Day 6 - Niagara on the Lake

The Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara on the the Lake is such a contrast to the two previous modern-day hotels. Built in 1864 and recently refurbished, it retains much of its timeless charm and offers luxury accommodation to all who visit.

This morning we woke late and started our day with a swim and jacuzzi in the spa pool. We then took a walk down to the lake and explored some of the residential areas of the town. It’s a perfect town with beautiful architecture, colourful plantings with boutique shops lining the main town - it almost appears to be too perfect and we tried hard to find a down-and-out or some litter, but we failed!

We haven’t been so lucky with the weather today. The skies opened just after 11.30am and like true Brits we headed for the nearest shelter, a pub named the Olde Angel Inn, where we had a couple of hot toddies, followed by a bit of brunch while we waiting for the rain to stop. The pub was owned by a Liverpudlian gentleman who emigrated over her 32 years ago - we can understand the reasoning!

After our impromptu lunch we decided to explore despite the weather. There are many excursions around Niagara Park and this afternoon we visited two. Firstly, Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum, which scarily had many of the old printing machines that both David and I remember were still around when we first started out in print all those years ago, but although it made us feel very old, it was good to take a trip down memory lane.

Afterwards we visited the butterfly conservatory - an incredible conservation site which is home to over 2000 butterflies. It’s a pretty interactive experience. As you walk into the conservatory, all the butterflies are flapping around and its like something from Avatar. There are hundreds of different varieties under one roof, all frantically flapping their beautiful, colour wings. It was such a treat and both of us spent well over an hour taking hundreds of pictures!

This evening, after crashing in the room for a while, we went and had dinner in the bar of the hotel. Yet again, the bar was full of the atmosphere of yesteryear whilst retaining the level of service and comfort one expects from a modern-day hotel.

Another lovely day where we managed to relax and be a bit more chilled than we have been on our first five days in Canada!Read more