It’s the middle of a lazy yet busy week. Lots of writing at work but my mind is elsewhere. So I thought let me write down what has happened so far. The major happenings to report –
* Finished Niagara trip
* Tried Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Munky
* Went to the Chicago Board of Exchange and actually got a peek inside the stock exchange
First up Niagara trip. What can I say? Am just speechless after seeing that wild, gushing fountain that spans two countries. It was more of an ocean than a mere waterfall or a river. Niagara Falls is located in the Niagara Falls State Park, which includes a lot of other attractions apart from the falls. We took the Lakeshore Limited train from Amtrak, which travels from Chicago to New York and Boston. Our stop was the Buffalo-Depew station in Buffalo, New York, from where we have to take a cab or a bus to the Falls.
Our train was on time and we left at 9.00 pm sharp. A round trip cost me $186 (around Rs 9,500), which is very expensive compared to train travel in India. But a flight is costlier and the Greyhound is not a viable option due to the crowd it attracts. We took the seating option since the sleeping cars are more expensive. But the seats were very comfortable and the entire train is designed just like a flight. In fact I had more leg room here than a flight. The seats recline and you can pull out a leg rest from underneath so it becomes something like a sofa. A lot of Indian buses have these plush seats nowadays but of course not maintained so well. The only thing that put me off was the cold. They had cranked up the AC to such an extent that I was shivering after sometime. I had read that it would be cold in the train so I had taken my sweater but that was not enough.
We reached promptly at 8.00 am the next day and I was thankful that I could unfreeze myself from my popsicle form in the sun. We set out for the Falls and after a combination of bussing and taxiing we reached there at around 10.00. We went into a free observatory tower from where we could see the rising mist, which perpetually hangs in the air. Such is the force of the water that the skyline of Toronto, which is visible on the opposite side is always in the hazy fog created by the spray.
Our first venture into the Falls was the Maid of the Mist in, which we take a boat tour and go very close to the Falls. There are two main parts of the Falls, one is called the Bridal Veil and the other is the Horseshoe Falls. The second one can be viewed in its full glory only from the Canadian side and from the US side we get to see only a sidelong view. Now, a lot of people had told me that I must absolutely not miss going over to the Canadian side because the view is much better there. But I found out that seeing the Falls from the US side had its own advantages. One was that US visitors get as closest to the roaring waters as possible in the Maid of the Mist. The second is that US visitors have access to the Cave of the Winds, where you actually get to stand under a small, less forceful section of the Falls. So we skipped Canada for now. Maybe next time (lol) …
Our Maid of the Mist boat ride lasted around 15 minutes and it was thoroughly entertaining. They give you blue plastic ponchos to wear and then take you very close to the Falls so that the spray is all over you. The scenery is breathtaking and at one point the foam at the bottom of the Bridal Veil Fall was so thick that it looked like ice and snow. I emerged from it exhilarated. But I didn’t know the best was yet to come. We moved around the park to different viewpoints and each time the view was different and equally mesmerizing. We had lunch at the food court at the visitor centre and then got ready for the next major tour.
This was to the Cave of the Winds, which promised to take me right up to the Falls. This time we donned yellow colored ponchos and even got souvenir sandals, which was for us to keep. There was a longer line here than the Maid of the Mist and it was slow going. Finally we reached the elevators, which took us down about five floors where we got out onto the Niagara Gorge. Walking up a wooden pathway we stood right next to the Bridal Veil and then climbing up a few stairs we reached what is named the Hurricane Deck. Here, the Falls splash down upon the deck and you can go stand underneath it. Ah, that was the best thing about my visit. The beauty of the skyline on one side, the river in the middle and Falls on this side was simply breathtaking. And the experience of touching those churning waters and actually standing under them was amazing.
After that absolutely stunning experience we went to grab a cup of coffee and wait for the night lights to come on. Since it gets dark only by around 9.00 pm and it was only 6.00 pm we decided to catch the visitors trolley and go around.
We stopped at two more points, each of which offered different views of the Falls and we got to see a gorgeous sunset. Finally it was time for the night lights and we went to an observation deck. The Falls in the night is equally breathtaking but this is the only time I felt that it is best viewed from Canada. I could see the four different colored lights but as I said only a side view of the Falls. From Canada I could have seen the lights in the full face of the cascading waters. But this was fine. This was marvelous by itself.
After lingering around for about half an hour it was time to get to the train station. We caught a cab with a Pakistani driver who entertained us with videos of Hindi songs. By the time we reached the station we knew he had been in the US for 18 years, he has been in Buffalo since 15 years, he has four children, two sons and two daughters, one of them is a computer engineer and that he has a two floor flat where his sons live with their wives (I think).
The train was late by half an hour and we were sleepy and tired. Amtrak is known for being late on a regular basis and we were lucky that it was not delayed while going. But the worst bit is that there are no seat numbers. And this train was coming from New York so most of the seats were filled up and it was difficult to get seats together. We went hunting up and down the cars searching for seats. Many people had sprawled themselves on two seats to be sleeping more comfortably. After walking up and down some three times we finally found seats not far from each other. I immediately nodded off to sleep and this time I slept much better.
Sunday morning it was back to life in the concrete jungle and we took it easy that day just lounging around and relaxing.
On Monday, Doug, one of my colleagues, took us to the Chicago Board of Exchange. He knew someone named Robert Sheehan there who could take us all around inside to actually see a stock exchange in action. We actually went to the middle of the stock exchange pit where the stockbrokers yell and shout and buy and sell. That was pretty exciting after watching all that drama on CNBC every time. Bob explained some of the sign language they use to communicate to each other as well as showed us how trading takes place.
And last but not the least we tried out Ben and Jerry’s icecream, a flavor called Chunky Munky. I had heard a lot about Ben and Jerry’s so I had been wanting to try it out and I got this really different flavor – banana with almond and chocolate chunks. Wow. Needless to say how it was.
So that is this week. Another weekend coming up, let me see what’s in store.