Niagara Falls, ice skating

Hello all!

This morning I got up, got ready and left Courtney's at 8am. I caught the streetcar to Bay Street and walked to the bus station. Here I caught the 9.30am Megabus to Niagara Falls. On the way it was fairly grey and we passed through my friend Heather's hometown, Etobicoke. 

The journey took just under two hours and before I knew it we were at the Niagara Falls bus station! Annoyingly, whoever the town planner was decided it was a great idea to build the bus station a 45 minute walk north of the actual falls, and the tourist shuttle doesn't run in winter. But being a keen walker and too much of a cheapskate to pay $12.50 each way for a taxi, I walked it.

The walk down to the falls was great. It was sunny in some parts and grey in others, but I enjoyed a quiet and peaceful walk along the gorge, taking in the views and seeing the bridge to cross over to the USA on the way. 12 million people visit Niagara Falls in summer, but I only spotted three others walking. 

The sun was playing weird light tricks when I started to approach the falls. It was so bright and misty that you couldn't see anything, but the wind was strong and blowing everything around so if you waited a few minutes you could see again. I saw the smaller, more northerly part of the falls and then made it to the main part - Horseshoe Falls. To the right of this was the town which seemed incredibly tacky and full of tourist traps and casinos. 

It was all fun and games and magnificently breathtaking until the wind changed and the mist became horizontal rain that blew straight towards myself and the other people looking over the edge! But I toughed it out, for all I know I might not ever be back here so I stood out in the mist and took in the stunning cascades. So much power! Not as big in terms of length as Iguassu Falls in Argentina and Brazil, but the power of the water hitting the bottom was incredible!

Before I knew it my bag, jeans, coat and beanie were absolutely saturated, but I didn't care. I took a photo for a man and he did the same for me, and you can see the mist flying through the photo. 

I ducked into the welcome centre to warm up, bought my magnet and dried off a bit. I then went back outside and walked up a little further to where the mist wasn't blowing around. I know I've already said this, but the falls really were amazing. I just stared and stared and took mental photos. It was one of those strange "I can't believe I'm here" days. I didn't head over to the American side though (where the falls technically are located) because lots of parts were closed off for winter and I had heard the Canadian side was the best for the view anyway. 

Whilst standing outside, it began to snow. And it kept snowing for the remainder of my visit! I once again ducked into the welcome centre and went and read some interesting information. Due to erosion, the falls are actually 3.6km south of where they were 12,000 years ago. Maybe the town planner was thinking about that era for the bus station??! The water volume is now controlled by industry and hydro electric power generation in order to slow down erosion to just 30cm every 10 years. During summer daylight hours, 154 million litres flows down the falls every minute - enough to fill up one million bathtubs!

The only time anyone has ever gone over the falls was in 1960 when a boat accident up the top saw a 7 year old boy somehow survive the drop and be picked up by the Maid in the Mist boat. His sister was picked up upstream but the boat's captain lost his life. And for anyone that remembers on the news, a guy called Nik Wallenda crossed from the American to the Canadian side in 2012. 

I had a quick bite to eat and ran into a guy that lives two suburbs over from me at home, then went outside for one last look. There were little icicles on the fence by this time! I then once again decided to walk the 45 minutes. 

About 20 minutes into the walk, I had actually turned into a human icicle. The snow was flying around everywhere and sticking to me. It stuck and actually froze to my coat so I had this thick layer of frozen snow on my sleeves and my hood. My hands were so cold they hurt! I distracted myself and kept walking. I saw the Maid in the Mist boats on the American side, put away for the winter and ready for the tourist season beginning in April. A hotel board told me it was -1 degrees Celsius. No wonder I was cold!! But it still wasn't as cold as Germany in 2010. That time my face got so Cld I couldn't move my mouth!!

Eventually I got back to the bus station and I had lost feeling in my nose, but it was beautiful and warm inside so I soon warmed up. 

My 3pm bus left all ok and I got back to Toronto at 5pm and went and met Courtney at her work again. It was equally as cold in Toronto! Got down to -8 later today and with windchill was -20!

We walked to a poutinerie and had poutine for dinner - a traditional French Canadian serving of French fries with gravy and cheese curds. It was delicious!! It was really snowy while we were in there. We were glad to be in the warmth. 

Our final stop for the day was to Nathan Phillips Square to go ice skating. I was pretty nervous at first because when I've ice skated in Australia, England and Germany there has always a wall you can hold. There was no wall here!! I stood still for a little while and then just had to go for it. I'll admit, I thought I was going to cry at the start because I was so worried about hurting my back. But after two extremely slow laps I got some confidence and was whizzing around the rink in no time. The best part - I didn't stack once! The rink was strange though, either people with no idea what they were doing or annoying little kids showing off and knocking people over or darting in front of them. I had fun though and I'm glad we went. 

Now I'm just packing up my suitcase and tomorrow morning I'm leaving for the airport at 4.30am to head to Boston. It's been so good seeing Courtney but I can't believe how quickly it's gone!!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox