Niagara falls and about

Horseshoe falls
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If nature intended waterfalls to be impressive then it definability got it right with Niagara falls and the people of the town must be counting themselves lucky cause if it wasn't for the falls this would be a completely different place. Even as it is when you get out of the tourist area and into what they call the downtown (where the hostel was) its a bit rundown. Around the falls its a different story and the park commission there have everything well laid out with walk ways all along the gorge. Right up beside the horseshoe falls the mist get blown all over the place and since it was an overcast day you weren't sure if it was rain or the falls. Then there is all the tours and towers so you can get a better view of the falls. I did the journey behind the falls which is a tunnel that brings you right down to the bottom of the falls where there is 2 viewing portals from behind the falls and one outside viewing platform. Another very wet experience.

American Falls
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The other tourist part of the town, i got to say this right, is tacky but a tacky that is brilliant. Ripley's believe or not museum, a big plastic frankenstein eating a whopper and the like.

One of the evenings i went for a trek down the gorge downstream form the falls. There is a couple of entries down and of course i picked the easy one down and the hard one back out. The trails are not exactly for the weak hearted. They are fairly tough going(even for a superman like myself) and not all that well marked out(i didn't get lost just for the record). It is well worth the effort though as it really gives a glimpse of the river area must have being like before us humans came along.

Down in the River Gorge
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A short drive from Niagara falls is the little town of Niagara on the lake. I think the townsfolk there did a deal with the devil, they could have the best kept town in the area, maybe even the province but in return would have it overcrowded with tourists ever summer. It does live up to the billing with its tree lined streets, little parks and picturesque stores and just to get my national pride going they hold a Shaw festival every year with either plays form GeorgeBernardShaw himself or from other playwrights during his lifetime. Dammit this might be the best little town in the country!! (they even had a Irish tea room where you could get Irish stuff you wouldn't normally get). For a look about it only takes about half a day, which is what i did. But maybe a good idea if you were in the area would be to stay here and visit the falls during the day.