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Niagara Falls
window falls view Well I have left mountain Canada and flew from Edmonton this morning to Toronto and I am currently at Niagara Falls. Edmonton airport isn't overly hectic and took me about 40 minutes to get there in the morning peak. Driving around Edmonton lately I have noticed that the government is spending HEAPS of money on road infrastructure. The number of new lanes, bridges and extensions to their freeways is staggering and contrasts with the stagnant nature of our roads back home. For only a city of roughly 750,000 they certainly have big ring roads and freeways, they can't help the layout of their downtown but get away from the city centre and the roads improve dramatically.
Checking in was pretty easy and the line for security was pretty organised, plenty of people but there was decent organisation and people dedicated to directing traffic to ensure smooth queuing. I was flying Westjet who are the main competitor to Air Canada and they fly only a fleet of solely 737's. Flight was uneventful until we had to hold before landing in Toronto as there was backlog down there and this became apparent when we were on the ground as planes were queued
up to get off the runway area. Ended up disembarking about 40 minutes late and by the time I got my luggage and picked up my rental from Budget it was past 5pm. My rental for the day is a brand spanking new Chevrolet Impala which looks like a smaller Commodore and for a brand new car I wasn't impressed. It felt cheap, fake wood grain dash, light steering and just not in the same league as the much better Nissan Altima I have driven over the past week. I was stuck in the afternoon peak hour and the freeways were clogged and stop/start for about 40km before it opened up as we got away from metro area and headed to Niagara (and the U.S border).
It was already starting to darken a little by 7pm when I checked into my hotel. I had booked a falls view room for the night which was slightly more expensive but I was thinking it was once in a lifetime visit so why not? I was definitely impressed as my window looked out over the Canadian falls and I can also see the American falls on the other side. Definitely worth the
premium and I'll enjoy watching the scene when I wake up tomorrow. Without further ado I went exploring and joined the throngs of tourists walking the sidewalk and taking pictures of this spectacular wonder. I was impressed by the sheer volume of water, I know there are more 'natural' and larger falls in the world but Niagara is certainly worth a visit. There were people from all over the world here and it was good just to see so many people mingling together in awe of something so natural and powerful.
The rest of the area is filled with hotels, eateries and casinos. The one near my hotel is pretty big and would fit in on Las Vegas Boulevard. It had plenty of machines, tables, eateries, shops and decorations that it certainly resembled something from Vegas. I didn't stop for long as casinos don't appeal to me anymore after going to Vegas. Vegas is the only place I'll consider gambling now (maybe Macao too if I ever make it there). More importantly I had a jet spa waiting for me at the hotel and it was great to soak in a steaming hot tub as the jet sprays worked
their magic whilst I relaxed and zoned out and thinking how lucky I was to be doing this trip.
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