Last Hoorah

Besides visiting vineyards, my family and I also took the time to do other things during the Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed a nice dinner cruise and took in the Toronto skyline against the backdrop of the setting sun. I'd have to say that my family really enjoys eating and trying new foods and restaurants, as the majority of what we did involved lots of food.

Before you go on to think that we're all fatties though, we did take the time to visit the Safari Niagara and take in the fire works display over the Niagara Falls. Regardles of it being an extremely packed weekend, it was fun to do it all and to see my family again, until my visit back to Ottawa for Thanksgiving.

Wine Country

This past weekend, my family came down and paid me a visit for the Labor Day long weekend. As typical family vacations go, we went out and about and did lots of things. By far my most favorite would have to be visiting the Niagara vineyards, or as they call it, "wine country". We passed through 4 of them that day, but the I'd have to say that I enjoyed Trius the most.

We were given a tour of their wine cellar and shown how all of their produtcs are aged. Their cellar itself is one of the largest stock piles of sparkling white wine in North America. In one of their rooms, wine bottles were stacked floor to ceiling and extended back into a depth of 17ft. With a collection of 500-600,000 bottles, you'll never have to hit up a liquor store ever again!

Before concluding the tour, we were taught how to do a properly structured wine tasting and allowed to try several of their best. Obviously a round table favorite was the ice wine. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone saying that they dislike ice wine.

We spent the rest of the day touring a couple of other wineries as well: Peller Estate and a couple smaller locations. Each had their own tasting bar set up and it was fabulous being able to try a variety of wines all day long. Did we buy anything? The obvious answer is yes, a couple bottles of ice wine were picked up as souvenirs for home.

Distillery District X Love Lock

To celebrate our anniversary, P and I spent the day together and included a walk to the Distillery District so that we could attach a lock to its Love Lock art installation. We had unfortunately forgotten to purchase a lock prior to walking to the Harbour Front. But luckily for us, one of the stores there, Biltmore Domicile, had locks for sale ($10, it wasn't cheap!) and a station where we could decorate it before locking it to the trellis.

It was a bittersweet day as it would be the last couple of hours I got to spend with P before his return to Ottawa. Until the next time either of us visit, it will be the unfortunate case of long distance.

Toronto Zoo

Besides strolling around town with P, we took a trip to the Toronto Zoo to see some pandas. Our first measure of order was to try out one of the newest popsicle trends, Banana Pops. While eating the popsicle/ice cream hybrid, the outer peels can be stretched out and pulled down as if a real banana was being peeled. It was quite the entertaining snack but regardless of its merit, its taste didn't live up to the fun.

On our path to see the pandas, we stumbled upon this adorable arctic fox. It happened to be asleep at the time we were visiting so I only managed to snap a photo of it cutely passed out on the ground. We quickly made our way to the pandas only to have one of them waddle around and then settle into a seemingly posed position. He stayed that way for at least 10 minutes while the everyone snapped away at him like paparazzi to a celebrity.

The other panda was not so much prepared. He was passed out over top of a waterfall with his face wedged in between a tree branch and a rock. Talk about the perfect life.

We finished the afternoon with a visit to a tea house for lunch which mostly resulted in me finally having the opportunity to try shaved ice for the first time. Flavor of choice? Why, mango of course!

Times Square

Our last day in New York was spent in Times Square exploring the sights and doing some obligatory shopping. I love the bustling and busy nature of New York and the Square exemplifies just that. With cross walks full of people and cars zipping by in every which way, I could feel the energy of the city flowing with each step.

We got a chance to ride the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty as well as Ellis island. It was fairly foggy that day so unfortunately the pictures that I got weren't as nice as I had hoped. I did manage to snag this one which completely made my day.  And here's an obligatory "#FromWhereIStand" photo. I've recently fallen in love with Converse and these Chucks saved my life (feet) during the entire trip.

The Bronx Zoo

If I could describe The Bronx Zoo in one sentence: "Complete waste of time". Not a place I would recommend anyone take their family nor their friends. Granted yes, we also went on a free day, but half of the exhibitions were closed, down for renovations or the animals just weren't there. The few pictures I'll have for this post were literally the only animals that we were able to see while at the zoo. It was another day of tiring feet and aching backs, but this stop did not make up for any of the pain that was gained. At least I can now say that I've been to the Bronx.

One word for this picture. Awwww. It's funnier to think that literally 10 seconds before I shot this photo, these two were full on fighting with each other.

Once I saw these little cute red pandas, my trip was done. They were literally all that I came to see so I was happy. Okay, time to leave. Nope, the rest of the zoo decided to turn into an IKEA style zoo and we just had to walk through the entire place to find the exit back out to civilization.

Brooklyn Bridge

One of the goal's of our trip was to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. After our trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, we crossed back over the bridge by foot. The blisters on my feet were already starting to form, so the Google Maps predicted 45 minute walk to cross the bridge was not a happy outlook for the day. Fortunately for us, both of us are quite fast walkers and made it across the bridge in under 30 minutes. Photo taking was included in this time frame.

Although it was an overcast day, the view of both sides of New York was beautiful from above. The air quality felt cleaner, even though we were walking right above a mass of cars driving by underneath us. It may have just been the illusion of height that added to the overall grandeur of the experience, leaving us feeling refreshed.