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Old 5 Jan 16, 04:12 PM  
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abiknox
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Restaurant Reviews: 5
Toronto First Timers! December 2015 - Day 1

We woke up just before 6am today which meant a 9 hour sleep! The bed was so comfy. It was still dark outside and the view was incredible! So clear.

We took our time getting ready and after watching the weather forecast predict -4 degrees we layered ourselves up for the day. I had a vest, a t-shirt, a thermal top, a wool dress, tights, leggings, thermal socks and boots on. In addition I had a coat, a scarf, gloves and a hat! Toastie!

At this point knowing that the likelihood of having enough snow to go tubing tomorrow was low, we decided to cancel the car for the second day. It was quite pricey at £70 a day and that seemed a lot just to visit the zoo. I was sure Uber would be cheaper. I tried to cancel online with Hertz but it said there was no car available for just 1 day. Strange.

We head down to the lobby and just out of interest had a nosey in the restaurant. The breakfast buffet looked really good and as it was still early we were the only ones in there. With the lure of lovely looking food & no queues we sat down and paid $22 each for the buffet. It was lovely, there was toast, pastries, bagels, fresh fruit, yogurts, bread and butter pudding & then the hot food! Bacon, sausage, eggs & potatoes! All really lovely & we definitely had our moneys worth with tea, coffee & OJ too!









We paid the bill @ $50 plus tip and walked over to Union Station to sort out the hire car which was booked with Hertz. Their desk was situated in the main entrance and after a few minutes we were being served. There was one lone guy working and he was having serious tech issues with all his systems being down. He said there shouldn’t be a problem cancelling the car for the second day but we would have to head over to the phone box and use the free phone number for Hertz to change the reservation! It’s the first time I have used a public phone in years but we managed.



The reservation was changed and when we head back over to the desk we were given a the keys to a Jeep Compass. Nice.

We followed the instructions to the car park located over the road and before long we were in the car & making our way out of the city! The drive to Niagara was pretty boring, we stopped once for gas as we had picked up half full. We put in $30 or so dollars which filled the tank. We also bought the following snacks for the journey! The Nutella Go with pretzel sticks was unbelievably good!







The journey took just under an hour and half in total and was completely stress free, we did have a GPS though which we wouldn’t have managed without. On our way in, about 10 minutes before we reached the falls we spotted some outlets on the highway and made a plan to stop there on our way back.





We saw the Skytower come into view and knew we were close. We took a Dibber tip & parked in the Fallsview Casino. It cost $20. We popped up in the shopping mall and as it was currently raining, we spent a bit of time wondering around before heading out. We lost $5 in the casino





When the rain had turned to drizzle we head out and followed the signs down the hill to the falls. I had visited Niagara back in 1999 when I was in high school so I did have vague memories but I was still in awe! Aaron though they were smaller than he imagined but I think they a lot bigger when you get closer! The thundering noise of the water is amazing.

The rain stopped after 10 minutes or so which was great!

Warning: Photo overload!

























We spent a lot of time just watching them & taking photos before heading into the information center to try and organise some kind of tour. We opted for the ‘journey behind the falls’ and paid the $36. We got a lift down and then followed the tunnels out to the side of the falls and then to the two points behind the water! Incredible.





Once we were ready to leave, we used the incline railway to get back up to street level. This cost us $5 and was quite fun!







We followed the street back over to the main area and head into Margaritaville for lunch.
This one, as seems to be a pattern with us and Margaritaville lately was a bit of a let down. We were obviously in the quiet season so they had a very limited menu (no pretzel bread again ).

The service was ok, but not great and the same could be said for the food. Nothing horribly wrong, but nothing special either.

Aaron was driving but I have a 5 O'Clock somewhere.



We started with Buffalo Wings.



I then had the French Dip Sandwich.



Aaron had a Burger.



The meal cost $70 which wasn’t too bad I suppose considering we had 2 courses and a cocktail. It put Aaron off wanting to visit the City Walk one for his birthday in March though so that’s a shame.

After lunch, we head back towards the car having another quick look around the shops. There was a chilli shop which was pretty impressive & a lovely fluffy moose!







Back in the car we decided to head to the outlets now as it was getting quote late, the plan had originally been to go to Niagara on the lake but it was almost dark and we fancied some bargains! I do regret it a bit now as I know how popular it is but I guess it’s a reason to go back!

We had a bit of a struggle finding the outlets, it was one of those where they are very visible from the highway but its not obvious how to get to them! We managed in the end though and parked up after a few minutes.

We did quite well between us; I got a coat from Forever 21, Slippers and a PJ top from La Vie en Rose and some PJ bottoms from Boathouse. Aaron got a shirt from Boathouse and a hat & free T-shirt at Quicksilver. We only grabbed the hat originally, it was $14.99 and we didn’t notice the buy one get one free sign so when we got to the till they told us we could grab something else of lower value for free. It seemed nothing else was that cheap though so after looking for a while we headed back up to the till and said we would just take the hat. The server said she felt bad that we had wasted our time and that we could pick any T-shirt for free! Amazing, Aaron chose one that was $24.99. What a bonus.

It was 5pm by the time we left and traffic was ok until we were about 15 minutes from the city where there had been an accident & on the other side of the road we saw a major car fire! First responders were only just on scene so I hope no one was hurt! We made it back eventually having missed the parking lot once.

We walked back to the hotel for a relaxing hour before getting changed and heading back out. We stopped at the Loose Moose for a drink, where I had a toffee apple bourbon & Aaron had a couple of beers, $30.







We carried on up the road in search of Smokes Poutinery which we knew was close, it didn’t take us long to find it and we were soon in the queue. It’s a popular place and I was amazed at all the option. We just went for a meal size traditional tray, $7.



It was good, I ate most of the cheesecurds and a few chips and then Aaron finished them off. He had fancied Chinese but we couldn’t find anywhere close enough to grab any so we headed back to the hotel and were in bed by 11pm.

Edited at 02:31 PM.
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Old 5 Jan 16, 04:31 PM  
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lovedisney89
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Fab day! Niagara Falls looks awesome, would love to visit one day.
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Old 5 Jan 16, 08:47 PM  
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Beaker's Fluff
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I am loving this, can't wait to visit in October.
Looks like an amazing place. Niagara looks incredible, we are thinking about a car, but we may do an arranged trip, still deciding.
We are staying at Trump International (did you see it) and about 10 Tim Hortons seem to be within 100 yards, I keep looking at the menu... scrum...
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Edited at 07:34 AM.
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Old 5 Jan 16, 09:23 PM  
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Melbatb
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We loved Niagara (was a fair bit warmer though!)

Well done on trying the poutine - I can't get past the curd idea 🙄
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Old 5 Jan 16, 10:26 PM  
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JoS
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Another good day and glad you liked the falls and got some bargains.
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Old 5 Jan 16, 11:29 PM  
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lottiesmum0
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I'm so happy that you have written this trippie as we are going to Toronto and have just booked 2 nights in niagara!
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Old 6 Jan 16, 12:12 AM  
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Gunna
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Poutine - love em!
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Old 6 Jan 16, 09:59 AM  
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abiknox
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Originally Posted by lovedisney89 View Post
Fab day! Niagara Falls looks awesome, would love to visit one day.
Its an incredible place!

Originally Posted by Beaker's Fluff View Post
I am loving this, can't wait to visit in October.
Looks like an amazing place. Niagara looks incredible, we are thinking about a car, but we may do an arranged trip, still deciding.
We are staying at Trump International (did you see it) and about 10 Tim Hortons seem to be within 100 yards, I keep looking at the menu... scrum...
I would opt for the car, from what I read, the organise trips can take up to 3 hours to do the drive It was very easy. I did see the Trump hotel, hey all look lovely. Its such a great looking city with an amazing sky line!

Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
We loved Niagara (was a fair bit warmer though!)

Well done on trying the poutine - I can't get past the curd idea 🙄
Oooh I love cheese curds, we had them deep fried last time we were in Florida! They were incredible.

Originally Posted by JoS View Post
Another good day and glad you liked the falls and got some bargains.
Thanks! Yea, we were pleased with our shopping

Originally Posted by lottiesmum0 View Post
I'm so happy that you have written this trippie as we are going to Toronto and have just booked 2 nights in niagara!
You'll love it, the city & Niagara were both great!

Originally Posted by Gunna View Post
Poutine - love em!
It was yummy, so nice on a cold night too.
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Old 6 Jan 16, 10:21 AM  
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Rossalino
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Great pictures of the Falls - you certainly pack a lot into your days!
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Old 6 Jan 16, 10:42 AM  
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margyloveswdw
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Great day, the falls look fab.

I discovered Nutella with pretzels in FL in November... love 'em and I am saving my last pack!
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