Enchanting Niagara Falls

I could just say nothing on this blog and the photos would speak for themselves...Niagara Falls is absolutely amazing. Even with prior knowledge of what to expect, we were not prepared for how the sights of the falls would take our breath away.

We got to our hostel early in the evening and discovered a gem of a place with a lush kitchen with free breakfast, and a basement area with a free pool table and a flat screen TV - nice! We got ourselves sorted then made some food and set off around 7pm to catch the weekly firework display and Winter illuminations at Niagara Falls.

The long walk along Niagara River led us to the Falls via some really beautiful houses as well as a view over the bridge that connects Ontario with New York which was a strange experience - seeing right across the river to another country!

Before we got to the Falls we found a Planet Hollywood with the Bonnie & Clyde replica car outside which was very exciting as I fancied us as the notorious partners in crime off on our adventures!

We then came across a Hershey's store - Sup is the number one fan of Hershey's Reeces Pieces, so we had to get a photo of him with his hero!

We reached the main strip of the town of Niagara Falls, Canada side, and it was really exciting to see the neon lights and be part of the lively atmosphere. With an hour to spare before the fireworks started, we explored the Vegas-style strip and then headed to the main area where we were to be greeted with the first of the falls - the American Falls.

The illuminations dyed the foamy white falls a deep purple, red, green and blue alternately and the fireworks were brilliant. I have never seen Sup take so many photos, and after 10 minutes he was still happily snapping away, seemingly oblivious that his fingers were turning blue from the icy mist!

We also leapt on many unsuspecting passersby to take photos of us by the falls, so we got some great shots. The next stop was the second part of the falls - the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Again, a beautiful sight, and as the horseshoe falls were closer to the light beams, the colours were so much brighter on them and really showed up the eerily beautiful mist that gathers at the bottom and sprays up to the top.

Playing around with the ice was a lot of fun too!!

On the verge of frostbite and at risk of being locked out of the hostel, we headed back, frozen solid but happy as can be, occasionally stopping to admire the romantic horse & carriages on the way.

The next day we went back to the Falls to experience them in the daylight and they did not disappoint.

Another thousand or so shots later, we stumbled across another Tim Horton's cafe (must be mega popular in Canada) and had our very last Canadian Maple donut - a bittersweet goodbye...!!!

Back at the hostel we met 2 really nice guys from Manchester while they were watching Trainspotting - they were travelling home that night and taking the same Greyhound as us as far as Buffalo, so we all made our way there together. At customs on the Canada/USA border a girl on our bus was detained by customs and the bus went without her as the entire bus load of us craned our necks to see what was going on - I only hope she got back home safely eventually...

The sunshine of Miami was on the horizon, but before that, the layers would need to stay on as Chicago was next on the agenda!

written by

SupandNic on January 5, 2010 from Niagara Falls, Canada

from the travel blog: Sup and Nic's World Tour!

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