Canada: Niagara Falls and Downtown

Let this blog entry be a little reminder for myself before my trip ends up half-forgotten at the back of my mind at the end of everything. I believe this will be a great way to chronicle the trip and expound on some of the details I may end up overlooking later on when I type up an abridged version sorta like my US trip.

The pictures will follow, but for now here's what happened so far:

We awoke to breakfast at the hotel, before preparing for the travels of the day. We were picked up by my mom's former officemates Tito Abet and Tita Ena, who brought us to Niagara Falls. Weather forecast said there was 60% chance of rain, and on the long drive over there from Mississauga all the way to Niagara Falls, rain hath no fury. It poured down pretty much how it would back in Manila, which was a pretty unwelcoming gesture from nature considering we were planning to see the Falls.

Upon our arrival, rain was still coming down, but only got stronger, causing us to get limited time outside exposed to the elements, admiring the Falls on Canada's side. This perpetually cancelled our Maid of the Mist voyage, and instead went to see the Flower Clock and have lunch at the Swiss Chalet. This was soon followed by a trip to the Outlet, were my dad and I managed to get shoes for ourselves! I got myself a pair of Raintrek shoes from the Adidas Outlet Store. :)

Afterwards, we headed downtown to see the CN Tower, but with the weather pretty much the same, the fog covered much of the view from afar. Nevertheless, we still managed to head in and have a look around, passing by Rogers Centre before heading off to Union Station, a Grand Central equivalent from New York. From there, we headed off to the Toronto Eaton Centre, a mall of shorts to look around some more shops and off to the Urban Eatery below, a food court of sorts for dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Overall, it was an eventful first full day in Toronto. The weather was cold and the rain most unwelcoming, but here's to hoping the day ahead will yield more interesting sites! :)

EDIT: Outtake shots from our first full day in Canada added!