Hi there…or for today I should say, Hi there eh! Greetings from Canada. Today Aimee and I toured around the town of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

It rained most of last night and into this morning, so we got a later start than we wanted. That’s alright, we welcomed the extra sleep. It finally stopped around 10 so we headed out. We drove over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. The bridge crosses over the Niagara River. We waited in a short line for Canadian Customs and then we were officially in Canada!

Niagara Falls is a busy city full of hotels, Imax Theater, Shops, Casinos and even a space needle.

We headed over to the welcome center for the falls first. The welcome center was pretty cheesy but had some Canadian essentials, PJs anyone?

There were some educational items in the center, geologist have actually mapped the erosion of the falls over the years. Today, the water flow is controlled by a hydro electric plant to help reduce erosion and create electricity for the area. Roughly 45 million gallons of water flows over the falls every minute!

The overlook was pretty crowded, people from around the world came to Niagara Falls to witness this 7th wonder of the world. Here are a few of our pics from the Horseshoe falls, the largest of the falls..

The water was so powerful. As you can see it would wisp up and create a huge mist cloud that hid most of the falls. On a sunnier day, this mist cloud often creates a rainbow, cool!
Below is pictures of the American Falls, the shots are from across the river…

You probably noticed the boat in the picture, you could ride this boat to the bottom of the falls. Everyone was wearing ponchos or rain coats because you got drenched!

Looking down the side of the cliff, it’s a pretty steep drop…

After watching the falls for some time, we decided to head into town and explore. Our first stop was a pretty cool casino. We kept looking for a restroom, but here they’re called a Washroom, eh!

Need to check your coat, oh wait, coat checking is seasonal..

Aimee and I walked around some shops, including a chocolate and hot sauce shop. Stuff in Canada is very cheap. Yes those are chocolate high heel shoes…

While we were in the casino it started raining cats and dogs, so we stopped by a pretty cool fountain and had some lunch. Later we found out that the fountain is designed to mimic a hydroelectric power plant. There were plenty of cool sculptures in the casino..

Since the rest of the day was going to be rainy, we looked for indoor activities. We found an Imax that was running a show about the falls. The movie was great, if you’ve never been to an Imax, it’s an amazing movie watching experience full of sound and huge screens. I told Aimee we ought to put one in our dream house if we ever win the lottery 🙂

After the movie, the theater was a having a special exhibit of brave daredevils who chanced riding the falls and taking the plunge over the brink (that’s the point of no return, the edge of the waterfall). These daredevills came up with a some cool designs for vessels. As you see these vessels, picture these people going over the waterfall dropping 170 ft!!

That last one took a beating. Whats crazy is about half of the people actually survived. After a series of deaths, the authorities started fining individuals who dared to take the plunge..

Quick story for you..the first documented case of someone going over the falls happens to be a woman. She was a school teacher and was tired of teaching, her students were driving her crazy (she would have to be to go over the falls!). To gain fame and fortune, she decided that she would go over the falls in a 200 lb oak barrel stuffed with her mattress and pillow, she also took her cat! Well she went over the falls and survived, so did her cat; however, she didn’t receive much fame or fortune. She died lonely and poor in 1921. I guess one thing she did do is pave the way for future daredevils! Below is a picture of her and her barrel..

After the exhibit, we headed for some coffee and ice cream. Apparently, Tim Hortons is the Starbucks of Canada, Aimee had to try some. Being the non coffee drinker of the family, I went over to Cold Stone Creamery and (really!) enjoyed some ice cream. Until tomorrow, Bon Soir eh!