Niagara Falls, Ontario - Thanksgiving in the Basement Apartment
Brad took a break from his busy project schedule yesterday for a trip to Niagara Falls!
We drove through wine country to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful, old small town in the Niagara Region on Lake Ontario. We strolled around town for an hour, stopping in a few of the stores for a taste of freshly made fudge and a bottle of maple syrup. The place reminded us of Banff, but older, much smaller, and more "small town-ish" (in contrast to Banff, which has more expensive hotels, restaurants, and shopping).
After our short visit, we headed towards the falls along the beautiful Niagara Parkway, enjoying the scenery along the way, and stopping at a lookout point over Whirlpool Rapids for a picnic lunch. (Whirlpool Rapids is a bend in the river downstream from the falls, where the currents generate a nasty whirlpool - hence the name. It is one of the most lethal stretches of water in North America.)
Niagara Falls is truly awe-inspiring. (Can you believe that 1/5th of the worlds fresh water flows over the falls? Makes you appreciate how little fresh water there is on our planet.) Being true Canadians, we definitely like the Canadian side of the falls (Horseshoe Falls) much more than the American side.
Horseshoe Falls
American Falls
We had hoped to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist - a boat that takes you to the foot of the American and Canadian sides of the falls - but its last day of operation for the year was last weekend! We were a bit disappointed that we missed the ultimate opportunity to get absolutely drenched, but we had a great time anyway. It was a great "mini-vacation," and the weather made for an absolutely perfect Fall day.
After two months in Ontario, our impression of the province is this:
There are certainly beautiful places to go in the province, Niagara Falls and the Niagara Region being one of them. But Toronto and the the area South of it along Lake Ontario (Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton) are incredibly overpopulated. There is something fundamentally wrong with living in a place where the air quality gets so bad that there are days when you should not be outside, and the water tastes like crap. (We got a Brita water filter last week - it was the best $30 we ever spent!)
On the way to Niagara Falls yesterday, we found one of the sources of the poor water (and air) quality in Hamilton.
Makes for some beautiful scenery, too... don't you think?
If it weren't for the massive expanses of pavement that are the highways, and all of the big industry, the area would be quite stunning. Especially with the gorgeous fall colours this time of year.
The colours certainly have been one thing that we have enjoyed. And there are some neat old houses in Oakville, as well.
One last observation about Ontario. Ontarians seem to have a strange misperception about barns, and what they are used for. The following pictures are of a local grocery store called 'The Barn'.
Now, as far as we know, there's only one thing that's "fresh" in a barn... and it isn't something you'd want to be eating!
Thanksgiving at the Brad and Anette household was quite an event, despite the small numbers.
We cooked a 4.5 kilo turkey, which turned out great! (Thanks, in large part, to Anette's life long internship with the turkey master himself, Brian Wickenheiser!) We had cranberries, corn muffins, cornbread stuffing, and roasted vegetables on the side.
The butternut squash didn't get away unscathed when Brad found him in the grocery bag...
We rounded off the meal with big slices of Anette's pumpkin pie!
Our final bit of news (in case you haven't heard) is that Anette's job search came to an end a month ago, when she secured a Data Analyst position at the Mothercraft Institute for Early Development. She started in October 3rd, and has had a great month so far... the people she works with are great, and she has an interesting project to work on now.
Mothercraft is a non-profit organization that runs, and supports, childcare centres and other programs for children aged 0 to 6 (and their parents) in Toronto. The Institute also runs intensive diploma programs for Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (childcare professionals). Anette will be working on the research side of the organization, which supports program planning at Ontario Early Years Centres... If you're interested, their website is: http://www.mothercraft.ca/
In the coming months we will both be working hard at work and school, and looking forward to going home to Calgary to enjoy Christmas and New Year's with our family and friends!
Less than 8 weeks are left, and we can't wait!
We drove through wine country to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful, old small town in the Niagara Region on Lake Ontario. We strolled around town for an hour, stopping in a few of the stores for a taste of freshly made fudge and a bottle of maple syrup. The place reminded us of Banff, but older, much smaller, and more "small town-ish" (in contrast to Banff, which has more expensive hotels, restaurants, and shopping).
After our short visit, we headed towards the falls along the beautiful Niagara Parkway, enjoying the scenery along the way, and stopping at a lookout point over Whirlpool Rapids for a picnic lunch. (Whirlpool Rapids is a bend in the river downstream from the falls, where the currents generate a nasty whirlpool - hence the name. It is one of the most lethal stretches of water in North America.)
Niagara Falls is truly awe-inspiring. (Can you believe that 1/5th of the worlds fresh water flows over the falls? Makes you appreciate how little fresh water there is on our planet.) Being true Canadians, we definitely like the Canadian side of the falls (Horseshoe Falls) much more than the American side.
Horseshoe Falls
American Falls
We had hoped to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist - a boat that takes you to the foot of the American and Canadian sides of the falls - but its last day of operation for the year was last weekend! We were a bit disappointed that we missed the ultimate opportunity to get absolutely drenched, but we had a great time anyway. It was a great "mini-vacation," and the weather made for an absolutely perfect Fall day.
After two months in Ontario, our impression of the province is this:
There are certainly beautiful places to go in the province, Niagara Falls and the Niagara Region being one of them. But Toronto and the the area South of it along Lake Ontario (Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton) are incredibly overpopulated. There is something fundamentally wrong with living in a place where the air quality gets so bad that there are days when you should not be outside, and the water tastes like crap. (We got a Brita water filter last week - it was the best $30 we ever spent!)
On the way to Niagara Falls yesterday, we found one of the sources of the poor water (and air) quality in Hamilton.
Makes for some beautiful scenery, too... don't you think?
If it weren't for the massive expanses of pavement that are the highways, and all of the big industry, the area would be quite stunning. Especially with the gorgeous fall colours this time of year.
The colours certainly have been one thing that we have enjoyed. And there are some neat old houses in Oakville, as well.
One last observation about Ontario. Ontarians seem to have a strange misperception about barns, and what they are used for. The following pictures are of a local grocery store called 'The Barn'.
Now, as far as we know, there's only one thing that's "fresh" in a barn... and it isn't something you'd want to be eating!
Thanksgiving at the Brad and Anette household was quite an event, despite the small numbers.
We cooked a 4.5 kilo turkey, which turned out great! (Thanks, in large part, to Anette's life long internship with the turkey master himself, Brian Wickenheiser!) We had cranberries, corn muffins, cornbread stuffing, and roasted vegetables on the side.
The butternut squash didn't get away unscathed when Brad found him in the grocery bag...
We rounded off the meal with big slices of Anette's pumpkin pie!
Our final bit of news (in case you haven't heard) is that Anette's job search came to an end a month ago, when she secured a Data Analyst position at the Mothercraft Institute for Early Development. She started in October 3rd, and has had a great month so far... the people she works with are great, and she has an interesting project to work on now.
Mothercraft is a non-profit organization that runs, and supports, childcare centres and other programs for children aged 0 to 6 (and their parents) in Toronto. The Institute also runs intensive diploma programs for Early Childhood Educators and Assistants (childcare professionals). Anette will be working on the research side of the organization, which supports program planning at Ontario Early Years Centres... If you're interested, their website is: http://www.mothercraft.ca/
In the coming months we will both be working hard at work and school, and looking forward to going home to Calgary to enjoy Christmas and New Year's with our family and friends!
Less than 8 weeks are left, and we can't wait!
posted by Brad and Anette at 7:34 AM
3 Comments:
I'd post a fun comment here, but I haven't slept in two days and I'm feeling barn fresh.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hey Brad and Anette, I found this page from Brad's post in the gaming-age forums. I have to say it seems like you guys have visted some amazing sites and more importantly are having a great time!
The reason for my comment is I wanted to get some more information from you guys. I've recently come over to England for 2 years from New Zealand, and I plan on doing some travels around Europe fairly shortly and like to get things planned out. I was wondering if you could list me your itenary, places you stayed, prices if possible (The PDF doesn't work anymore) and any travel information. I would be very thankful, if you have MSN access please contact me on Sheepboy64@hotmail.com
Keep up the awesome travels.
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