Friday, March 14, 2008

Snow, ice and a waterfall...it has to be Niagara Falls!

After flying from Boston to Buffalo, we caught a cab over the border and into Niagara Falls, ON Canada. Because of the delay, we ended up arriving at the hotel just over midnight and so we were eager to check in. As we only had just under a day in Niagara Falls, we decided to go explore a bit before going to bed. The others decided to go to the casino while I braved the cold and walked along the falls in the moonlight to see the falls at night. Unfortunately, it was too late for the lights to be kept on, but I was still able to clearly see the falls through the night.

The next morning, I awoke to the falls just to the window next to the bed - an awesome sight! I spent a couple of hours in 20c below zero walking around the Niagara Falls National Park (back on the USA side). It was absolutely FREEZING and the water spray that was coming off the waterfalls would turn into ice and hit me in the face....

That afternoon, we caught the train to Toronto.


Pics:

Niagara Falls Feb 08

Boston, MA

Sorry for the little bit of a delay, but its been a bit of a crazy period getting home, starting uni and working again to pay off those annoying creditc card bills hahaha. Anyways, here is how the rest of the trip went (I'll be finishing it all off over the next week).

So after New York and saying goodbye to Daniel, we flew over to Boston, MA. On the flight there, we were told by the flight attendent that it was the 'greatest city in the USA'... right. We were a little delayed getting off the ground as a boy had pressed one of the buttons which released the oxygen masks from above and so we had to wait for the technicians to come onto the plan and re-set them. What we had thought would be a simple task ended up taking about an hour. When we finally landed into Boston, we caught a taxi over to our hotel, The Marriott at Copley Place to check in and drop off all our stuff. For lunch, we headed over to Copley Place to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen (the usual American chain restaurant style food). I then spent the afternoon wandering around Newbery St, which was where all the shops and the like were located.

The main reason I had headed over there was to find the Urban Outfitters because a pair of jeans I had bought didnt have the button on it lol. On the way over though, Raf and I were pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere of Boston, and I particularly liked how the city itself has a very european feel - you could easily think that you were in the UK or western Europe.

After a couple hours being out, i headed back to the hotel and got ready to go out to meet Sophie, my cousin. We ended up going to see Jumper (it was fairly formulaic, but enjoyable none the less) before meeting up with her friend and boyfriend to go to a sushi restaurant.

The second day in Boston, the others decided to have a rest day in the hotel so I ended up wandering all over the city, starting off with the public library and Copley square before catching the 'T' (trams) to Boston Commons where State House is and the start of the Freedom Trail. The arfternoon was spent exploring Boston by following the Freedom Trail. The next major landmark that really caught my interest was Faneuil Hall Market place where there are alot of stalls selling Clam Chowder and lots of nic naks. I didn't end up getting any chowder as I had just had lunch, so planned to get some later. I continued down to the aquarium area to see the harbour area, then caught the T to Seaport. I just walked around that area and saw the hotel we were supposed to stay at (it is a new hotel that isn't quite ready). When I went back to Fanueil Markets, all the stores had closed so I wasnt able to get any clam chowder!!! Oh well, gives me a reason to go back to Boston haha.

The last day, I toured around Harvard, MIT and also along the Charles River. We were flying out that night to Buffalo (upstate New York, near Niagara Falls), so had to head back to the hotel in the afternoon to check in.

Photos here:

Boston Feb 08