« Moose Jaw to Toronto | Main | Algonquin Park, ice wine and a wolf »
March 23, 2005
Niagara Falls
It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day in Toronto with temperatures in positive figures and Mike had very generously offered to drive me to Niagara Falls. It's about an hour and a half drive to the Falls from Toronto and we arrived about midday. Everyone has seen countless photos and they are regularly featured in travel documentaries but it's difficult to describe the majesty of seeing them up close and personal.
The mist from the falls is so heavy it falls like rain and the deep, low roar resonates in your chest. Most of the photos I've seen were taken in summer but it's incredibly beautiful in winter when it is framed with snow and ice covered rocks. and the edges of the falls have frozen sections.
A spectucular rainbow hangs in the air downriver and another is over the falls themselves.
The USA side of the falls is not as spectactular but there was a broad frozen section at one end (above) that is quite beautiful.
We took the 'Journey behind the Falls' tour and although the lower deck was closed for the winter and the viewing portals behind the falls themselves were iced over it was still worth going to see from this perspective.
The Niagara Falls are so widely photographed and known far and wide but they don't warn you about the town of Niagara itself. It is the epitome of tackiness, the entire mainstreet is like a theme park with rides, sideshows, haunted houses and cheesy souvenir stalls, many of which bear little or no relevance to the Falls at all. What an irony to see one of nature's most magnificent sights set alongside the ultimate in human frivolity. I guess it is designed to cater to a particular market...
We drove further down the Niagara River and through the small town of Niagara-on-the-River which, while still touristy, is at least more tasteful and aimed at a more cultured market. On impulse we stopped at a vineyard that was open and advertising tastings of icewine. I've heard about the famous dessert wine of the Niagara region, made from a very late hand-picking, when the temperature has dropped below -10C and the fruit has been frozen on the vine. To me it is a deliciously complex dessert wine. Not unlike the Botrytis dessert wines in Australia but heavier and more complex. Superb.
Posted by Yasmin at March 23, 2005 01:03 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.batangabee.com/mt-tb.cgi/21
Comments
The pics of the falls are but fantastic!! Enjoyed them tremendously. Glad you enjoyed the icewine!
Posted by: Ken at March 24, 2005 01:58 AM