Sunday, June 28, 2009

NIAGRA FALLS & TORONTO

Niagra Falls is one of the most wonderful places I have seen. The place has been totally developed from a tourist point of view with all the possible attractions and facilities. One gets all possible forms of souvenirs in the varied shops and at a very reasonable price, then Clifton hill..the main street is complete with all the amusement rides, shows, giant wheel and its a really fun place .
We took the ferry..MAID OF THE MIST..it takes you so near to the falls..and is really an experience in itself..one feels so humble to see the stature of the fall and the pressure of water..awesome!!! The nature is so powerful that we are all so tiny creatures there. We took JOURNEY BEHIND THE FALLS.....here we venture into a tunnel at the base of the falls and there are a few view points, from where we can see the falls and water at their origin.
While returning we stayed at Toronto...took a ride through the city, saw the Harbour .......now-a-days here its summer for the people here and they thoroughly enjoy the sun,in all the cities one can see the people outside enjoying various things and there are always fun fetes running in downtown, whereas yours truely:)..habitual of living in 40 degree temp. finds it quite hot sometime and cant walk or stay in the sun for a long period....isnt it very contradictory?
My sis took me to all the shops where she has been shopping for years and to all the restaurants where she likes to eat:). We took a fresh Afghani bread from a Afghani shop..there I saw that on the TV the serial had Indian actors like..Sachin sharma etc...but the language I couldnt understand. We had Lunch at Brar's..it was an Indian Buffet and the variety was mind boggling with all type of sweets, soup, vegetables and idli dosa also with north Indian fare. Then we had a thali once at Rajdhani and it was the most delicious one.

We saw Swaminarayan Temple...constructed on the style of Akshardhaam except that it is white...it is a huge place, and since we went there at the time of Aarti..there were many people.......they have a dress code..anybody wearing a dress exposing knee downwards has to wrap a sarong.

We went t0o EATON SQUARE..it is one of the biggest mall in this area with all the branded shops..it was like a zoo over there with so much of crowd...never saw here any other mall bustling with the people.
Then we saw one locality where most of the inhabitants were chinese and then we went to Gerard Street..its a mini India over there..we saw a roadside Chat corner , people eating Bhutta.....and 60,s Hindi movie songs are still the most popular ones in most of the restaurants and shops. There one can find any Indian thing at a most reasonable price..be it jewellery, food, clothes or vegetables or anything else......


THOUSAND ISLANDS----Here we took a cruise while going..its for an hour and they take you through the great lakes, showing you many islands and Golden castle from outside---its the most scenic cruise one can take.
I am going to put some pictures once I reach back Zurich

34 comments:

Kanupriya said...

wow, niagra falls too? M waiting for the pics, post them soon :)

Piper .. said...

we want pics! :) yeah, isnt it beautiful? My parents were completely awestruck too..

Bhargavi said...

Wow !! post pics soon !

Indyeah said...

Niagara falls?:))
lovely:))
do post pics:)) that will make it all come alive:)))
((hugs))

Solilo said...

Renu, You are having one fabulous vacation. Touchwood!

sundar said...

Renu

Ferrying close to Niagara should have been an unforgettable experiene to you. Hope you would have freezed the image in your camera.... Please post all the photos...

Regarding Gerald street, it is amusing to know that people still hear 60's hindi songs....

Sandhya said...

Your sister also is there? Nice. Now, waiting for the photographs, Renu.

Deeps said...

I echo all the above commenters...PICS PLEASE:)


Its so nice to read these constant updates of yours,REnu.
Thanks for sharing :)

Renu said...

Kanupriya :
Bedazzled:
INdyeah:
Piper:
Solio: I am going to put some picks in the next week:).....really its an experience:)

Sundar: its an awesome view , specially from Canada said, my daughter says that from US side it looks like a poor man's Niagra:)

I was also surprised to hear those songs from 60's, 70's, as it gives u a very nostalgic feeling..but in moast of the shops one could here old songs and in restaurants they were running old chitrahar type programmes or may be CDs.

Sandhya: My sis is settled here for last 25 years, and she wants me to see everything:) and taste all the things she likes...sisters are like that u know:)

Deeps; Actually I want to post every detail about my trip like the cost of hotels and food and what places are a must, and what we can avoid, so that may be sometime it may help some body..but for some reason I am not able to do that:)

Anonymous said...

You are lucky And I am happy you shared the visit.
Thankyou ! Thankyou ! Thankyou !

Sparkling said...

Wow! You're on a roll! :)
Yes, do post some pics.

P.S: Thousand Islands reminds me of my fave salad dressing :)

Reflections said...

Renuji....mein eeshwar se yahi prarthana karthi hoo ke jab mein Renuji ki umar ho jaaoongee thab vo mujhe bhi Renuji jaise lifestyle dilwaayengae;-D

U've been tagged;-D!!!!!

Balvinder Balli said...

Renu, having a rollicking time. All here are waiting for the pics including me so post them soon.

Gauri said...

Hey !! Back after a long time :) I know of two people who have maintained for eternity that "Niagra falls" as seen from the Canadian side is the best place on this planet:) Definately one of the things on my list of "Places to see before you die" ;) Good luck Renu !!

Unknown said...

Hello Renu,
Been following your blog , how did you miss mentioning CN tower, the unique Rogers center, the numerous
mueseums, if you have not visited them I hope your sister will take
you. Enjoy your stay in Canada.
Muneer/Mississauga

Renu said...

HoBO: I guess I am quite lucky:), but sharing is a pleasure to me also.

Still thinking: Hey I cudnt get the connection:) am I dumb:)

Reflection: Nancy dont worry, you will have the same life style ponce your children are settled and then you will reminisce about those happy enjoyable days when kids were young:)

Balvinder: yes;):), I am reallyenjoying my vacations..and hopefully I will post the pictures:)

Muneer: I am very very happy to know that you read my blog. THANKS A LOT !! Actually I saw CN tower from outside, we didnt have much time and being typical women we wanted to do some shopping, but I am going to add Brar and Rajdhani:)

J P Joshi said...

It is really nice to know that you are making the most of your trip abroad. We made many trips to Niagara falls during our six years in Toronto and were always spellbound by their beauty and misty spray with multi-hued rainbows. Maid of the mist is certainly a lifetime event. It doesn't look so from top but in the boat, it is definitely breathtaking, specially on the upper deck. Brar's buffet - reminds one of India and Punjab. Enjoy yourself is all I can wish for you. There is another place - Mississauga sweets where one can go for authentic makki ki roti and sarson ka saag with lassi.

Piper .. said...

Hey Renu, long time. Where are you now? Are you having fun?

Vishal Rastogi said...

Glad that you saw Niagara Falls mom! Zillion thanks to mausi for that!

Renu said...

Piper: hello Mishy !, today I reached Seattle:),In Canada, I met my sister after a long time so we were busy catching up:), in the next week I will catchup on the blog:)

Vishal: yeah, what mausi did for me I can never forget, the love and affection , the feeling was exhilirating to me.

Saritha said...

Wow niagara falls,want to see the snaps,what a wonderful vacation :)

Sparkling said...

No, No, No! Please Renu, you know you're awesome :)

When you wrote about 'Thousand Islands' it reminded me of my fave salad dressing. Here, you can read about it thru' this URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Island_dressing

Anonymous said...

Bittoo bhai:Mausis are not supposed to be thanked for small-2 things.
love

Smitha said...

You have covered so many interesting places in this vacation!!

Please please post some pics! Dying to see it all!

Hip Grandma said...

Having a whale of a time aren't you. Enjoy yourself. Your accounts are very vivid and refreshing.

Rush said...

u took me back 2 years on my trip to canada..niagara is best watched from canada and not from the US...i wanna go back again!!

lovely travelogue..liked reading it!

Cess said...

my god Renu haven t been really regular there but u seem to have great fun and i m pretty jealous with all the nice place u ve seen the past months!!!! can t wait to see all the pics :P
when are u coming back to India?
I m actually in France till tomorrow, it was very sunny and i spent some great times with my family!!!!
keep having fun!

Renu said...

Varunavi: Niagra falls is really awesome, specially at night with all the lighting.

Anonymous: :), but I feel that when we thank strangers for little little things, we must acknowledge our loved ones also.

Smitha; yes, I have covered quite a lot of countries in this visit, and so far all the visits have been very enjoyable.

Renu said...

Cess: oh Cess , its been a real long time since I saw u here, I thought may be:), after meeting me you got dissappointed:)

I am very near you in Zurich now:)

Renu said...

Hip Grandma: thanx:) though I feel that I am not doing justicwe to these wonderful places.

Rush: Thank u so much, Niagra falls..one can go any number of times and the feeling of wonder will remain the same.

Renu said...

Still thinking: thanx:)..I am grinning from ears to ears:), I will read that certainly.

JP JOSHI; Even Brar's have many branches and at one branch food was too spicy for my taste.
Niagra has lovely food joints.
In Canada I tried all indian sweets and snacks and curries:)..lovely place to live.

Renu said...

Gauri:Not only 2 many people say the same thing, I liked it but cant say that it is the best place in the world:)

Where have you been Gauri?

Cess said...

ahhhh i m sooooo sorry Renu, i was surely NOT disappointing after our meeting, sorry if u got that impression, I was just depressed to leave India and I was not posting on my blog either, i was reading blogs but not commenting cz i was not super happy and therefore my comment would not have been super so I remained silent, sorry :(
Hope u are having fun in Zurich, when are u back to Chennai?

Renu said...

Cess: No need to say sorry:)

I am enjoying Zurich, will be back in Chennai around end of August.

Ajanta Ellora

 Last week we made a trip to Aurangabad. We had a direct flight from here.we stayed in Lemon tree hotel and liked it. It’s totally value for...