Advertisement
Couchsurfing is truly an amazing thing. It makes traveling anywhere possible because wherever you want to go, you have a place and a friend to stay with. Well after my trip to Vermont for Memorial Weekend, I decided to head to Niagara Falls for the hell of it. I made the seven hour drive up there on my own, but very smoothly, jamming out to my ipod the whole way. The only inconvenience of the entire trip came when it was time to cross the border to get into Canada. The Canadian immigration questioned me about every detail of my short trip to Canada, asked me what I had been doing in South America and how I funded such a trip, and searched every inch of my car before letting me into the country. What a headache! And why, just because I have long shaggy hair and wear some beads?
I had found a place to stay with a Niagara Falls native on the Canadian side of the falls named Caroline. Caroline is a perfect representation of what Couchsurfing is all about. As she described well, "its like meeting a friend you just haven't met yet." The fact that host
and couchsurfer are both willing and excited to participate in this kind of thing, is a common ground they share from the get go, and in my experience, has been a sign that we will be friends and have fun together. This was the case again. Caroline was a lot of fun to be around and possessed a beaming energy. She opened the doors to her home and welcomed me as though we were old friends. Lucky for me, there was also a fellow couchsurfer there named Petra from Belgium, so I had somebody to spend my day at the falls with.
After arriving late on Monday, I got an early start on Tuesday to fit in all that Caroline had recommended. Petra and I set off to the falls, making our first stop at Maid of the Mist. Petra had gone on the boat the day prior, but she was kind enough to wait for me. As I reached the loading dock for the boat ride, I got my first uninhibited look at the falls. Magnificent. It reminds me of watching a powerful swell breaking on the North Shores of Kauai in winter. An example of nature's raw
power. I wouldn't say that Niagara compares in beauty to Iguazu Falls, but it exceeds in its eminence of power and energy. It is simply SO much water. I hopped on Maid of the Mist, and despite its off-the-scale touristic factor, it was very fun. We navigated past the American falls and right up and under the Horeshoe Falls of the Canadian side. I couldn't really see anything as we were blasted with wind and spray from the falls, but the experience had me laughing nonstop. I came off the boat with soggy shoes and a big grin, and met up with Petra in the gift shop. Next we set off for Journey Behind the Falls, another one of the big tourist attractions, but hardly as stimulating as the boat ride. Journey Behind the Falls takes you right up beside the falls, where once again, I couldn't see anything because I was blasted by the elements. This attraction also provides an excavated path that opens up behind the falls. Though you can't see much when you're looking out at the falls from behind, the beauty of this experience lies in realizing where you're located and how much force and energy
is rushing by just a few feet away from you.
After this journey, we got back in my car and gradually made our way to Niagara-on-the-lake, stopping at some lookouts along the way, the whirlpool, and a short walk in the Niagara Glen, a park that runs along the Niagara river. After a little stop at the Kurtz Orchard for a tasty vegetarian lunch, we made are our way to the Pilliterri Winery to sample Niagara's famous ice wines. I'll be the first to say that I don't know much about wines, but I did think the ice wines were quite delicious. We moved on to Hillebrand Winery next and continued our ice wine sampling, and we wrapped things up with a wine tour of the Jackson-Trigg Winery. Like I said before, I'm no connoisseur, but I thought all the wines we sampled that day were exquisite.
That topped off a long and exhausting, but fun filled day, in Niagara. Other highlights of the quick trip to Niagara included three stops at the festive diner called 'The Flying Saucer,' located just around the corner from Caroline's house, as well as a fun night of pizza and drinks. We
The Flying Saucer
One of the best diner's I've ever been to! said our goodbyes on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning I set off back to the states. Before making the long drive back to New Jersey, I checked out the falls from the American side. Though the view from the Canadian side is more breathtaking, the American view is worthwhile and differs in that you view the falls from right on top of them. I soaked in a few more moments of the incredibly powerful waterfalls, and then hit the road hard. It was another fun adventure and another successful and fun couchsurfing experience.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.134s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 70; dbt: 0.0837s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb