My
Canada
Travels

Once upon a time I did an English internship at LSI - Language Studies International in Toronto, Canada.

I was busy at the LSI reception organizing activities, printing programs for students, answering phone calls and helping students. During one of these busy lunch breaks a large bunch of students came bombarding me with questions again.

During the 1000 questions the telephone started to ring again and again.
Finally I picked up:

- Hello. LSI. May I help you?

- Yes. This is Ross. Whom I am speaking to?

- Evgeniya.

- Are you sitting at my black computer?

My thought was: " Am I in trouble?..." This is how I met Ross - the best troublemaker.

Guess what he is doing at LSI? His words "pretending to be a teacher". This is some of the vocabulary he taught me - lazy bum, grudge match etc. So you can imagine what kind of person he is. However when all else failed he always came through with the solution.

I have passion for traveling and Ross knows all the tips and tricks, how you can travel cheap and comfortable in Canada. The first place in this country I wanted to go was Niagara Falls. Ross suggested: " Ride the moose. Call Steph at the Moose."

Call the Moose??! In my mind appeared moose pulling the sledge, next was a moose sitting in the office and answering phone. Probably Ross saw my irritation, he added twinkling: " Call Stephanie from the Moose Travel Network company. This is Canada's only national jump-on, jump-off adventure bus tour network for backpackers and independent travelers."

I was not sure if I should follow Ross' advice. But I was burning with curiosity, so let's call the moose. Friendly voice answered: " Moose network travel. Steph speaking." Huh, I was relived - a human being answered the phone.

In five minutes I had the whole information about the trip schedule. Steph mentioned something about tasting ice wine. What?? Wineries of. Ontario??? But especially the opportunity to see the falls in daylight and at night peaked my desire to go on the trip as soon as possible.

The very next Saturday the bunch of LSI students and me were on our way. We departed at 11:30 a.m. from the Global Village Backpackers Hotel (460 King St. West).

When we stopped at Inniskillin Winery I remembered Stephy recommending wine. She was right, after testing wine (three samples - white, red and ice wine - for $5) you can definitely say that even ambitious wine experts will have pleasure at the Inniskillin winery. By the way the climate in this region is the same as in Burgundy, France. I was surprised to find out about wine industry in the Niagara region. The ice wine there is the best one I ever tried before.

On the way to Niagara Falls Brian, our bus driver and guide, pointed out some historic places such as Brock monument, a symbol of Canadian independence from the USA. By the way thanks to Brian (I should have mentioned it from the very beginning) I know all the facts you are reading now. Besides giving us better understanding of Niagara region as the whole he took care of everything - stopped for lunch and washroom breaks, bought tickets for Maid of the Mist boat ( "the must do" excursion at the falls) etc.

The last stop we did before the falls was the Whirlpool rapids. To be honest I expected to see water spinning around - like a whirlpool. But I could hardly believe that these at first sight peaceful rapids have class 6.

And here they are! - In the afternoon we reached our final destination - the Niagara or thundering water, translating from Indian language. The water falls down with such a craft, that a huge cloud of mist arises above the place. Than the sunrays shined out from behind the clouds and came though the mist above the water. The rainbow appeared and I could not turn away my eyes from it - the Heaven and the Earth were united.

At this moment you cannot deny the Bible word, that the God set His rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the covenant He established between Him and all life on the earth (Gen 9:8-17). I don't know how long I would have stared at this miracle, but somebody pushed me into the back and I was forced to turn around. How poor and ugly
was the view of the Niagara town on the other side - rows of hotels, casinos, and same halls. I didn't want to accept the other side view as the real one, so I turned
back to the rainbow again and enjoyed it till dusk.

Then the falls were lit up changing colors all the time a very nice view. However the view I will always look for is this unforgettable rainbow. HIS RAINBOW..

Story By Evgeniya Pekar
LSI Internship student

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Blog URL
http://my-canada-travels.blogspot.com/


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Labels: Niagara Falls trip with Moose Network travel