Eddie and I both find Canadians generally warm and friendly…exceedingly polite-that would be the tad British side, not necessarily the French side. They don’t seem as tense and angry as us Americans have become…it has been great to be able to walk the tree lined streets, duck into pocket parks and city parks without looking over your shoulder or feeling threaten in any way. Not much graffiti either, and no one talks about politics or politicians, Covid or the economy …Tucker, who? It has been a throwback to a kinder, gentler time. It is the souvenir I would like to bring home with me and keep.
As the sun came up on Thursday, wait for it, you all know it is coming - Eddie decided to sleep in. There you have it, our dirty little secret. Eddie is good for usually 5 days of traveling and touring…but he will declare for himself a day off around day 6. Well, Eddie is out of practice, call is Covid hangover, but with a dyi wine day on the books, he declare a day off. Surprise! Day 4-Eddie, Eddie, Eddie-you must be getting old. It must have been the thought of Ice Wine and White wines -no reds that convinced him that he needed to sleep until noon. Thank goodness I did not book the My Wine Country van tour that picks you up and drives you to multiple wineries with a heavy Italian lunch and home for 5:00 tour…and charges you a pretty looney (Canadian for Dollar) to do so. But you know me, I am up with the sun on most days. So, me and Apple Watch set out for a solo adventure. My watch was so happy :) that we were stretching our activity circle.
Back to our friendly Canadians-at breakfast. Cruise training kicked in and I struck up a friendly conversation with an adjacent table couple. I judged her to be around my age and the alpha-husband was older but attentive. She had retired and become a wine something…it is a Certification below Sommelier. She took the courses and got this do-dad certification and went to work for a Wine importer. They spend their time traveling the world procuring wines for this importer…dang, why didn’t Eddie do that….or at least become a craft bourbon or liquor certified do-dad. Paid for travel, and hob nobbing with the vintner, and telling him lies (or truths) about his product. They live in Toronto, but love the Niagara on the Lake region. They come here once a month at invitation of multiple wineries. Gee, hard life, but someone needs to sort the good from the bad. She was quite chatty-must be all the wine she consumes. She said while the ice wine is good, and the white wines decent - she find the product extraordinary overpriced. She said that they can import (remember we are in Canada-another country) from the US west coast a better tasting white at a much more attractive price than the wines from here or British Columbia. Hmmm, doubly glad we did not go on the pricey wine tour…has Eddie become psychic (instead of a certified liquor do-dad) in his old age? I am getting a Carnac the Great/Johnny Carson vibe, here. Nah, he always will go red when wine tasting…and champagne has lost its “pop”for him. He planned this day off, you think?
Come afternoon, he was up and ready for a stroll and a bite. I shared my morning friend’s observation. So, no wineries for us. Phew, I was afraid there would be a shipping wine home at an outrageous price fire drill. So, back to our afternoon of adventure. Like I said, tree line streets and pocket parks abound…probably need to consult the internet and see if this has been the home to a movie or two. This all seems like a grand place to shoot a movie or Netflix series-we prefer Netflix with its dump all episodes to the drop one a week that all the other subscriptions services prefer….overshare, I know… The town is such a step back in time. Did our stroll take us to a winery, or at least a wine tasting room? Nope, we ended up in an Irish Pub. You could order flights of local beer, cider or wine-or get whiskey…and there is some local of that, too. No charge for the Irish drinking songs. Never a dull moment when you travel with Eddie.
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