Niagara Falls

Yesterday was a big day as it was high on our list of must dos to go to Niagara Falls and they did not disappoint. We left our hotel at 8.45 am and after a mixup, namely the tour organisation did not have us registered for a tour we set off for the falls via several pick-ups. Am not going to spoil the blog with the details, but suffice to say, we don't recommend zoom tours! 
When we finally arrived at the falls, they were awesome, magnificent, whatever you like to say, but we were blown away. The water approaches the falls at considerable speed and appears to be 6 feet or so deep immediately before going over, so the volume is extraordinary, creating a considerable cloud of mist all around. The ability to get so close is incredible, as the viewing area is directly beside the falls, and only about 3-4 metres above the water level. We tried to imagine what possessed the crazy people who went over in a barrel were thinking and came up with ..... nothing!
The trip on the Maid of the Mist boat was terrific, and definitely a highlight as we went right into the mist, and got quite wet, but fortunately our poncho worked a dream, and we remained dry. Our ponchos made us look like a collection of Smurfs, but no one wanted to brave the trip without it!
After a lunch at the Fallsview Restaurant we went on to tour a number of sights around the falls including the Niagara on the Falls township which was just like the cover of a chocolate box, so pretty with all the hanging baskets full of summer colour and lovely old shops with some really tempting gifts including a Christmas Shoppe, who would have thought that I would want to go in there. About as likely as Ian walking past a cake and pastry shop and withstanding the temptation to buy a chocolate brownie covered in chocolate, heart attach material but he did any way. I didn't buy anything at all as I may have indulged earlier in another Cristmas Shoppe in Boston.
We also went to two wineries. It's area specialises in Ice Wine which is a beautiful dessert wine, so of course we enjoyed that. The ice wine is quite expensive as it can only be made from grapes which are frozen on the vine and have been at a very low temperature for three days. The grapes are harvested in the evening from 9pm until 5am by hand with no gloves on to ensure the fruit is not damaged. It tased very very nice and certainly made the trip home more bearable.
We arrived back at the hotel 2.5 hours late so you can I imagine how happy Mr. Punctual was, but Niagara Falls you were magnificent.

PS Ian finished this blog after Suey imbibed at the Mill St Brewery!
Not True, but he help with spell check!