Upon
arrival at Sheraton Hotel on Wednesday morning, I made few shots
from the height of the 18th floor. As one gets down to the Niagara
Parkway leading to the falls, nothing can prepare for the experience
of looking to the never-stopping flow of tons of water.
Whirlpool Rapids Bridge

American Falls
The American and Bridal Veil Falls on the USA side
are overpowered by the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. The
famous Maid of the Mist boat tour was closed for the season.
As I wanted to have the same experience as Marilyn Monroe during
the shooting of film Niagara in 1953, I had one choice,
The Journey Behind the Falls Walk.
Great Falls Canadian side below


Great Falls Portal
I wish you been there with me. We descended 150 feet
by elevator to a tunnel behind the waterfall, leading to the Great
Falls Portal, a third of the way along the falls. It gave us a unique
opportunity to stand behind the gigantic waterfall, hear its roaring
force and look out into the dense water at the same time. At the
end of the tour we arrived at a viewing platform allowing us to
stand right at the foot of the falls and gaze upwards to the rim.
Even with the yellow plastic ponchos provided, we all got wet.

The sign reads: Great Falls Portal. You have explored 200 meters
of tunnel, journeying almost one third of the way across the Canadian
Horseshoe Falls. The mighty Cascade stretches a full 675 meters
from Table Rock to Goat Island.

Continuing on the Niagara Parkway South, I came to
the point when I had a good shot of the Old Scow. As the
story goes, the Old Scow is a steel barge that lodged itself
on the rocks in 1918 and hasn't budged since.
The Niagara Parks Green House was just across
this place
I found the collections of orchids, and other tropical
plant species on display. The workers were preparing for the next
seasonal floral show. I took a shot of the largest chrysanthemums
I ever saw in my life. I wondered what they feed them with. I saw
a few colorful tropical birds flying throughout the greenery. It
was impossible to make a picture of the fast changing place's beauties.



On the way back to the Great Falls I saw a double rainbow. It is
a phenomenon that inspired many musicians and mundane ice cream
container designers. The sun was just in the right sphere and this
is first time I felt I could touch the rainbow on the left.


It was the sunniest day of the trip and a view of downtown was stunning.
The organizers of the Niagara Falls trip, Maxine and Sherry, had
for us another great experience of visiting Queenston Park, Fort
George, Peller Estates Winery and Niagara-on-the-Lake downtown.
Click below for the conclusion of the tour:
Niagara-on-the-Lake
day
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