Seeing as Niagara Falls is a mere 120 kilometres from Toronto, we decided to take one of the many coach tours available from downtown to check out this famous spot. A little bit of research had already uncovered that the Maid Of The Mist (the boat which takes you right up to the foot of the waterfall) does not operate in the winter - but it still looked like a good day out, and had been recommended to us as a "must-do" while in Ontario.
First stop was a winery situated on the fertile strip of land between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Despite the frosty conditions they have to deal with for months each year, they manage to produce many varieties of wine - indeed they have taken advantage of the cold to develop their own unique variety of ice wine, made from frozen grapes. We had a taste and were impressed by the rich sweetness of the flavour.
From the winery we took the road Winston Churchill described as "the prettiest Sunday afternoon drive in the world" - Niagara Parkway - which runs from the cute town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (where Mike and Krista co-incidentally were honeymooning) right up to the Falls. The snowy conditions made everything look pristine, and combined with copious Christmas decorations, even the biggest house (and they were all BIG) looked like a snug little cottage:
Next stop was lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the falls, both the Horseshoe Falls (on the right in our pictures) and the smaller American Falls. We were lucky enough to score a window table, and almost spent more time looking out the window than eating!
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After lunch we took to the tunnels drilled into the rock behind the falls. These give you a great feel for the power and sheer quantity of water that launches off the 53m Horseshoe Falls. It also makes you partially deaf!
As you can see, there is a lot of ice around the falls. This is almost entirely due to the constant mist that they produce, which freezes in the cold temperatures. The day of our visit was no exception, with a nearby building telling us that it was -15°C! The mist freezes onto trees, fences, lamp-posts, etc making the whole place look like a winter wonderland!
As you can see, there is a lot of ice around the falls. This is almost entirely due to the constant mist that they produce, which freezes in the cold temperatures. The day of our visit was no exception, with a nearby building telling us that it was -15°C! The mist freezes onto trees, fences, lamp-posts, etc making the whole place look like a winter wonderland!
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