a day in canada

Traveling is something that is an essential part of life. Without it, life is bland, boring, repetitive. Oftentimes, when people think of traveling, they associate it with flights and hotels and remote destinations, which can typically be a large expense. That's not wrong, however, who says you can't travel to the next town over? Day-trips definitely count as traveling. Just because you're not dropping a few grand to travel overseas doesn't mean you can't enrich your life by finding a new place, perhaps a few hours away.

This past Sunday, my mom woke me up early and told me to be ready by 11:30am. She said she was taking me somewhere, and it was a surprise. It wasn't until about 15 minutes after we left that she told me to look in the middle compartment of her car, which is where I found our passports!

Living in Rochester, and pretty much anywhere in Western New York, is extremely convenient because we are literally less than 2 hours away from the Canadian border via car. We were on our way to the scenic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. I had only been there once before, but I hadn't really had a chance to explore the town.

Honestly, the whole place was giving me storybook vibes. As we were driving through to the main town, we passed through several vineyards and the most stunning houses. It almost felt European, but with the fall atmosphere complete with the colors of the leaves and the dim grey sky, it had a charm all it's own.

We started off by having dinner at this gorgeous Italian restaurant called Bella Vita. To my surprise, we were the only ones there! Soon after we arrived, a few more groups of people started to trickle in. Everything on the menu was absolutely to die for, but I settled on the fettuccine carbonara. Not even exaggerating, it was definitely the best dish that I've ever had at a restaurant. My family has always made that dish for me, and I had never even seen it offered in a restaurant until then! I highly recommend it. My mom and I chatted through lunch, sipping on a delicious merlot (funny story, they didn't ID me for my drink in Canada, but later that evening when I was back in the US at the movies, I was asked for my ID. FOR A DAMN MOVIE. Gotta love those cultural differences.)

Anyways, we finished out our meal with a shot of espresso, and began to stroll down the street for dessert. Among the numerous cafe's and bakeries, we decided on some gelato. We sat near the window so we could people watch. Everything was radiating with the same vibe that I felt driving in. The place was very peaceful, yet it seemed to be fairly busy. This seemed to be the case for most of the shops. I felt an atmosphere that was just different, but in the best way. It's kind of indescribable. A dog and it's owner strolled in, so I grabbed a dog treat conveniently located on the shelf next to me and handed it to her. At this point, I literally felt like I was in a movie. Everyone in this town is SO friendly, & they all seem like such a tight knit community.

We stopped in a few boutiques as well, which consisted of everything from home decor, to artisan soaps, and obviously clothes. I made a stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and bought two sculpted chocolate hedgehog truffles, which I ate before even leaving the store (I have a problem). Before heading back to our car, we saw the famous Prince of Wales hotel, which was where my grandparents always used to stay when they came up to visit, according to my mom.

Fun fact: Canadian bills are INDESTRUCTIBLE. You cannot rip them. AND THEY'RE HOLOGRAPHIC. America is slackin'.

The energy of the people, the different languages we heard in conversation, and the utter beauty of the place makes it such a unique experience. I don't know if the same philosophy that "golden-age thinking" implies to time periods applies to places, but everything just seems better in Canada. My mom and I had a fabulous day trip, and we cannot wait to go back.

So I encourage all of you, if you have the urge to travel but are tight on $$$, look into different towns about an hour or two away that might have something cool or different to offer. Enjoy the ride there, and once you arrive, explore the streets, go into stores, walk in the park, and soak up your surroundings. You won't regret it.