Friday, August 26, 2011

Things I do before Traveling: Play dress up!

Ummmm...no.

Nope.

Yes!

I like it! Mental note: Keep in mind for "a night out".

I think so. Perfect for a business trip.

Yes! Great traveling outfit.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Picnic Winery Bike Tour

So, we found this great bicycle rental shop Zoom Leisure, online before heading out to Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The reviews were all positive so we decided to book a Picnic Winery Bike Tour although attempted to book a Pub Lunch Winery Bike Tour.  That tour was all sold out but we happily picked Plan B.


You get a bike, water bottle, healthy snacks, lunch at a local market along the way, four winery visits and private tastings and if you buy anything, Zoom picks it up and brings it back to the bike rental shop for you to pick up after the bike tour.  It was well worth the $90/person charge.  It was so much fun.  We ended up friends with the people on the tour by the end of it (I think the wine helped with that) and we had a well balanced 6 hours of exercise and rest/fun.

Winery #1: Lailey Winery

Lailey Winery - a small "mom and pop" operation

Cheers to wine and biking!

The Market where we ate lunch

Enjoying a yummy lunch of great conversation, a sandwich, a fresh Canada peach and homemade ice cream!

      All our bikes outside the Market
                               
I caught a cute moment between a girl, her ice cream and her dog.

Winery #2: Reif Winery

Reif Winery - German founder/vinter and amazing Ice Wine found here

Handle bar mustache at Reif Winery

Private tasting at Reif Winery .  Our bike tour guide Michel is on the right.

Winery #3: Inniskillin

 
Inniskillin is a little more commercial than the "mom and pop" operations.  This only means they have to give their suppliers a certain amount of cases per year and if they fall below the quota could be dropped from that suppliers buying list.  If you were a winery who chose to be a small operation you'd sell at your own pace and have the time to create and age your wines to your standard of perfection.




Our private tasting included a tour of the winery.  Here is the cellar and we watched a video on how Inniskillin makes their Ice Wine from vine to glass.  *The wine boutique and cellar (wine storage) are all Frank Lloyd Wright inspired, including this table and chairs set.

The chairs wonderfully scream Frank Lloyd Wright

On to the next winery

Winery #4: Marynissen

A small "mom and pop" operation on purpose although they could go commercial because of their popularity.  You can only buy their wine at the winery or at some restaurants in town.  They want to stay small because that means more creative license and time to spend aging their wines.

    Private wine tasting with a comical fellow.  Michel tells him he missed his calling in stand-up comedy.      

 Crystals on every cork of their Cab Franc bottles but I forget why!

A hodge podge of bikes is an inspiring sight!

 Winery #5: Peller Estates

 Peller Estates coming into view

 
Private wine tasting at Peller.

Peller is a commercial winery boasting even a 5 star gourmet restaurant in the winery shop.  They are also very famous for their Ice Wines.  We concurred and bought a pack of 8 small bottles as gifts which we wrapped up in various clothing items and stowed in our luggage.  We however, have not received that piece of luggage back as of yet so would not recommend this practice.  You have to drive to and ship from Buffalo, NY if you transport purchases by mail because Canada cannot ship alcohol out of the country.






Friday, August 19, 2011

Just say the name...

...Niagara-on-the-Lake.  It is the epitome of the way my brain works.  I need to describe something or I cannot remember the word I am looking for or the word just does not exist in my language so I string together a bunch of words as THE word for what I am looking for.  This town is 30 minutes away from Niagara Falls, it is near the Niagara River but it is on a lake instead of the river or the falls.  So, it is near a body of water but not THE body of water that people know as Niagara Falls, instead its "Niagara but on a Lake".  I love this!  My kind of people, those Canadians.

Our hotel Queens Landing a part of the Vintage Hotels which also have Pillar & Post and Prince of Wales.

Our hotel has an evening turn down service. Depending on the hotel your turn down service means the housekeeper gives you extra towels, turns down a corner of your bed linens and most turn down services leave something nice for you to "come home to."  This hotel leaves a fresh rose every night and turns your clock/radio on to the jazz station.  Other's have left chocolates or towels made to look like animals! 

Our turn down service. Picture also soft jazz music playing and soft lighting as you walk into your room after a long day of either work or exercise.

At our hotel, I am not a fan of their in-house restaurant "The Tiara" (French cuisine although everything was bland) but I liked The Cannery at Pillar & Post.  The food was excellent and our server was knowledgable and very friendly.  She was on her way to becoming a Sommelier meaning she could pretty much talk about or describe perfectly any type of alcohol to you.  She also spoke fluent German and Italian and had lived in Europe for 4 years.  It was one of those dining experiences you would rate a 10. 

The Twice Baked Goat Cheese Souffles I had as an appetizer were just enough food without being too much.  They were tasty with the onion chutney on top as well.  I had a small cut of the beef tenderloin which was nothing to "write home about" but was so much better than the Tiara Restaurant's steak I felt like I had a significant meal upgrade.  I stuck with my staple martini or wine at dinner but for dessert tried a Remy King VSOP grape cognac.  Smooth when it went down but like fire in your nose when you first sniffed it.


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Going home can be anti-climactic

Especially when you are traveling for 12 hours but you are going by planes!  We are going to look into a new travel agent when back home for one and for two, we are going to get a new travel agent.  All in all however, it has not been bad.  No lost luggage, no missed flights, no pat downs or luggage rummaging by TSA mostly a lot of waiting. 

And it is Jon's birthday today!  I have tried like the great wife I am (;-D) to make it special and/or seem special even though we are in airports and airplanes all day today.  In Cancun's airport we ate at Air Margaritaville.  I arranged with the server to have something special done for Jon in honor of his birthday.  In perfect harmony with what I was thinking, three pretty ladies came out to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a shot of La Cucaracha which he was to slam as it tasted terribe (it was smoking as well).  In good sport he downed it.  They then told him he had just participated in a Mexican birthday tradition.  Way cool! 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Dolphins!!

The dolphins are trained with sign language! All the behaviors have their own sign and they get rewarded. They seem to me like the oceanic "man's best friend."  To be this close to them and touch them was absolutely wonderful and a beautiful experience. Unfortunately the neither of the kids ended up experiencing it.  One was too sunburnt and uninterested (the teenager) and one (our youngest) had a rash that was causing him to go into kiniptions in the salt water. :(  But I am glad I got to enjoy it!  Last time we were in Mexico I was pregnant so didn't get to do a whole lot.

Dolphin kisses

They gave us quite a ride

Jon loved it!


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Welcome home!

Fun thing to see when I come back to my room at Aventura Cove, Playa del Carmen, Mexico!

Chichen Itza

People of the Mouth of the Well - They are Mayan and lived near a large well.  They created a whole holy city center around the Well.  It was a completely spiritual and extreme city in its existence.  Only the high priest and his family and other priests as well as the high class lived there.  They literally reconfigured their bodies to show they were the elite of the people and only religious practices where adhered to or practiced here.  The infamous ball game where winners or losers (unknown) were decapitated, volunteer human sacrifice occurred in the well and their famous astronomy practices as well as temple worship of all their gods.  Mayan people living in surrounding communities could visit this place but not live there. 

It was a powefully mysterious energy to be around as a lot about this people is mysterious.  For instance, tools were never found in excavations even though huge temples were built.  Also, the largest temple we can see might just be the top half or even just the tip of the actual temple.  There has been recent excavation (funded by Greece!) and more parts of the temple have been found!  Mexico puts little funding into excavating their ruins so little by little more might be found!  And who knows what's buried in the jungle...(No really! More could be found. In Sri Lanka, a whole kingdom built on top of a rock was found buried in the jungle by an Australian archaelogist back in the 1970's.)  More famously, a whole calendar system was created (and was accurate) based on the stars even though they did not have telescopes (or nothing resembling an acient type of telescope was ever found).  An amazing yet dire people.    

The unfortunate thing about experiencing Chichen Itza is having to wade through the constant acosting of sellers or cheap items including children doing the same thing.  They are literally everywhere! Including in sacred and sad places.  For instance, on our trek to the Mouth of the Well where people, including mostly adult men and children, hurled themselves in the water to drown to appease the "Rain god", sellers were right at the sight barking their prices and sales pitches.  It took everything in me not to go give them my two cents!  "I don't want to hear your voice again while I am at this sacred and somber place! You are exploiting this place and I have no respect for you nor will I purchase your cheap things, ever!" I felt a little bit like Jesus did when he went into the temple and found sellers and money changers.   A sacred place yet greedy people conintually trying to make a buck at the expense of the holy.  I have no respect for such people.  I can empathize with their motivation and desires but not their actions!