat ride to the falls. Luckily the queues were very short and we got onto the boat pretty quickly, donned with our beautiful red ponchos!! We first went past the American falls and then into the Horseshoe Falls, which are considered the Canadian Falls. The ponchos didn't really do their job! You still got wet quite a bit, but boy, was it worth it! Such an amazing experience to see and feel the power of the falls. We then walked along the river taking in the views of the falls. Then it was off to the Hard Rock Cafe for the obligatory t-shirt! Here we also had a drink and fries! We then wandered up Clifford Street, which was more like an amusement park. We also walked in some of the gardens there, where there were beautiful flower displays and fountains and surprise, surprise, a Squirrell to entertain us!! It was so cute!
Back on the bus at 4pm for the ride back to Toronto. Due to there being lanes closed we took a detour through Burlington, which was interesting to see some amazing homes etc. We finally got back onto the expressway and crawled along into Toronto, getting back to our hotel by 6:30pm.
Our anniversary dinner was a Starbucks coffee and something to eat, ie a cinnamon bun and lemon loaf! Obviously we weren't hungry!
This was of second full day in Canada. Niagara Falls was amazing, albeit very commercialised, but still an experience to remember.
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