You are cordially invited to read the first of a few posts describing my experiences on an Ontario wine country tour this past weekend. My objectives for this tour:
Test out my travel legs (in preparation for longer, more distant adventures);
Post something interesting in this blog that people would read and comment on.
I planned to take photographs with my iPad Mini and Tweet under my pen name of Florence T Lyon. I sure got a lot of photos but had difficulty with Twitter updates via the hotel wifi.
Twas either the hotel wifi or Twitter choked when I attempted to tweet more status pics of the #tour. No, it wasn't due to XSF #wine tasting
— Florence T Lyon (@FloTLyon) September 16, 2013
I met about 18 other people on the bus. I can only remember about half of the names.
Although I was offered a seat at the front with the highway activity within feet from view, I gracefully declined and moved back to the mid-section, staking out two free seats.
I think I was the third youngest person in the group. There were a lot of retired couples travelling together. There were also a gaggle of elderly women who had either taken this tour before or had been on many other tours to interesting places. I befriended a near-ninety year-old dear who relied a lot on her walker. I soon became her travelling companion and fetcher of things by foot.
The lengthy ride down along the north shore of Lake Ontario was broken up with pit stops, coffee breaks, stretch breaks and more pit stops. We were also treated to an on-board viewing of Julie & Julia. I found it appropriate for the dining part of our tour and very, very entertaining. Bon appétit! On Friday evening, after settling in to our rooms and freshening up, we attended a pairing dinner with wines brought in from Peller Estates.
When we arrived at the hotel's banquet room in our dressy attire, we were greeted with glasses of French Cross Pino Grigio Sparkler. That's one way of describing a bubbly white wine without infringing on the Champagne trademark.Tasty!
Next we had delicious dishes served with the Family Series Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Merlot. For a red wine, I found the latter went very well with the main dish.
The tasty dessert of Cherries Jubilee in a Phylio Cup with fresh black pepper and vanilla bean ice cream was paired with a Late Harvest Vidal. I really enjoyed it.
This was only the second wine and food pairing dinner I attended in the past year. It was very enjoyable and I have made notes on my menu copy for wines to purchase when I returned home.
There was only one complaint: We could have used some light exercise to move our bodies, to help digestion before and after dessert. Someone suggested line dancing. Of course that would require physical coordination. We concluded that after a few glasses of wine, it may have been a difficult feat! Thanks for reading this far. Watch for the Day 2 post of the wine country tour.
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I have returned from an Ontario wine country tour.
It involved three days and two nights of dining, wining and winding our way through Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls and Prince Edward County. Soon I will post a wee travel log and selected photographs. While I recuperate and get caught up on tasks around le petit apartement, please enjoy this plump bunch of Vidal grapes.
I've always enjoyed this tune from an era of pride and hope that blossomed in the 1970s.
Moving on up!
It's not like we're enjoying a long-overdue respect or a nouveau riche lifestyle and relocating to a deluxe apartment in the sky. It's more like we are planning to move and that I agreed to tackle my "discomfort with heights". That's right. I don't like high places. I rarely go out onto our balcony. When I do, I hold the railing tightly if I look over the sides. Also, we recently discovered a wasp's nest nearby!
For our next habitation, one of the young folk convinced me to consider an apartment with a nicer (higher) view in addition to living in a well-managed, affordable and secure building. Okay, okay! It has only been two years since the last move yet once again I am reviewing the top 10 tips for downsizing. I like to plan well in advance, especially when it comes to clearing out the clutter, the things we accumulate throughout our lives.
It's curious and daunting what objects - or animals - make their way into your home, demanding your time, money and space. I love planning projects, making task lists and logistical checklists. I like getting creative with floor plans, taking measurements, cutting out scaled-down, two-dimensional paper shapes of furniture and placing them in various arrangements. The kids thought I was being obsessive last time but it sure helped when we moved into le petit apartement and made everything fit into place.
My
evil plan of pushing one or two birds out of the nest last time
didn't work. One wasn't quite ready and another ended up moving back
in. So here we are again, still in our cozy, crowded apartment of four humans and two cats.
Benefits of moving often:
You get to review your collection of people, animals and things;
You can offload extra furniture and kitchen supplies to your grown children for when they move out. When they move out...;
You discover interesting things at the back of the fridge, cupboard, pantry;
You finally locate that article of clothing, important document or much-loved book that went missing!
You get to move into a new home with a fresh coat of paint;
You plan ahead for a positive change in your life and a change of scenery. This sure helps one get through a long, dark winter!
It's not like you're losing connection to a community by pulling up roots. With the positive influences of technology, email and social networking, you can still keep in touch with old neighbours and friends. Well, maybe not the annoying old bigot next door...
Do you have others to offer? Please copy and paste in the comments box below.
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You may also want to visit the blog for The Year of the Rabbit, a novel about fate, family and forgiveness. Thanks for dropping by. T
What a lovely treat to sip an award-winning Pinot-Gris on a Friday night after a long week of vacationing. It's even lovelier when a gentleman delivers it right to your door!
Last weekend at one of the regional garlic festivals, I happened upon a tasty Pinot Gris 2011. The nice gentleman at the counter informed me that it was an award winner. I enjoyed the sample he provided. I also discovered the concept of home wine delivery. I nearly peed my pants. You mean I don't have to lug a bottle home from the store?! In that case, I'll take two of these and one of those. Where do I sign up?
Joking aside, I thought it was wonderfully convenient to have the wine delivered to one's door. It's an interesting twist to traveling hundreds of miles for visits to various wineries and estates. The other option though provides ample opportunity to see new places, meet new people and join in on a wine and food pairing dinner.
Making my list and checking it twice:
I dug up the requests readers made after I posted my "Wining for a little help..." entry in June. If you missed out on this opportunity, be sure to send me an email or add a comment below. Get your request in by August 31st. Thanks for dropping by. Wishing you a weekend filled with good food, good cheer and great company.
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