where I play tourist, part one

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine got in touch and floated the idea of us going on holiday together. When you don't work in a job that requires you to take vacation time you sometimes forget to actually make plans. It would be nice to have someone to have dinner with. To share the experience with and compare stories when we wandered off on our own. So, with a little back and forth and sharing of ideas, we had a booking. A Mediterranean cruise! It took about 2 days. We have never travelled together, so this could be quite the experience. My friend, X, is very good at the research; I am much more free spirited and will just wander and see what happens. Neither of us is particularly interested in seeing the tourist sights, preferring to soak up the local culture (as much as one can in a few hours), but it may be hard to avoid.

So on Friday, I decided I would practice playing tourist. And what better place to practice than Niagara Falls?

Anyway, I wanted to check in on the World's Tallest Flower. The first one bloomed late last Friday night and by Sunday morning the top had fallen over and it had closed up again.. It's younger brother, Clive, has been having quite the growth spurt and has been moved to the front. It is interesting to see the new growth and the decay.

When I was there last week, it was too foggy and dull to bother taking photos, but this time, it was sunny and warm and perfect. (perfect as it was still very early in the season and so not very busy.) I tried to pretend it was my first viewing... it all fell apart when I started giving directions to people. And when I laughed at the people who were amazed to see a rainbow.













But, for you, with a good blog post in mind, I took photos of the Falls. Many, many photos. I even went to the tackiest of spots, Clifton Hill, and took photos. I have never seen so many hotels and themed restaurants in such a small area. The 'fun spots' does not bear thinking about - every kind of thrill seems to scream out at you. It was loud and bright and I bet you are thinking it would have been neat to see at night when everything was all lit up. Yes, it might, but I was not going to hang about that long.

But I did gets lots of pictures of signs. And I found some cheap postcards for Postcrossing.

I did not go up the Skylon Tower or this SkyWheel ferris wheel, though really, it was a perfect clear day for views. Had I really been on holiday, I am sure I would have been tempted.

After wandering down this hill of thrills, I found a lovely quiet park, with a huge green space and perfect views

I had lunch at a restaurant with views...

as you can see, it really was not busy.

part two to follow.....