Niagara Falls - Boston
As Iff already posted, we were on trains for a LONG TIME before we arrived in the Canadian Niagara Falls. I'm so glad we went to the Canadian side first. Before we even left the train, we were impressed by how nice the customs/immigration officials were. The guy who had to deny a couple entry because they lacked a visa was actually apologetic about it. He kept insisting that they could come right back as soon as they got the visa. But the amazing thing was that the couple were given a free lift back to the US! That's Canada for you.
It was dark by the time we got off the train. I was disappointed by that at first; we'd expected to arrive well before dark so we could see the falls. But it turned out that they light up the falls at night! I know it's a waste of electricity, but it's so pretty!!! Plus we realised that only from the Canadian side can one view both the American and Canadian falls (without getting on one of the boats). It was wicked to see the falls lit up that night and then to view them in the daylight the next day. Those are some pretty powerful falls!
In addition to the lovely falls themselves, there were a couple shopping opportunities which I loved. There's a whole Hershey's store which was very near our hotel. It's AMAZING. I managed to buy only a bag of peanut butter filled Hershey's kisses (much to Iff's delight). Ah, the self discipline! And we found a used book store (Page One Books on Main Street) absolutely overflowing with books. I was beside myself. The owner is really cool, and if you're ever in the area please go there and help him stay in business. You could spend a whole day just looking through the endless stacks of books there. We practically did!
Everyone we encountered on the Canadian side was just so nice. We stayed in a cheap but lovely hotel. (It was sheer luxury to have our own room and a proper bed to sleep in after three nights of cheap seats on the trains!) We walked throughout the town for hours, checking out the falls and whirlpool but also strolling through the residential area (behind the touristy area), where we saw dozens of fluffy black squirrels darting amongst the trees. We had the most gorgeous garlic nan we've ever tasted at a little Indian restaurant. There were a lot of cheap tat stores and a seemingly infinite number of cheap tacky motels, but overall it was a lovely place. We had a great time in the 24 hours we were there!
Then it was time to head to the US Niagara Falls. We had to pay to cross the bridge over there (on foot!), grrrrrrrrr. The border control guy was nice, but that's where the charm ended. As is typical of so many American places, there wasn't the same welcome to walk around, just lots of big roads where we were by the falls. Plus there was nothing to see on the American side of the falls that we hadn't already seen from the Canadian side (and from a much better vantage point there). So we just hurried to our hotel, which was disappointing. It was more expensive than our one on the Canadian side, but we were kept up all night by loud people next to us. The next morning (at 5:30am!) we couldn't even walk to the train station because the area was so rough. By the time we got on the train at 6am, we were happy to leave and ready to sleep all the way to New York Penn station.
On our way to NYC we were delayed by an incident. First the conductor just told us we'd stopped while local police were doing something in the area. Then we were told the FBI were involved. Finally the conductor told us someone had placed obstructions on the railway which would have had disastrous consequences had the police not foiled the whole thing. We'd started moving again at that point, and every single person on the train was looking out the windows trying to see what had happened. We just saw two men talking to each other beside the railway...who knows what happened!
So we were late getting into NYC, but we had enough time to walk around a bit and grab some New York style pizza. Yum! Then we boarded another train bound for Boston. We got there uneventfully and were met by Iff's sister Lib's old friend Jen, who is very kindly letting us stay with her while we're here. Tonight the three of us had dinner at a Tibetan restaurant which was really tasty. We're enjoying Boston so far and will post about it next...
It was dark by the time we got off the train. I was disappointed by that at first; we'd expected to arrive well before dark so we could see the falls. But it turned out that they light up the falls at night! I know it's a waste of electricity, but it's so pretty!!! Plus we realised that only from the Canadian side can one view both the American and Canadian falls (without getting on one of the boats). It was wicked to see the falls lit up that night and then to view them in the daylight the next day. Those are some pretty powerful falls!
In addition to the lovely falls themselves, there were a couple shopping opportunities which I loved. There's a whole Hershey's store which was very near our hotel. It's AMAZING. I managed to buy only a bag of peanut butter filled Hershey's kisses (much to Iff's delight). Ah, the self discipline! And we found a used book store (Page One Books on Main Street) absolutely overflowing with books. I was beside myself. The owner is really cool, and if you're ever in the area please go there and help him stay in business. You could spend a whole day just looking through the endless stacks of books there. We practically did!
Everyone we encountered on the Canadian side was just so nice. We stayed in a cheap but lovely hotel. (It was sheer luxury to have our own room and a proper bed to sleep in after three nights of cheap seats on the trains!) We walked throughout the town for hours, checking out the falls and whirlpool but also strolling through the residential area (behind the touristy area), where we saw dozens of fluffy black squirrels darting amongst the trees. We had the most gorgeous garlic nan we've ever tasted at a little Indian restaurant. There were a lot of cheap tat stores and a seemingly infinite number of cheap tacky motels, but overall it was a lovely place. We had a great time in the 24 hours we were there!
Then it was time to head to the US Niagara Falls. We had to pay to cross the bridge over there (on foot!), grrrrrrrrr. The border control guy was nice, but that's where the charm ended. As is typical of so many American places, there wasn't the same welcome to walk around, just lots of big roads where we were by the falls. Plus there was nothing to see on the American side of the falls that we hadn't already seen from the Canadian side (and from a much better vantage point there). So we just hurried to our hotel, which was disappointing. It was more expensive than our one on the Canadian side, but we were kept up all night by loud people next to us. The next morning (at 5:30am!) we couldn't even walk to the train station because the area was so rough. By the time we got on the train at 6am, we were happy to leave and ready to sleep all the way to New York Penn station.
On our way to NYC we were delayed by an incident. First the conductor just told us we'd stopped while local police were doing something in the area. Then we were told the FBI were involved. Finally the conductor told us someone had placed obstructions on the railway which would have had disastrous consequences had the police not foiled the whole thing. We'd started moving again at that point, and every single person on the train was looking out the windows trying to see what had happened. We just saw two men talking to each other beside the railway...who knows what happened!
So we were late getting into NYC, but we had enough time to walk around a bit and grab some New York style pizza. Yum! Then we boarded another train bound for Boston. We got there uneventfully and were met by Iff's sister Lib's old friend Jen, who is very kindly letting us stay with her while we're here. Tonight the three of us had dinner at a Tibetan restaurant which was really tasty. We're enjoying Boston so far and will post about it next...
posted by Trace at
8:51 pm
1 Comments:
Oh how I love Canada.
Oh Canada, oh Canada.
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Anonymous, At
1:06 am
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