Niagara Falls

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Yeasterday I was on a full day excursion to the Niagara Falls about two hours drive from Toronto.
I joined a backpackers' tour which was pretty cool, lots of nice people and a fun guide called Stephanie who made sure we were kept entertained during the day.

The first stop was in Niagara on the lake, a small but very charming town with lots of old buildings (old to be North America, that means 100-150 years old).

Next stop was at a winery where we did some wine tasting. I didn't actually know they produced wine in Canada, but they do.
They produce both red and white wine and also what they call "icewine", the reason it's called icewine is because they crush the grapes when they are frozen. The icewine was very good, very fruity, but bloody expensive for anyone who wants to buy a bottle, at least CAD 50 (350 kr/25 pounds) for a fairly small bottle.

Afterwards it was time for the real stop, the Niagara Falls.
Anyone wonders why it's called Niagara Falls in plural? There are actually two of them, one American fall (on the US side) called the Rainbow Fall, and one much larger Canadian one called the Horseshoe Fall.
They are about 200 meters from each other so you see both from either side (from the US or from Canada).
The first thing we did was a boat ride right below the falls, everything got soaking wet as you can see on the photos but it was a very fun experience and I managed to take some great photos as well.
After the ride there were many other photo opportunities, they had a tower for example where you got fantastic views of the falls, you could even see the US city Buffalo and the skyscrapers in Toronto from the tower.
I had dinner with two guys from Singapore who was in Toronto on a medical conference but had a few days off before leaving. As with all tourist attractions they also had lots of other things as well to make you spend as much money as possible: casinos, videogames, wax museums, a ferris wheel, bars, and lots of fast food places. Very North American!!
But what we were all waiting for was to see the falls at night, when they are lit up with lights in different colours. The lights were turned on around 8.30 pm, just 20 mins before we had to leave.

A very fun day, but long and somewhat tiring at the end (12 hours in total), but it was interesting to see the falls and they are indeed very impressive!

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Photos

Niagara on the lake
Welcome to the charming Niagara on the lake.

Niagara on the lake
The small town Niagara on the lake.

Canadian wineyard
The winery (Innis-something, it was an Irish name) and our guide Stephanie to the left.

Canadian wineyard
The wineyard

Canadian wineyard
Canadian icewine. Small but expensive bottles

Niagara falls
The American fall seen from the boat, you can see why it's called the rainbow fall.

Niagara falls
The much more impressive Canadian fall.

Niagara falls
Yours beloved! Wet and windy, you could really feel the power of the falls.

Niagara falls
The American fall and the USA across the bridge.

Niagara falls
The Canadian fall. You can probably see why it's called the horseshow fall.

Niagara falls
The Canadian fall

Niagara falls
Want to spend some money? The shopping/dining/entertainment district next to the falls.

Niagara falls
What we all waited for for three hours. The Niagara falls at night! Pretty cool and the colours kept changing, but it was only possible to take decent photos when the white colour was used.