In which Layla and Roz cycle and taste wine, look at a big waterfall, and watch two plays

by Layla

We arrived in St Catharine and took a taxi to our B&B at Niagara on the Lake. What an odd place. The B&B itself was very nice, and the owner friendly and helpful. But the map's description of a few blocks from the main street translated as deepest suburbia, with houses lined up on long, pavement-less roads (people in Canada apparently do not walk). We went out for dinner at the Old Winery, a pleasant restaurant with outside patio where we enjoyed a vegetarian pizza and salad to share, along with some local wine. And then a 15 minute walk home in the deserted, pitch black, pavement-less streets, with nothing but an occasional speeding car, and the coloured hum of televisions within houses to keep us company. In some ways, not dissimilar to Cambodia, and a rather odd experience. We were thankful when we eventually reached the safety of our B&B.

The next morning, up bright and early, we suffered the bizarre B&B experience of dining with another family at one cozy table, and ate strawberries with balsamic vinegar and chocolate (random) and apple pancake cake before zooming out to Zoom, a bike tour place where we'd booked an all-day cycle tour of the local vineyards, or as they're known, 'wineries'. A really fun experience. We started with a tour of the town, being regaled with historical facts by our guide John - Niagara on the Lake was once the capital of Canada, and subject to all sorts of US invasions from just across the water. Less than a mile away we could see the US fort. Quite interesting. The town itself is pretty and twee and apparently the oldest in Canada. And they have a long tradition of theatrical festivals dating back to the evangelicals whose annual visits and performances were the highlight of the year; this tradition is now continued in the Shaw Festival, which we were to attend that evening.

Out of town, we sped on through parkland cycle paths by Lake Ontario, to our first vineyard, Lalley. Which was small and very sweet and had the best wine of the day - after tasting six, we bought a bottle of some excellent Vidal (2010) and the region's specialty, ice wine (very sweet wine due to grapes being squeezed very late, when they've been frozen by the chilly Canadian climate). That day we tried Riesling and Cabernet Franc ice wine, but Vidal was the most delicious. After a picnic lunch of sandwiches and cake and cherries by the roadside, we proceeded on to more wineries whose names I fear I've forgotten... We didn't like Reif, which was big and brash, but did like Pondview, where we bought a bottle of wine and another of ice wine. We didn't like the pretentious Iniskillen, which had ice wine for $150 (though it did taste nice), and we also tried Marynissen, popular with the government, but with the need for the wine to 'sit' for several more years, the reds were tannin-y. We finished off with a tour at the very modern operation of Jackson Triggs.

After quite a delightful day, we returned home and tried out the B&B's outdoor hot tub before getting changed and heading out on the town. We walked for 20 minutes into the main street and found a restaurant called Bistro One where we had more pizza and salad and tried the Megalomaniac winery's Riesling before heading along to the Festival Theatre to see an obscure but fab play by JM Barrie, The Admirable Crichton. A lovely theatre and a lovely play - very cheery indeed. After it we walked back in the pitch black weirdness to our B&B and headed straight to sleep.

The next day we awoke early and after a speedy breakfast of egg baked in a bread pastry shell, caught a taxi to what Oscar Wilde terms 'a bride's second disappointment', Niagara Falls. I'd been there once before on the Chinese bus tour saga, but Roz never had and it seemed mean to deprive her. After a 20 minute taxi ride (there is absolutely no public transport in Niagara on the Lake) we were deposited on a street corner. We rounded the corner and there it was - Niagara falls. It's quite an impressive sight, though one imagines it might be more impressive encountering it in the wild than framed by a thousand tacky tourist attractions, but still very cool. There are actually two falls - one on the Canada side, and a larger one on the US side. We bought tickets for the famous Maid of the Mist boat that took us to both of them, clad in matching bright blue ponchos as there was a lot of water - and so much water mist we could barely see the falls. Quite fun, if rather wet, and after it we strolled along the walkway for a mile or so, looking at the falls from above and imagining going over them in a barrel!

After the Niagara Falls excitement we took another taxi back to Niagara on the Lake and had an underwhelming lunch at the Epicurean where Rpz and I spent most of the meal weeping due to an unfortunate reminiscence of the book Rilla of Ingleside, set in Canada, which we'd both read as children and which has a particularly sad bit (Dog Monday, for those kindred spirits)... After lunch we walked back up the road to the Festival Theatre for an unplanned My Fair Lady indulgence. It had great reviews, and we were delighted to have gone as it lived nicely up to them. Beautifully performed, and a delightful musical. We have some envy of Niagara on the Lake for its Shaw Festival though in fact none of the locals we encountered had actually been to any of this year's shows!

After the play we had a taxi waiting outside the theatre to dash us back to the B&B, pick up our bags, and drive us to St Catharine's where we were to catch the 6:08 train back to Toronto. Which I can tell you was even more expensive than the taxi. So it was with much consternation that we received the news from the stationmaster that the train had derailed and would not be turning up. Thankfully our taxi driver hadn't yet gone. He conveyed us to the bus station and we grudgingly sloped onto a Megabus, eventual destination Toronto. This may not be very helpful for our evening plans!