Toronto & Niagara falls

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We've rented a car with our good friend Matty to head 10hours south towards Toronto. Within an hour of crossing the Quebec and Ontario state border, the outside temperature has escalated to double digits, increasing from 2 to 13 degrees celcius!

Fields and rivers are no longer covered in ice and we are no longer driving through snow. North to South spans a whopping 1730km, but the drive is nostly flat country surrounded by lakes and forests. I wonder where there skiing takes place as i see no mountains? The scenery is unspectacular and i am yet to hear Bryan Adams' hit song, 'Cuts like a Knife' on the car radio. Apparantly, Ontario is home to Bryan Adams and on any given Ontario road trip, you'll hear his song 7 times. Well 7 nights in Canada, i heard neither Bryan Adams or Celine Dion!

I did, however, finally get to try one of Canada's staple dishes: Poutine. Fries, smothered in cheese curds and gravy. It sounds sickenening and it can be depending on your intake! I limited myself to about 12 fries while Pete finished off the rest (but it's true Pete, don't be mad ;-)

Toronto is just like any other big world city. We decided to see it from 147 floors high (555 metres) and took to the CN Tower, one of Toronto's landmarks and 7 wonders of the modern world with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Empire State Building among others. It is the World’s Tallest freestanding Tower and the views are amazing for an overall picture of Toronto.

Niagara Falls, an hour's drive south from Toronto, is picturesque and surprisingly built in the middle of a suburb and tourist district. Not what we expected. Like Iguazu falls in Argentina/Brazil, we thought they would be accessible by a short walk through a national park. Surprisinlgy you can see both the horseshoe and American falls from the street... or a room with a view from your hotel room. There are thousands of hotels built along the cliff street.

The colour of the glacial waters are amazing, but compared to the thunderous falls of Iguazu, Niagara feels like its younger sister. After seeing Iguazu, the United States' First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said it when she reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" But, i think you can't really compare.
Niagara has its own magic. And water is always magnificent, no matter where you see the display of its power.
Iguazu currently has the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 1,746 m3/s (61,660 cu ft).

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