View from the CN tower
Inside the tower
View through the glass floor on the CN tower
View from the CN tower
Inside the zoo
Feeding time
Grumpy
Snake
Niagra-on-the-lake by day
Niagra-on-the-lake by night
Observation tower in the town
Ferris wheel
Tired Rhino
View from the tunnels under the falls
American falls to the far left - Canadian falls to the right
View of the frozen side of the falls
View of the top of the falls
Vineyards
Niagra town
Niagra River - Canada on the left, USA on the right
Viewing tunnels under the falls
View of the frozen river with the falls on the leftI booked myself onto a tour of the Niagra region. There were four of us on the tour and the tour guide was a ditzy women from Hamiltion (near niagra). Every bit of information she gave us was followed by "i think that's right..." ...Annoying. We stopped off at a vineyard first. Apparently the region is famous for it's ice wine. It's made by squeezing grapes that have frozen on the vine and pressing out a single drop of liquid with chilled presses. We tastes the wine and it was so so so sweet. It was almost like sweetened honey. It's a oriental favourite at the moment and bottles retail for 500 dollars (us). It was more suited to be spread on toast than to drink!!! We then stopped at various points en route to Niagra falls.
We saw the famous whirlpool where the river flows back on itself. There was also some views of New York state as well. We were pretty close to the boarder and there were no barriers or boarder crossings. But looking at the flow of the river and the ice moving downstream I don't think there's any risk of illegal boarder crossings!! Niagra falls was absolutely amazing. It was so cold and the mist coming off the horse shoe falls would freeze on contact. My camera kept on getting encrusted with ice and all around the falls were ice stalactites and stalagmites. Part of the falls were frozen but that added to the view. I also went underneath the falls by catching the lift to some observation platforms careved underneath the falls. These gave the best view of the falls - looking up into the flow of the water and also you could see the american (or bridal falls) out on the horizon to the left. We were then dropped of in town. It was a mixture of southend on sea and brighton. It was crammed full of tacky tourist rides and bright lights. I went into Draculas haunted mansion. I was followed by an actor would kept on freaking me out. He was making the sickest noises. It was picth black - i couldnt see a foot in front of me. I thought he was going to jump out on me and at one point i started talking to him telling him that was enough - he didnt stop. Very scary. I then found the old casino. It was four floors of old grannies spending their pensions. The place was huge. Before they let me through they asked for my i.d. The legal age for gambling in Canada is 19!!! I couldnt believe it. I scoffed out loud. Is my beard and bold spot naked to the visable eye???There were rooms for various card games, tables for black jack etc. There were also hundereds of one arm bandits. I had a go on the 2 cent machine and won 2 dollars! Its did cost me 5 though to win! The women next to me was betting 90 times 2 cents on every roll. She didn't win anything the whole time I was there.
I started my last day in Toronto with a trip to the zoo. It was snowing outside and I thought that I could walk around the various animal houses. I specifically went to see the Polar bears but unfortunately there was just one and he was sat slumped in the far end of his cage. All in all the animals looked pretty sad actually. The orangutan particularly looked sad, covered in wet dreadlocks. He was marching around, head down around his cage that was covered in blankets for some reason? All in all it was a bit of a waste of time. It seems like my Toronto trip was full of partial closures or disappointments. Maybe Montreal spoilt me. I spent my last night with a trip up the CN tower. It's the tallest tower in the world and has the highest observation deck. The views of the city lights were spectacular. You could see past the Toronto Islands and onto Main land USA. The traffic lit the sky up. The ride up the tower in a glass doored lift was the highlight of the trip so far. Scary but amazing. It was going around 25 miles an hour i think. I then got into another lift to the sky pod. It's basically a glass room right at the top of the tower. I tried taking pictures but the pod was moving due to the wind (the pod had been closed earlier due to the wind strength). Almost all came out blurry. On the way out i went the wrong way and slid down a steep slope in the snow. Nothing is sign posted in Canada. Bloody ridiculous.
We saw the famous whirlpool where the river flows back on itself. There was also some views of New York state as well. We were pretty close to the boarder and there were no barriers or boarder crossings. But looking at the flow of the river and the ice moving downstream I don't think there's any risk of illegal boarder crossings!! Niagra falls was absolutely amazing. It was so cold and the mist coming off the horse shoe falls would freeze on contact. My camera kept on getting encrusted with ice and all around the falls were ice stalactites and stalagmites. Part of the falls were frozen but that added to the view. I also went underneath the falls by catching the lift to some observation platforms careved underneath the falls. These gave the best view of the falls - looking up into the flow of the water and also you could see the american (or bridal falls) out on the horizon to the left. We were then dropped of in town. It was a mixture of southend on sea and brighton. It was crammed full of tacky tourist rides and bright lights. I went into Draculas haunted mansion. I was followed by an actor would kept on freaking me out. He was making the sickest noises. It was picth black - i couldnt see a foot in front of me. I thought he was going to jump out on me and at one point i started talking to him telling him that was enough - he didnt stop. Very scary. I then found the old casino. It was four floors of old grannies spending their pensions. The place was huge. Before they let me through they asked for my i.d. The legal age for gambling in Canada is 19!!! I couldnt believe it. I scoffed out loud. Is my beard and bold spot naked to the visable eye???There were rooms for various card games, tables for black jack etc. There were also hundereds of one arm bandits. I had a go on the 2 cent machine and won 2 dollars! Its did cost me 5 though to win! The women next to me was betting 90 times 2 cents on every roll. She didn't win anything the whole time I was there.
I started my last day in Toronto with a trip to the zoo. It was snowing outside and I thought that I could walk around the various animal houses. I specifically went to see the Polar bears but unfortunately there was just one and he was sat slumped in the far end of his cage. All in all the animals looked pretty sad actually. The orangutan particularly looked sad, covered in wet dreadlocks. He was marching around, head down around his cage that was covered in blankets for some reason? All in all it was a bit of a waste of time. It seems like my Toronto trip was full of partial closures or disappointments. Maybe Montreal spoilt me. I spent my last night with a trip up the CN tower. It's the tallest tower in the world and has the highest observation deck. The views of the city lights were spectacular. You could see past the Toronto Islands and onto Main land USA. The traffic lit the sky up. The ride up the tower in a glass doored lift was the highlight of the trip so far. Scary but amazing. It was going around 25 miles an hour i think. I then got into another lift to the sky pod. It's basically a glass room right at the top of the tower. I tried taking pictures but the pod was moving due to the wind (the pod had been closed earlier due to the wind strength). Almost all came out blurry. On the way out i went the wrong way and slid down a steep slope in the snow. Nothing is sign posted in Canada. Bloody ridiculous.
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