Notable Niagara Falls | Travel

As we were relatively close to Canadian border, at least by American standards, we decided to shorten our visit to Boston to spend a day at Niagara Falls. Everybody always says that you have to see the waterfall from the Canadian side, so that's exactly what we did. Three out of four had never been to Canada either, so it was cool to visit a new country as well, even if I doubt the Niagara Falls area is representative of all of Canada.

We left from Boston early in the morning and after a seven hour drive with only two brief stops, we came up to American/Canadian border. Knowing about American border control we were a bit on edge, but everything went smoothly and we were let trough without any problems. 

We got to our hotel pretty easily and got settled in after buying coupons for a cheap dinner and breakfast the following day. Our hotel room was even overlooking the falls, which was pretty epic to be honest. The place was legitimately called The Oakes Hotel Overlooking the Falls. We got settled in and then changed for dinner and waited outside of the hotel for a shuttle bus that was delayed. It arrived eventually and we got dropped off at a restaurant where got some good food. When we finished, all of us were pretty beat so none of us was in the mood for the shuttle bus picking us up being forty-five minutes late! I even called up the hotel and asked where the heck it was at. And when it finally arrived it couldn't hold all the people waiting. We'd been there for a long time though, so we got on but still, that whole thing was pretty unprofessional. 

I took a bath, even though I was exhausted, to use up the bath fizz I had bought at Bath and Bodyworks and to enjoy the jets in the tub? Like that was something else and actually exactly what I needed after such a long drive. I tumbled into the soft bed, warm, content and heavy. The following morning we went to the neighbouring Applebees where we had coupons to. The place had jumpscared us several times walking from the parking lot to the hotel with a quite obnoxious sounding woman telling you about deals. The food was good though.

After breakfast, we headed down towards the falls. We got a lift down to the actual water, where we got tickets for the Journey Behind the Falls experience. None of us really fancied going on a boat ride, so this was a wonderful alternative. Even from afar, the horse shoe fall looked incredible. It's quite surreal that nature can make something as awesome as that just by accident.

Before heading down to the experience, we perused around the gift shop and I learnt that my mother knows me way too well. Within seconds of walking in, she pointed out the one toy out of I don't know how many I would have plagued her to buy if I was younger. I have a fondness for stuffed animals and always bring my little husky Milalik whenever I go somewhere. And she was corrert, the fluffy otter with a Canada scarf and soft grey fur would have been my choice.

You got to walk through a cave like structure for Journey Behind the Falls and get up and fairly close to the surging water. Everyone got given cheap rain covers because the mist from the waterfall is quite extensive. We did all the cave stuff first, by accident, and then ended with the big platform where you got a proper beautiful view of the gushing water.

Having had our fill and only being slightly misted thanks to the rain covers, we headed back up to walk along the walkway that overlooks the falls. Honestly, you could just go for a walk along that and be satisfied. I mentioned as one of the three moments during our twelve day holiday where I felt at peace and calm. It was so beautiful and wide and open and despite the tourists perched on the side of the stonewall railing, it still felt quiet and nice. We took a stroll down almost the whole length of it. I took several photos but unsurprisingly, I found it difficult to properly capture the water and the powerful feeling you got when watching it. However, I'll leave one of the Horse Shoe Falls and one of American Falls, which together make up Niagara Falls. 

We strolled around the area, pausing at a Starbucks briefly for Mum to get her coffee and Dad to get his Coca Cola Light, and then just enjoyed the warm and lovely weather. When we headed back towards the hotel, we walked in a park area parallel to the walkway along the falls and we could still feel the lovely mist all the way over there.

We had a motel rented in Syracuse as a stop over towards Boston International Airport where we'd be leaving the following day. Therefore, we took our final lunch, again at Applebees because of more coupons and convenience too to be honest. Bless my Dad for reminding me of poutine, which was something I had told that I really wanted to try while I was in Canada. Living in Bath, a Canadian girl cooked up poutine for our friend group as most of us had never tried it. It was bloody delicious, both homemade and at Applebees. It's essentially just fries with cheese and brown sauce but it's so effing good.

After lunch we checked out and loaded the car and drove back to America. Again everybody held their breath at the border, but it went smoothly and without problems at all. We got to the motel in Syracuse without any problems and buckled down for the night. I decided to skip family dinner, as I wasn't feeling hungry but very tired instead. We left the following morning and headed towards Boston. However, we did stop briefly at Albany and have a couple of hours getting lunch and admiring the city while enjoying the heat.

Airport bound, we made one final stop at a Dunkin' Donuts, getting our last donuts before handing off the car and checking into the airport to head to Reykjavik. Airport time is usually pretty chill and boring when you have enough time but we noticed a rather funny thing in Logan Airport. They had a little area designated for dogs needing the toilet. Needless to say, as dog lovers, the whole family found that quite adorable, even if it was just a room for dogs to wee and poop in. But c'mon, they even put up a red fire hydrant.

We boarded our plane and headed for Iceland, which would be the final destination of our holiday, which had suddenly expanded to encompass a lot more places. It was nice to do a detour to Canada though, and it definitely makes me want to go properly to Canada some time. Niagara Falls was as cliche beautiful as everyone says they would be but I'm so glad we got to experience them.