Niagara Falls

Marcus says:

We landed in Toronto after a long flight from London. We flew at 8:30, so had to be up early to be there by 6:30. The security at Heathrow was a bit of a pain and at times didn't seem to make sense (like having a separate screening area just for shoes), but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared it could be, given the bombings only days before.

We arrived at Toronto at about 1:00 pm, due to the time zones. Customs at Toronto was the most thorough that we've encountered so far. The young guy asked a lot of questions about why we were traveling, how I could afford to take so much time off, where Erith's mother was, etc. I appreciated why he was doing it, but I couldn't help but wonder whether a woman traveling with a child would have been grilled the same way. Perhaps he was just conscientious - I don't know.

Lizzie's brother Alan picked us up at the airport. It was strange to see him - he looked much the same, but 10 years older than when I saw him last... 10 years ago. He also has quite a bit of the look and mannerisms of his father, which was nice to see, as his dad was a very nice, gentle man.

We put in a damage claim for my suitcase, as Air Canada had managed to destroy it beyond use. They told me that I would have to visit an authorised repairer, which seemed odd as there were large pieces of plastic missing from the shell and the top and bottom were so far out of alignment that there was no way it was ever going to close again. They told me that since I wouldn't be in Toronto for long, maybe I should do that in Calgary, ignoring my point that I had no way of getting my clothes to Calgary...

Anyway, Alan took us to check into a hotel and then back to pick up his wife Andrea and their son Marsdin and we set off for Niagara Falls, as that high on Erith's list of things to see and do. We got there around 5:00, which with the long Canadian evenings still left a good 4 hours of daylight. We took lots of pictures and Alan was kid enough to post his record of the day at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/olph4rt/FallsDerFalls/photo#s5086463761475289666. (Thanks Alan, your pictures are great, but I'll have to post one of you...)

Got to go - getting hassled for the computer again... more soon.

I'm back. Niagara Falls was really good - we went behind the falls so as to get a great look. That's the fourth time that I've been there and the first time I've done that - it was well worth the effort. Niagara Falls has grown a lot, but fortunately for collectors of tacky souvenirs everywhere, it hasn't lost its complete lack of taste. They've really moved on from the humble snow-shakers - these days you could purchase a two-metre tall stuffed bear or moose if your luggage arrangements sufficed, and the Indian-themed T-shirts and velvet paintings are nothing short of astounding.

Anyway, after a quick browse we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner and my first Canadian beer. We had a nice dinner and drove back to the hotel. Erith and I were exhausted - it was 10:00 pm and we'd been at it for probably nearly a day without stopping. It was really cool to spend a bit of time with Alan, Andrea and Marsdin though - it's a pity it was so short, but it was a lot of fun.