New York to Toronto

We plucked up courage to go up the Empire State building, Robin couldn't look down so Jane took this one.

We had a very slow journey to the airport due to misunderstanding the NY Metro - a kind lady told us to get off or we would have ended up at Rockaway wherever that is. We missed our flight to Buffalo but got on on standby on the next one. Interestingly one of the passengers then decided she wanted to get off just as the plane was reversing back from the gate, and she was allowed to, so we were a little late in leaving. From Buffalo we easily found the Greyhound Bus stop for the hour or so trip to Niagara Falls. Everyone and their luggage had to get off the bus to go through the customs shed and get back on, but we realised our hotel was just up the road so Robin trundled our bags on the trolley we invested in at Bed Bath and Beyond in New York, which (fingers crossed) is still surviving. The hotel room had the luxury of a bath, and two double beds.

In the evening we discovered the true tacky splendour of Niagara, (think Blackpool without the trams) but the falls are stunning, even though the nighttime illumination is a little colourful.

We decided to sample the Winter Falls Experience - Niagara's Fury is an animated cartoon and 3D experience which involved getting wet and shaken about. The Horseshoe Falls themselves are a fantastic spectacle (free), though the 'Behind the Falls' experience was not, we could only see ice.


On our final day, after checking out of the hotel we decided to visit the final attraction of the Winter Falls Experience, the Butterfly Conservatory. I was a little surprised on waking up that morning, to find a

parking bill stuck under the bedroom door - as we had no car that did nnot prove difficult to resolve. We left our bags in lockers at the bus station and walked the 3 miles or so alongside the Niagara river to the a very pleasant nature reserve and the butterfly conservatory. Robin had very high hopes and it did not disappoint, in fact it surpassed  them. It was full of the most beautiful butterflies from all around the world, fluttering, resting and feeding. His wish to photograph one on Jane's nose was not fulfilled however we did see one alight on someone else's nose, and one did a poo on his camera!

After walking back to the bus station we caught the 3pm Coach Canada bus to Toronto, a couple of hours trip which allowed just enough time to catch up on some sleep. Arriving at the bus station downtown we took a free tram ride (you need exactly 3 dollars so the driver kindly let us off the fare - not the tram).

Our first day in Toronto we hung out in Eaton Square and discovered the PATH, a labyrinth of underground walk ways through shops underneath the financial district. Yesterday we took the ferry out to Toronto Island Park, a series of small islands just offshore and linked by bridges. Mainly a holiday spot but people live there too, on the ferry back we found ourselves surrounded by schoolchildren on their way home from the elementary school on the island. A beautiful sunny (cold) windy day, walking along the boardwalk by the beach it was hard to imagine we were on the shores of a lake not the sea. Ufortunately, we discovered that the season officially starts on Friday, all the cafes etc. were 'closed for the season' - luckily we took sandwiches.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we catch the train to Vancouver - arriving Monday, so our next blog will be from there.