Sunday, August 10, 2003
Trip to Niagara Falls
We started for Niagara on July 3rd evening. We rented a Ford Taurus car that had run - believe it or not - just 13 miles! We must have got the car right out of the showroom. It was a great car! And of course, it was not really in the shape it came when we returned it after our trip ;-) We reached Niagara Falls on July 4th morning. Had breakfast at a Dunkin Donuts outlet and went to the Falls. The first sight of the falls itself was amazing.
The first word that came to my mind when I saw the falls was "massive". It is such a broad falls and water falling from such a height.......and the noise it makes......all added makes it a sight to see. River Niagara flows from Lake Eerie to Lake Ontario and along the way plunges abt 150+ft at this place! Hold your breath - 6 million cubic ft of water flows thru the falls every second! The falls is divided into 3 streams......the Canadian side of falls, called the HorseShoe falls, is the biggest of them and is also the most attractive. From the Canadian side, you will get a full view of the horse-shoe and hence lot of ppl prefer going to the Canadian side to view the falls. However, we didnt take a Canadian visa and hence had to be statisfied with the view from the American side. American side has 2 streams, one called the American Falls and the other called the Bridal Falls.
With Canadian side having a better view, America had to do something to attract the crowd. And they came up with an observatory tower, a boat tour of the falls and also built a bridge that takes you so close to the falls that the water will be splashing with a force more than the force in your shower!
We took a boat ride, called the Maid of the Mist, that takes you very close to both the American and the Canadian side of the falls. The view of the Canadian falls from upclose is really superb. You feel as if water is falling from the skies at that force. The sight of water falling from that height and that width will always remain etched in my memory!
Later we had lunch at an Indian restaurant just outside the falls park. I must mention at this point the amazing no of Indians who were visiting the falls. Believe it or not, about 20-30% of the ppl there were Indians! As one of my friends said, visiting Niagara Falls is the equivalent of Kashi Yaatra in US. If in India, ppl think that they should do the Kashi Yaatra once in lifetime, then visiting Niagara is a must if you are visiting US! With so many Indians visiting the place, no wonder there are more than a couple of Indian restaurants just outside the falls!
After lunch, we went to what is called the Cave of the Winds. Basically a bridge-type walkway is built that takes u very close to the falls. If u stand at the closest point, u will be totally drenched in seconds. Of course, they do provide water-proof plastic covers to cover urself, but even thatz of no use. Building this walkway is actually a very good idea of enjoying this massive falls in a very safe way.
Next we spent some time roaming around the falls. Later we went to an aquarium....nothing spl abt it, except that I saw sea-lions for the first time there. I was amazed by the amount of noise they generate, and their swimming is pretty good to see.
Later in the night, we went to the falls again to see it in the night. The falls is lit by diff colored focus lights and it will be all the more beautiful to see. [I will be uploading the pics of the falls shortly......Watch this space for more on it ;-)] Every Friday and Sunday nights there will be fireworks at the falls. However, there'z nothin extra-ordinary abt the fireworks.....we have better fireworks here at Chicago ;-) The fireworks was quite a monotonous show. However, the beauty of the well-lit falls was definitely worth all the time we spent there!
That night we stayed at Buffalo, which is the city right next to Niagara Falls and the next day morning we proceeded to Cedar Point for some more fun!
We started for Niagara on July 3rd evening. We rented a Ford Taurus car that had run - believe it or not - just 13 miles! We must have got the car right out of the showroom. It was a great car! And of course, it was not really in the shape it came when we returned it after our trip ;-) We reached Niagara Falls on July 4th morning. Had breakfast at a Dunkin Donuts outlet and went to the Falls. The first sight of the falls itself was amazing.
The first word that came to my mind when I saw the falls was "massive". It is such a broad falls and water falling from such a height.......and the noise it makes......all added makes it a sight to see. River Niagara flows from Lake Eerie to Lake Ontario and along the way plunges abt 150+ft at this place! Hold your breath - 6 million cubic ft of water flows thru the falls every second! The falls is divided into 3 streams......the Canadian side of falls, called the HorseShoe falls, is the biggest of them and is also the most attractive. From the Canadian side, you will get a full view of the horse-shoe and hence lot of ppl prefer going to the Canadian side to view the falls. However, we didnt take a Canadian visa and hence had to be statisfied with the view from the American side. American side has 2 streams, one called the American Falls and the other called the Bridal Falls.
With Canadian side having a better view, America had to do something to attract the crowd. And they came up with an observatory tower, a boat tour of the falls and also built a bridge that takes you so close to the falls that the water will be splashing with a force more than the force in your shower!
We took a boat ride, called the Maid of the Mist, that takes you very close to both the American and the Canadian side of the falls. The view of the Canadian falls from upclose is really superb. You feel as if water is falling from the skies at that force. The sight of water falling from that height and that width will always remain etched in my memory!
Later we had lunch at an Indian restaurant just outside the falls park. I must mention at this point the amazing no of Indians who were visiting the falls. Believe it or not, about 20-30% of the ppl there were Indians! As one of my friends said, visiting Niagara Falls is the equivalent of Kashi Yaatra in US. If in India, ppl think that they should do the Kashi Yaatra once in lifetime, then visiting Niagara is a must if you are visiting US! With so many Indians visiting the place, no wonder there are more than a couple of Indian restaurants just outside the falls!
After lunch, we went to what is called the Cave of the Winds. Basically a bridge-type walkway is built that takes u very close to the falls. If u stand at the closest point, u will be totally drenched in seconds. Of course, they do provide water-proof plastic covers to cover urself, but even thatz of no use. Building this walkway is actually a very good idea of enjoying this massive falls in a very safe way.
Next we spent some time roaming around the falls. Later we went to an aquarium....nothing spl abt it, except that I saw sea-lions for the first time there. I was amazed by the amount of noise they generate, and their swimming is pretty good to see.
Later in the night, we went to the falls again to see it in the night. The falls is lit by diff colored focus lights and it will be all the more beautiful to see. [I will be uploading the pics of the falls shortly......Watch this space for more on it ;-)] Every Friday and Sunday nights there will be fireworks at the falls. However, there'z nothin extra-ordinary abt the fireworks.....we have better fireworks here at Chicago ;-) The fireworks was quite a monotonous show. However, the beauty of the well-lit falls was definitely worth all the time we spent there!
That night we stayed at Buffalo, which is the city right next to Niagara Falls and the next day morning we proceeded to Cedar Point for some more fun!
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