Day 058 – Niagara Falls and MarineLand

_Captain’s Log, StarDate 2007.08.02-01.33_

Ah, the incomparable Niagara Falls at last. The first thing that I noticed about it is that it is probably the most commerically exploited tourist destination in the world. The natural beauty of that place is probably the last thing on everybody’s mind. Niagara is more of a place people expect you to visit than a place you would like to visit.

Afterwards, we headed to MarineLand, an oceanarium/amusement park right next to Niagara Falls. The most interesting creatures we had the good fortune of seeing up close were the Killer Whales and the Beluga Whales. For those 3 hours that I was there, I felt like I was 10 years old again. I even bought myself some souvenir bathtub toys… if I had the space to carry back to India, I would probably have bought some soft toy dolphins and whales, too

After MarineLand, we started an 8-hour drive back to Montreal, with two stops in between at crowded fast-food joints at truck stops. I kept taking photos and videos of the amazing Canadian countryside till it got dark. We reached home late at night, although thanks to the tiring journey not all of us were in a state to remember how!

Day 057 – 1000 Islands and Toronto

_Captain’s Log, StarDate 2007.09.01-00.55_

We started very early and nearly missed the tour bus because the taxi showed up late. Our first stop was 1000 Islands near Kingston, Ontario. It is a chain of 1,865 islands divided between the US and Canada and home to some of the most fantastic houses I have ever seen. After the boat cruise which lasted a little over an hour, we had lunch in Kingston at a Bangladeshi restaurant. In the evening, we reached Toronto and visited the Town Hall, the Parliament and then the famous CN Tower, at 553.33 metres the world’s tallest free-standing structure.

After a short shopping spree at Chinatown, we headed back to our hotel and watched an old black-and-white western on TV (most likely “Return of the Badmen (1948)”). That was without doubt one of the high points of my trip… it’s been ages since I’ve seen a black-and-white movie, and this was probably the first western I’ve ever seen.