back to life

We had a lovely brunch and one last mooch in some shops in Toronto before getting the bus. It was a relatively short trip to Niagara, in just over an hour we were at the bus station hailing a taxi to our hotel.

The following day, after an amazing All you can eat breakfast we made our way towards the incredibly loud roar of the falls. But nothing could have prepared me for the breathtaking sight of the American and Horseshoe falls.

On the walk up to the main hub and visitor centre to get a closer look, we came across a statue of Nikola Tesla. I knew he was the inventor of alternating current (AC) electricity, but I didn’t know about his connection to this area. In 1895, along with George Westinghouse, he built the first hydroelectrical  power plant in Niagara Falls. The statue on the Canadian side was unveiled in 2006.

True to form I found myself in a tunnel, a very soggy walk down a path behind the Horseshoe falls, resulted in a very wet experience at the end out on an open platform at the foot of the falls.

But that was nowhere near as wet and wild as the boat trip right up to the mouth of the falls. I tried my very best to film the experience, but there was no way I could hold my phone and trying to keep my balance while being thrown around the boat and pelted by gallons of water. But what an experience and it was made much better because a lot of our fellow passengers were Italian and they were very animated at every thrilling moment.

As with every location on this trip we needed to get up high, so we took a ride up the Skylon Tower to have a gander at the magnificent view from above the spectacular falls.

The wonderful end to this fabulous day was the magical light show on both the falls that was just stunning.

We had a very early start in the morning to catch the 6.30am train to Manhattan.

Now for the important part for anyone staying on the Canadian side needing to travel to the American side…….

Allow more time than you think you need and make it absolutely clear that you need to cross the Rainbow bridge and the US border. This is our experience; When I booked the taxi I definitely said we needed to cross the border, but the first 2 taxi drivers refused to take us, the second driver was particularly rude and shouted abuse at me as he drove off. Thankfully the third driver was amazing, he was very friendly and incredibly patient at the border. Be prepared to be in the office for about 15 – 20 minutes being asked questions and fingerprinted. But a couple of stamps in our passports later and we were on our way to the Amtrak station with 5 minutes to spare.

Next stop The Big Apple