Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls! 

It was a gorgeous day and the falls were spread out before me in my hotel room, the Hilton. In the last year, the Niagara Falls people, have built a lot of hotels, Skylon Towers and places for to people to go.

Skylon Tower, bridge to U.S and the
American Falls/Bridal Veil Falls 

The American Falls combined with the
tiny Bridal Veil Falls and a RAINBOW!

The Ferry Wheel

Horseshoe Falls 

It isn't just Honeymoon Villa anymore ( see the release of 'Niagara', a 1953 movie starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten), it's a copy of Las Vegas etc with the Casinos dotting the landscape. It has lights at night lighting up the falls, it has winter and the view is WONDERFUL! 

The Horseshoe Falls with people watching the falls

Outside the Niagara Casino, they have a
fountain in the mall 

The Hydro Plant up front and the view of Niagara Falls behind

AutoShow ... Just Down the Street

On Friday I went to the AutoShow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This is right down the street from me. I can see it from my window. In the Skywalk, I saw a sign pushing the AutoShow. It said:

It was made with CAR PARTS ...

I went to the car show because I wanted to buy/lease a car ... I'm driving my own Jeep Liberty and it's 9 years old. They had all kinds of car in there. I went to the Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen/Audi, Chrysler and Subaru all in one stop! I had so much fun doing it.

The Fords, Toyota and the Volkswagen had Hybrid cars. There very expensive compared to the present models... maybe in the next couple of years I will be able to drive them.

I got a really good idea for my car and I'll have to check it out ... This is amazing!

Willow Springs Winery, Stouffville, Ontario

In Stouffville ... 5572 Bethesda Road ... It's true. Founded by Mario and Julie Testa, Willow Springs Winery is a "bunch" of grapes (11 acres of them) behind the beautiful winery atop the Oak Ridges Moraine.

They grow and are harvested to make red and white wine. (The Icewine comes from the Niagara Peninsula where grapes are grown to leave out all autumn ... not so in Stouffville where it is cold.) 

They press the wine on site in big vats in the basement of the winery and store it in barrels and stainless steel containers. The Testa version, requiring a VQA certification, is aged in oak for a period of 12 months in French barrels for added complexity and body.  

The vats and barrels

This is ready to go! All the Willow Springs  bottles ...

Second City Comedy ...

Dreams Really do Come True! (and other lies) ... http://www.secondcity.com ... it's over now but we went to it. Was it ever funny! I laughed and laughed and laughed but I can't tell you what was funny. It was so funny that I laughed and laughed ... well, you know ... 


At the end, we went down the street to a bar at the corner of John and Richmond Street. We got onto the second floor and there were pool tables, bowling and hockey (four people can do that, well I suppose two). In the bar, we watched the band. Is was fun!

Watching the Winnipeg Jets ...

I was there! In the box, with all my friends and wow!... do the fans in the audience have enough enthusiasm for the Jets? The MTS Centre is packed, approximately 15,000+ seats, and all cheering and booing and I don't know what else but very emotional. At the end, they where matched 3-3 at the end of three periods. So in OT, the Panthers' scored to capture the shootout on the seventh attempt. It was very exciting!

Winnipeg Jets - January 21, 2012 

Jets take on the Florida Panthers 

After, we went to the bar just over the corner...

For breakfast, Derek made us omeletes. And very carefully he stood making them, each one separate. They contained green pepper, cheese (both cheddar and feta), tomatoes and mushrooms. Were they ever good!

Derek cooking the omelettes

Omelette for Jen

Derek, Cindy and Dave at the theatre for
 Shirley Valentine. It was really good ...
We went for dinner first.

We're babisitting! And Mary and Matt play the piano.

Matt wears a hat.

I was there for five days. I took pictures of the slats on the patio ... not much snow they have here in Winnipeg ... and I gazed at my feet (their there, of course) drinking red wine. 

Wishing You a Happy New Year

 On New Years Eve I went down the City Hall and they had a party just getting started for the City TV concert. The skaters were out and it was beautiful!

  

From the City Hall blurb: "But it's known all over the city that after the rink guards leave at night (usually 10 pm), shinny hockey often breaks out on the rink -- a very good game, lit by the hotel windows across the street. The game doesn't usually go later than 1.30 am because by then too many lights are out at the Sheraton Hotel and skaters can't see the puck."   Is this funny, or what? 

After a while, they cleared the rink for the zamboni. It left the ice and people returned to skating. (I took this with a cell phone -- and it was impossible).

The Concert was beginning and I made it home.

On New Years Day I went to pick up Erin and Dan at their house. Rory and Hayley were having a dinner for all of us. I hadn't had leg of lamb before with potatoes with cheese, sweet potatoes, carrots, salad, Plum Pudding with sauce, Peppermint ice cream and wine.

Erin's cat, Morgie, showed off his silver bow  

Rory and Hayley are wearing antlers - you can't see the antlers,
but they are there!

Erin kissing Dan

A wine stopper - Believe it or not 

All DONE. Happy New Years to all of you! 

The Zoo - Christmas Treats Walk - December 26th

I went to the zoo with Erin and Dan on Monday, Christmas treats day. The animals are given treats from the zoo to enjoy. Here, Erin and Dan were watching the very tiny little monkey with his eyes on the treat.

It was a beautiful day with the sun shining through most of the day. We went outside, to the polar bears, penguins, giraffes (they weren't there, of course) and the elephants (they weren't there. I haven't heard whether the elephants are still there or not but the elephant building was locked) and inside to the five pavilions and one rhinoceros building.