Niagara, a full panorama

Admitting the one view making the 10 hour flight across the ocean a small price to pay was that of Niagara Falls, we impatiently awaited the last day to finally see nature's masterpiece. What I hadn't known was from how many angles one could see the landscape. Tourist traps or not, we descended down to the boardwalk by the rapids, we were splattered in the 4D film, we took the elevator down to the dripping tunnels to be behind the water, up still again the skylon tower to peer down at the horseshoe-shaped falls, and then my preference--

the boat among the seagulls under the mist.
Later in the day we were even blessed with a rainbow.

The boardwalk by the class 6 rapids
(for those of you who also didn't know that's the most dangerous)

Behind the water. Yup, a little anticlimactic after all

The horseshoe belongs to Canada, Goat Island to the US.
You can see the state of NY (including the little island) to the left.

And after the rain stopped, a rainbow appeared, and God said...

Up in Skylon tower

Before arriving in Canada I had planned a weekend trip down to Buffalo to gorge myself on the authentic buffalo wings, but I was soon convinced by the locals staying in Toronto would be well worth it. Was it ever. Friday night was spent watching the NY Yankees crucify the Toronto Blue Jays (although I felt like I was the only one on the NY side-- after screeching my excitement during the first inning, I soon got anxious wide-eyed glances from either side of me, pleading silence.

Early the next morning I was picked up by the other three professors to explore a more urban view of Niagara: the little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and surrounding Canadian wine country. The town was like my little collection of polly-pockets when I was little. Absolutely perfectly aligned, beautifully white picket-fenced, even the Starbucks was charming. We hid in the big hotel to thaw our fingers before heading back to the little fudge shop for more samples.

The one event Niagara-on-the-Lake boasts
is a Shakespearean Festival in the Royal George

Still shivering, we scuttled around the vines among the chickens to hurriedly step into the wine shop and breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the wine glasses.  I preferred the 'gemstone' wine, however biased. Also picked up some spicy jam. Can't resist anything with jalapenos.

Once again, an enormous thank you to Tim and Christiane, without whom this trip would have been nonexistent, or incredibly dull at best.




And why not... just one more of the falls.