Niagara Falls – Oh, what a beauty!

I had cursed myself for not logging a travel diary during my last trip to Canada (as such trip report makes an excellent memories later) and promised myself to do it this time. But its already been 4 months and I have not recorded any of our tour details..sigh! 
Well better late than never.

Lots happening at my end. Greatest news, as most of you who are in my FB list knows, is that my parents have joined us in Canada last month. Truly a dream-come-true for me as I had been longing to show them this place ever since my last visit. I expressed this desire when S was offered to travel again last July and bingo all the needed formalities and groundwork was managed from his end as he had to sponsor their trip and with all our preparation the visa application was filed during S's visit to India in Apr. Finger crossed we waited for the visa and to our surprise the visa got stamped in a record time of 6 days without any further hassle. Love you sweetheart...this would not have been possible without your help and I am sure this is the BEST retirement gift that I can give to my Mom.

Ever since their visa was done, the planning and preparation started. It took a while for them to travel as my Mom had to finish off her pending retirement-related-monetary-formalities and eventually they landed here on 24th of June. 
What fun and I am over the moon since then - mainly as this is the first time I could spend 24x7 time with them (since no office), secondly the fun that Shreya is having with them is absolutely priceless, thirdly we could utilize the weekdays evening too as we stay bang-on downtown and lastly all the trips & tours and associated planning/plotting/preparation around them is something which gonna add to glorious memories down the lane.

Now coming to our trip part, no prizes for guessing that our first out-of-city tour was Niagara Falls. It was pretty much a day-trip from Toronto but we wanted to do things in leisure and also experience the fireworks-over-the-lake which happens only on Sunday (and national holidays). Since we had been to Niagara during our last visit to Canada, the trip was planned perfectly and a suite was booked by S at Sheraton hotel overlooking the falls. I think that was the highlight of our trip as the view was awesome from the room. 

Adding to little more details here:
Day 1: The bus left from Toronto at 9:30 am. Spectacular view of lake Ontario could be seen along the stretch of the road and the journey was a breeze as Shreya was an angel who kept herself busy with her books and iPad. Reached Niagara around 11:15 am and boarded the WEGO bus to reach the hotel.
The hotel check-in was smooth and we took a record time of half-an-hour to freshen up and start our first tour of the day.
We started our trip from 'Table rock' point which gives an eye-level view of Horseshoe Falls, better known as The Canadian side of the Falls. The Canadian side is definitely prettier and more impressive than the US side and we were very lucky to enjoy it in a beautiful weather. 
The Falls is without doubt beyond any adjective. It is one of those places that just takes your breath away! I could say it was beautiful, exquisite, wonderful, wondrous, poetically romantic and I am sure it still did not do justice to it. No matter how long or from which angle I stare at the Falls, I am greeted by an immaculately gorgeous view. 

Eye-level view

The Table-rock point is a perfect place to take photographs and we took full advantage of it.

Here is my sunshine baby giving all her maar-dala poses

Photo shoot while the toddler was taking her power-nap

Journey-behind-the-Falls was the next thing in our to-do list. This tour takes a journey deep below behind the heart of the Falls and make you stand in the mist where the mighty Horseshoe Falls tumbles from 13 storeys above! The sound of the water crashing in front of our eyes was like a thunder; the sight absolutely awe-inspiring! 

We in yellow poncho at 'Journey behind the Falls

Maid-of-the-mist was the next thing in our list and without sparing any time we proceeded towards the boat point. The Maid of the Mist is by far the most famous attraction other than the Falls itself. The Maid of the Mist is a boat tour which will take you from the Canadian docks past the base of the American Falls into the basin of the magnificent Canadian Horseshoe Falls. The sheer force of waterfall generates huge amounts of mist – so the boat ride turns into a watery, misty, fun mess at some point! You’ll most likely be drenched (despite the ubiquitous blue poncho they give you) but it’s a lot of fun & makes for great memories!

View from just the bottom of the Falls at Maid-of-the-mist tour

The photo above shows how close the Maid of the Mist boat ride gets to the bottom of Niagara Falls!
The Falls look deceptively calm from above but when you get close by, you realize just how treacherous it really is. The force of the waterfall is really powerful & you can’t really see much since you’ll be shrouded in watery mist! The Maid of the Mist ride is definitely a memorable experience, although taking photographs is next to impossible (due to the mist & the blue plastic ponchos that will be in every photo!).

After this ride, we were too tired and headed back to the hotel. Rested for a while and then started off our evening in Niagara Casino. This was our first visit to Casino and S wanted to try his luck. The end result was not-so-good (S lost a decent amount of money..lol) but it was a great experience for sure. 
Firework-by-the-Falls was the last thing of the day and absolutely nothing can beat the beauty of the illuminated Falls under the sky glowed up by fireworks. What a way to end an amazing day! 
(No picture this time as we had enough from the last time and wanted to experience it rather than getting busy in recording or taking pictures).

Cozy-bed and cuddly-baby. Do you need anything else to end a tired day?

Day 2: It was a lazy day as we had completed most of the major attraction and had not yet recovered from the previous day's tiredness. Lazily we started the day with a stroll by the downtown street. Vibrant shops and loud music was enough to brighten up our spirit and we decided to try the Skywheel ride and man, did I say it was amazing.

View of the Falls from the Skywheel. What an experience!

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No doubt Niagara Falls is one of those must-visit places in the world which just leaves you baffled. But this also means that you’ll definitely be jostling with tourists no matter what time of year you visit. Everyone flocks to see the Falls and when you finally get there, you’ll understand why – it’s just so incredibly beautiful.

I think Niagara Falls is easily one of my favourite memories of Canada! 

And it was certainly an excellent introduction to a beautiful country for my parents. 

Lots more to come. Stay tuned ;)