Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Information overload...........!
Hi,
As promised....updating the blog on Saturday!
I feel like I have been on information overload this week, trying to learn about so many new things that I never bothered to be informed about before.
First, I forgot to mention one of the most important days in Canada. The day of the Terry Fox Run.
You cannot live in Canada and not know who Terry Fox was. Born Terrance Stanley Fox, 'Terry Fox', was born in 1958. He was active in sports and at the age of 18 was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that affected his leg. Three years after the leg was amputated, Terry decided to raise money for cancer research by running from coast to coast. This run was called the Marathon of Hope. After eighteen months of training, he started his run on April 12th, 1980 in Newfoundland. His hope was to collect one dollar from every Canadian. On September 1st, after running 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, he was forced to stop his run as the cancer had spread to his lungs. Sadly, he passed away at the young age of 22, on the 28th of June 1981.
Now every year, Canadians celebrate the life and mission of Terry Fox by organising marathons, walks and runs. This year, the schools had 'Terry Fox Day', on September 26th. My son wore a red tshirt and joined his classmates in a short run around the neighborhood. My daughter did the same thing, but walked. Everyone donated at least one dollar. Till date, more than 400 million dollars has been raised by the Terry Fox foundation for Cancer research.
I'll try to post a picture of him in my next post.........problems with my machine!
Two important events happening the month of October in Canada is Thanksgiving on the 13th, and Halloween on the 31st.
Will write about these two tomorrow.........just got back from a nice trip to Lake Ontario. We're finding it easier to drive around and find our way to different places. Will upload pictures of the CN tower, downtown Toronto and the Lake tomorrow.
By the way, the trees in front of my house are looking more and more orange day by day. Will post those pictures as well.
Hope all of you in India had a great week of holidays there!!
As promised....updating the blog on Saturday!
I feel like I have been on information overload this week, trying to learn about so many new things that I never bothered to be informed about before.
First, I forgot to mention one of the most important days in Canada. The day of the Terry Fox Run.
You cannot live in Canada and not know who Terry Fox was. Born Terrance Stanley Fox, 'Terry Fox', was born in 1958. He was active in sports and at the age of 18 was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that affected his leg. Three years after the leg was amputated, Terry decided to raise money for cancer research by running from coast to coast. This run was called the Marathon of Hope. After eighteen months of training, he started his run on April 12th, 1980 in Newfoundland. His hope was to collect one dollar from every Canadian. On September 1st, after running 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, he was forced to stop his run as the cancer had spread to his lungs. Sadly, he passed away at the young age of 22, on the 28th of June 1981.
Now every year, Canadians celebrate the life and mission of Terry Fox by organising marathons, walks and runs. This year, the schools had 'Terry Fox Day', on September 26th. My son wore a red tshirt and joined his classmates in a short run around the neighborhood. My daughter did the same thing, but walked. Everyone donated at least one dollar. Till date, more than 400 million dollars has been raised by the Terry Fox foundation for Cancer research.
I'll try to post a picture of him in my next post.........problems with my machine!
Two important events happening the month of October in Canada is Thanksgiving on the 13th, and Halloween on the 31st.
Will write about these two tomorrow.........just got back from a nice trip to Lake Ontario. We're finding it easier to drive around and find our way to different places. Will upload pictures of the CN tower, downtown Toronto and the Lake tomorrow.
By the way, the trees in front of my house are looking more and more orange day by day. Will post those pictures as well.
Hope all of you in India had a great week of holidays there!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Back from the past...
My daughter just came back from her field trip and said she had a great time! They took the kids to a farm, that is run like a colonial times museum of sorts. First they took the kids there in buses. Then from the entrance of the farm, the kids, teachers and accompanying parents were taken on wagons, pulled by a tractor to the 'colony'. There, the students were asked to enter an old style classroom, and sit on the floor cross legged. (otherwise known as Indian style!) They were given slates and chalk made from ..you guessed it, slate, and told that this is how students in the colonial days learned in school. They saw how children dressed in those days and what they ate. Fresh farm products and fruits and vegetables that most families grew on their own. Anyone familiar with the t.v series called, 'Little house on the Prairie'? That is the kind of colony and farm that the kids were taken to. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
Being Friday evening, I thought I would check with both kids as to what homework they had so that we could plan what to do on the weekend. My sons exaxt words: 'Hmmmm, I don't have any homework because I finished it in school'.
My daughter: 'Oh yes, we have homework. Our teacher told us that after the long day out at the farm, our homework is to 'relax'.
What do you say to that??!!
Being Friday evening, I thought I would check with both kids as to what homework they had so that we could plan what to do on the weekend. My sons exaxt words: 'Hmmmm, I don't have any homework because I finished it in school'.
My daughter: 'Oh yes, we have homework. Our teacher told us that after the long day out at the farm, our homework is to 'relax'.
What do you say to that??!!
Still green and holding on.........
Here are two trees just outside our home. As they were still green, I thought I'd take a picture of them and watch as the tree sheds its leaves and goes through the seasonal change. I'll keep taking pictures of the same trees and show you as the leaves change color 
and eventually fall off.
and eventually fall off.
Will try to update faster........
HI
Just wanted to let you know that I am trying to update this blog more often..but life is just catching up!
Nalini
Just wanted to let you know that I am trying to update this blog more often..but life is just catching up!
Nalini
Four degrees and counting!
I decided to change the color of the font today, to green. This is to match the leaves outside our house. It is officially Autumn and if you drive around our block, just two streets away you will see nothing but orange leaves on the ground. Those trees have already shed their leaves, but the trees on my street are still green and hanging on! Took pictures of it today, and will keep taking pictures as the seasons change so that you can see the cycle that these trees go through.
My daughter who is in third grade was given a Hickory nut the other day and was told to plant it in the backyard. The school is doing a project and trying to see how many Hickory wood trees start to sprout by spring. The students were asked to have a picture taken of them planting the nut, and then take another picture in spring of the sprouted plant. She planted the nut yesterday.....so she has a long way to go to wait and see the little plant. For a seven year old,six months is a very long time!
My son left for school early today, and because he was too early for the bus, my husband had to drop him. It is four degrees outside!! So layered in two shirts, a jacket and thick jeans he left for his first Yearbook meeting. All the schools here have a yearbook that is given to the students at the end of the year.It is mainly edited and written by the students, one or two from each class. The yearbook has class photos, and pictures and write ups of all student activities throughout the year. My son is on the Committee this year and this morning was their official first meeting! He was so excited. He also gets a camera during school hours to take pictures to use in the yearbook. Today is also Pizza day in school, so he had to take two dollars for a slice, and an extra dollar for milk.(not compulsory, but when the rest of the class is eating pizza what do you do??)
Our daughter had her field trip today and is spending the day at a Farm Museum. This is a museum where they will show the children about Colonial life and how children lived in the early settlement days. Will hear about her trip this evening and let you know her version of what she saw and experienced. All the children were being taken in buses, and they had to pay fifteen dollars. I guess this covers the admission fee etc. They had to wear boots, take a jacket and a light litter free lunch, with no peanuts. Many children here have life threatening allergies to peanuts. So the schools ask and keep reminding parents not to send any food with even traces of peanuts in them to school. No peanut butter and nutella lunches!!
Yesterday was the Canadian Prime Ministerial candidates debate live on t.v, and at the same time was the Biden-Palin debate from the U.S. This morning we read in the paper that most Canadians watched the U.S debate instead of the Canadian one, because the U.S one was more interesting (interesting in the Masala kind of way...imagine a live debate between Jayalalitha and Karunanithi) and most Canadians know who they are going to vote for anyway!
The newspapers here also carried on the second page the story about the Temple stampede in India as well as the Goverments ban on public smoking. I guess with such a large Indian population here, they better carry some Indian news!! Yes, newspapers fight for subsciptions here too.......
I am going to update this blog every Friday, so you don't have to curse me everytime you open this blog and see nothing new!
A quick quiz question.......who can answer this.........'What famous Canadian comedian, sent in his resume to a t.v show at the age of ten?'
Check the answer next Friday (or Saturday to everyone in India) on my blog................
until then,
Nalini
My daughter who is in third grade was given a Hickory nut the other day and was told to plant it in the backyard. The school is doing a project and trying to see how many Hickory wood trees start to sprout by spring. The students were asked to have a picture taken of them planting the nut, and then take another picture in spring of the sprouted plant. She planted the nut yesterday.....so she has a long way to go to wait and see the little plant. For a seven year old,six months is a very long time!
My son left for school early today, and because he was too early for the bus, my husband had to drop him. It is four degrees outside!! So layered in two shirts, a jacket and thick jeans he left for his first Yearbook meeting. All the schools here have a yearbook that is given to the students at the end of the year.It is mainly edited and written by the students, one or two from each class. The yearbook has class photos, and pictures and write ups of all student activities throughout the year. My son is on the Committee this year and this morning was their official first meeting! He was so excited. He also gets a camera during school hours to take pictures to use in the yearbook. Today is also Pizza day in school, so he had to take two dollars for a slice, and an extra dollar for milk.(not compulsory, but when the rest of the class is eating pizza what do you do??)
Our daughter had her field trip today and is spending the day at a Farm Museum. This is a museum where they will show the children about Colonial life and how children lived in the early settlement days. Will hear about her trip this evening and let you know her version of what she saw and experienced. All the children were being taken in buses, and they had to pay fifteen dollars. I guess this covers the admission fee etc. They had to wear boots, take a jacket and a light litter free lunch, with no peanuts. Many children here have life threatening allergies to peanuts. So the schools ask and keep reminding parents not to send any food with even traces of peanuts in them to school. No peanut butter and nutella lunches!!
Yesterday was the Canadian Prime Ministerial candidates debate live on t.v, and at the same time was the Biden-Palin debate from the U.S. This morning we read in the paper that most Canadians watched the U.S debate instead of the Canadian one, because the U.S one was more interesting (interesting in the Masala kind of way...imagine a live debate between Jayalalitha and Karunanithi) and most Canadians know who they are going to vote for anyway!
The newspapers here also carried on the second page the story about the Temple stampede in India as well as the Goverments ban on public smoking. I guess with such a large Indian population here, they better carry some Indian news!! Yes, newspapers fight for subsciptions here too.......
I am going to update this blog every Friday, so you don't have to curse me everytime you open this blog and see nothing new!
A quick quiz question.......who can answer this.........'What famous Canadian comedian, sent in his resume to a t.v show at the age of ten?'
Check the answer next Friday (or Saturday to everyone in India) on my blog................
until then,
Nalini
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Oh Canada!
Hi and sorry for the loooooooooong gap. I don't know where the days went!
To start with, I think we have been really busy with school. Our son leaves at 8 and our daughter at about 8.40. Both had to take an extra pair of soft soled sports shoes to leave in school for gym class. My son also takes a towel and set of gym clothes on the days that he has gym.
So far my son in sixth grade:
Loves school!
Likes his teachers.
Has to read at least four books a month, and write about it in his reading journal.
Has French, which he is learning for the first time. All the other kids are two years ahead, so his teacher helps him at lunch time with extra work to catch up.
Is sharing a locker. The kids keep all their books, lunch and gym clothes in their locker, and take what they need for each class.
They have art, music, library and also a counselling class everyweek.
For homework, they give thought provoking work.......where the kids have to think and do their own work and learn from what they are doing. For example: Yesterday my son had to list 30 different types of transportation. Then he had to divide the thirty into three different classifications. He chose, wheels and no wheels, commercial bulk passenger and non-commercial, and classification on what the particular transport runs on: like fuel (cars), human power (canoe) or nature (hang gliders). He spent a good hour doing this, and he had fun doing it.
He had his class picture taken yesterday. We got a form from the photographers to fill out for this. We had a choice of background color, pose and if we wanted his name on the picture or not. The minimum rate for the basic package of 8 2by3 photos, was 16 dollars. Five dollars more to put his name on them. They also had calendars, magnets, different size photos and other things that you could have the photo on, and all this costs extra. We took the basic package, chose the pose, background color and put the money in the cover and sent him to school for his photo!
So far, anything graded has not come back with a letter grade (A, B,C+ etc) or a number grade (88/100 for example), here it has been level one, level two, level three or level four. Level four means the best work, and of course level one means you didn't even understand the concept of what you had to learn.
My daughter in third grade:
Is picking up Canadian slang very quickly. 'You know what', is a common phrase here.
Is learning the Canadian national anthem, and wants to know if she is a Canadian now that she sings the Canadian anthem and not the Indian one.
Has to read for fifteen minutes minimum every day and has to write two sentences about what she read.
Has a math workbook, where she gets a page or two of homework twice a week. This week the class is going over the spelling of one to hundred.
Is having her class picture taken on Monday. No form to fill out for her yet.
What else did we do? Our furniture that we ordered a few weeks ago finally came in yesterday. Two guys carried all the furniture upstairs (beds, dressers, chest of drawers etc) and made sure all the pieces were fine and not damaged. One dresser drawer had a crack, so that is being replaced this coming week. So after nearly two months here, we are sleeping on beds!!
Have also started driving lessons!! I called up many driving schools and found one that I was comfortable with. I asked for my first lesson last Wednesday at 11.30. The driving instructor was here on the dot. You quickly learn here that people are punctual and are always on time. She first showed me the automatic gear system (I was used to driving a manual car in India) and off we went before I could even get nervous. We first drove around the block, then once she realized that I could steer and brake, we went on the main road. She asked me to make right and left turns, park on an uphill, park on a downhill and practice three point turns. Before I knew it, one hour was up and we were back at home. For my second class, I practiced parallel parking, and driving on crowded roads. Saturday is my next class. I'm trying to get as much driving practice as I possible can, and do my test in the first week of October. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! They charge 30 dollars an hour, which is the normal fee. All the schools seem to charge the same rates.
It has been getting colder with every passing day. It was 9 degrees the other morning, and both kids bundled up in long sleeve shirts and jackets for school. If the sun is out, it can be cold, while your skin feels like it is burning at the same time. It is strange and will take some time to get used to the odd weather here.
Every morning we read the paper.........and the big news here is the Canadian elections coming up next month. The hype is nothing like the U.S elections, but the fight is on here for electing the best candidate to be Prime Minister. Here, the Prime Minister heads the Government, but the Sovereign and Head of State is Queen Elizabeth IInd! It is a mix of the old and the new here, and the courts still follow the British system of having a Governor General.
Almost everyday we read about shootings, stabbings and other forms of murder, and we wonder why we are not packing our bags and running back to India. Like any other country, you have to take care of being safe, not go out at night to downtown areas and trust your instinct.
We watch NDTV here and just hearing their theme music makes us feel at 'home'.
Hi to all my readers out there............will continue our Canadian adventure by blogging about it...and hope that you enjoy reading it!
To start with, I think we have been really busy with school. Our son leaves at 8 and our daughter at about 8.40. Both had to take an extra pair of soft soled sports shoes to leave in school for gym class. My son also takes a towel and set of gym clothes on the days that he has gym.
So far my son in sixth grade:
Loves school!
Likes his teachers.
Has to read at least four books a month, and write about it in his reading journal.
Has French, which he is learning for the first time. All the other kids are two years ahead, so his teacher helps him at lunch time with extra work to catch up.
Is sharing a locker. The kids keep all their books, lunch and gym clothes in their locker, and take what they need for each class.
They have art, music, library and also a counselling class everyweek.
For homework, they give thought provoking work.......where the kids have to think and do their own work and learn from what they are doing. For example: Yesterday my son had to list 30 different types of transportation. Then he had to divide the thirty into three different classifications. He chose, wheels and no wheels, commercial bulk passenger and non-commercial, and classification on what the particular transport runs on: like fuel (cars), human power (canoe) or nature (hang gliders). He spent a good hour doing this, and he had fun doing it.
He had his class picture taken yesterday. We got a form from the photographers to fill out for this. We had a choice of background color, pose and if we wanted his name on the picture or not. The minimum rate for the basic package of 8 2by3 photos, was 16 dollars. Five dollars more to put his name on them. They also had calendars, magnets, different size photos and other things that you could have the photo on, and all this costs extra. We took the basic package, chose the pose, background color and put the money in the cover and sent him to school for his photo!
So far, anything graded has not come back with a letter grade (A, B,C+ etc) or a number grade (88/100 for example), here it has been level one, level two, level three or level four. Level four means the best work, and of course level one means you didn't even understand the concept of what you had to learn.
My daughter in third grade:
Is picking up Canadian slang very quickly. 'You know what', is a common phrase here.
Is learning the Canadian national anthem, and wants to know if she is a Canadian now that she sings the Canadian anthem and not the Indian one.
Has to read for fifteen minutes minimum every day and has to write two sentences about what she read.
Has a math workbook, where she gets a page or two of homework twice a week. This week the class is going over the spelling of one to hundred.
Is having her class picture taken on Monday. No form to fill out for her yet.
What else did we do? Our furniture that we ordered a few weeks ago finally came in yesterday. Two guys carried all the furniture upstairs (beds, dressers, chest of drawers etc) and made sure all the pieces were fine and not damaged. One dresser drawer had a crack, so that is being replaced this coming week. So after nearly two months here, we are sleeping on beds!!
Have also started driving lessons!! I called up many driving schools and found one that I was comfortable with. I asked for my first lesson last Wednesday at 11.30. The driving instructor was here on the dot. You quickly learn here that people are punctual and are always on time. She first showed me the automatic gear system (I was used to driving a manual car in India) and off we went before I could even get nervous. We first drove around the block, then once she realized that I could steer and brake, we went on the main road. She asked me to make right and left turns, park on an uphill, park on a downhill and practice three point turns. Before I knew it, one hour was up and we were back at home. For my second class, I practiced parallel parking, and driving on crowded roads. Saturday is my next class. I'm trying to get as much driving practice as I possible can, and do my test in the first week of October. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! They charge 30 dollars an hour, which is the normal fee. All the schools seem to charge the same rates.
It has been getting colder with every passing day. It was 9 degrees the other morning, and both kids bundled up in long sleeve shirts and jackets for school. If the sun is out, it can be cold, while your skin feels like it is burning at the same time. It is strange and will take some time to get used to the odd weather here.
Every morning we read the paper.........and the big news here is the Canadian elections coming up next month. The hype is nothing like the U.S elections, but the fight is on here for electing the best candidate to be Prime Minister. Here, the Prime Minister heads the Government, but the Sovereign and Head of State is Queen Elizabeth IInd! It is a mix of the old and the new here, and the courts still follow the British system of having a Governor General.
Almost everyday we read about shootings, stabbings and other forms of murder, and we wonder why we are not packing our bags and running back to India. Like any other country, you have to take care of being safe, not go out at night to downtown areas and trust your instinct.
We watch NDTV here and just hearing their theme music makes us feel at 'home'.
Hi to all my readers out there............will continue our Canadian adventure by blogging about it...and hope that you enjoy reading it!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Maid of the Mist
We have a right answer!! The one dollar coin here is called a Loonie (it has a bird called a Canadian Loon on one side of it). The two dollar coin that came out much later, is called a Toonie (a two...nie). The winner is Minu Vasanth of Chennai who got back to me with the right answer first! Sorry no prizes though, just your name and fame right here!!
Let me take you on an adventure....to one of the most beautiful places on earth...........the Niagara Falls. Most of the other falls I have seen, now seem more like a small shower compared to the Niagara.
The falls itself, are in the city of Niagara. It is on the U.S border, and you have the smaller falls which belongs to the U.S and the bigger, horse shoe shaped falls that belongs to Canada. The Falls are 170 feet high. The water flows down the Niagara river, enters Lake Ontario and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The source of the Falls are the Great Upper Lakes.
Everyone knows there are five great lakes here in North America, but remembering the names can be hard. The clue is the word, HOMES. The names of the Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
Anyway, about the Falls....when you visit Niagara (it is a one and a half hour drive from Toronto), you drive straight to where the falls are and find a place to park! This is harder than it sounds.........as tourists from all around the world come here.......and it can get quite crowded.
There is a huge paid parking lot a short walk away from the falls, where you will probably end up parking. There are many parking lots around the area. You will have to pay somewhere from 8 to 10 dollars and up for parking. Free parking is rare. Parking lots have buses, or 'people movers' as they call them, to take people from the lots to the Falls.
Once you park, walk down to the Falls. Everyone you see will be walking towards it! Once you get within site of the Falls, most people just take a deep breath and look in awe. It truely is a spectactular sight! The sound of the water is like you are standing in the middle of a huge shower and the water that gets sprayed from the falls hits you at a particular spot on the walkway and you actually get soaked!
After spending some time looking at the Falls, the next best thing to do is to take a ride to get as close to the Falls as possible. The twenty minute boat ride is called, The Maid of the Mist.
What is the Maid of the Mist?:
The Maid of the Mist is a 20 minute ride on a double-decker boat that takes you as close up to Niagara Falls as you can get without swimming.
The boat stops and lingers at the foot of the Falls, 170 feet (52 meters) below the brink.
Be prepared to get wet; fortunately, disposable rain ponchos come with admission.
Where is the Maid of the Mist?:
Maid of the Mist boat rides set sail from both the Canadian and American sides of Niagara Falls.
The Canadian Maid of the Mist boarding dock is at the foot of Clifton Hill.
When Does the Maid of the Mist Operate?:
Depending on weather conditions, the Maid of the Mist generally operates between April and October.
The Maid of the Mist leaves about every 15 - 20 mins between 7:45 am and 4:45 - 7:45pm, depending on the time of season.
Admission prices are Can$14.50 for adults, $8.90 for children 6-12 yrs old and free for kids under 5.
This ride is one of the most thrilling rides you can take, and the best part is that even babies to the very elderly can enjoy it safely.
The day we took this ride, it was an amazing experience especially since we saw not one but two beautiful rainbows!! I took pictures and will put it up on the blog.
After buying the tickets, you get a plastic coat that you have to wear, or else you will get wet in the falls. You can take pictures, but you will have to take care that your expensive equipment does not get soaked.
There is a running commentary on board, first telling you about keeping all arms and legs in the boat, and some information about the falls. Mostly they just allow you to 'soak' it all in. After the ride, we took a walk around, had some pizza for lunch and then left for Toronto as my kids had school the next day. The best thing to do, is stay there over night if possible, for the fireworks show at night. This is supposed to be amazing...as it is done over the fully lit falls.
There are other things to do as well, like taking a walk behind the falls, visit Marineland, the butterfly conservatory, ride the fury (where you take a 4D adventure of the Falls) or just eat at one of the restaurants over looking the falls.
Thats it for now.........I'm leaving you with one interesting fact...
The word cyberspace was coined by Canadian writer William Gibson!
Ciao!
Let me take you on an adventure....to one of the most beautiful places on earth...........the Niagara Falls. Most of the other falls I have seen, now seem more like a small shower compared to the Niagara.
The falls itself, are in the city of Niagara. It is on the U.S border, and you have the smaller falls which belongs to the U.S and the bigger, horse shoe shaped falls that belongs to Canada. The Falls are 170 feet high. The water flows down the Niagara river, enters Lake Ontario and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The source of the Falls are the Great Upper Lakes.
Everyone knows there are five great lakes here in North America, but remembering the names can be hard. The clue is the word, HOMES. The names of the Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
Anyway, about the Falls....when you visit Niagara (it is a one and a half hour drive from Toronto), you drive straight to where the falls are and find a place to park! This is harder than it sounds.........as tourists from all around the world come here.......and it can get quite crowded.
There is a huge paid parking lot a short walk away from the falls, where you will probably end up parking. There are many parking lots around the area. You will have to pay somewhere from 8 to 10 dollars and up for parking. Free parking is rare. Parking lots have buses, or 'people movers' as they call them, to take people from the lots to the Falls.
Once you park, walk down to the Falls. Everyone you see will be walking towards it! Once you get within site of the Falls, most people just take a deep breath and look in awe. It truely is a spectactular sight! The sound of the water is like you are standing in the middle of a huge shower and the water that gets sprayed from the falls hits you at a particular spot on the walkway and you actually get soaked!
After spending some time looking at the Falls, the next best thing to do is to take a ride to get as close to the Falls as possible. The twenty minute boat ride is called, The Maid of the Mist.
What is the Maid of the Mist?:
The Maid of the Mist is a 20 minute ride on a double-decker boat that takes you as close up to Niagara Falls as you can get without swimming.
The boat stops and lingers at the foot of the Falls, 170 feet (52 meters) below the brink.
Be prepared to get wet; fortunately, disposable rain ponchos come with admission.
Where is the Maid of the Mist?:
Maid of the Mist boat rides set sail from both the Canadian and American sides of Niagara Falls.
The Canadian Maid of the Mist boarding dock is at the foot of Clifton Hill.
When Does the Maid of the Mist Operate?:
Depending on weather conditions, the Maid of the Mist generally operates between April and October.
The Maid of the Mist leaves about every 15 - 20 mins between 7:45 am and 4:45 - 7:45pm, depending on the time of season.
Admission prices are Can$14.50 for adults, $8.90 for children 6-12 yrs old and free for kids under 5.
This ride is one of the most thrilling rides you can take, and the best part is that even babies to the very elderly can enjoy it safely.
The day we took this ride, it was an amazing experience especially since we saw not one but two beautiful rainbows!! I took pictures and will put it up on the blog.
After buying the tickets, you get a plastic coat that you have to wear, or else you will get wet in the falls. You can take pictures, but you will have to take care that your expensive equipment does not get soaked.
There is a running commentary on board, first telling you about keeping all arms and legs in the boat, and some information about the falls. Mostly they just allow you to 'soak' it all in. After the ride, we took a walk around, had some pizza for lunch and then left for Toronto as my kids had school the next day. The best thing to do, is stay there over night if possible, for the fireworks show at night. This is supposed to be amazing...as it is done over the fully lit falls.
There are other things to do as well, like taking a walk behind the falls, visit Marineland, the butterfly conservatory, ride the fury (where you take a 4D adventure of the Falls) or just eat at one of the restaurants over looking the falls.
Thats it for now.........I'm leaving you with one interesting fact...
The word cyberspace was coined by Canadian writer William Gibson!
Ciao!
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