Niagara falls - wilderness with a waterfall - 16 July
The good thing about spending money in advance is you usually take advantage of receiving the goods and services you paid for - for example, many was the time last season i thought i would like to see the football, but decided instead to rest a well earned hangover from the night before..
On Wed night i had the foresight to pay $64 (30 quid for 120km, not bad) for my train ticket to Niagara. I just went for the day - after all, i figured that once i had seen it, I would be bored and would just want to come home - which is pretty much as it went.
Niagara falls is an interesting place, but you do feel for the people who live there. It is really tiny, Stamford (lincs) tiny, and the only relevance the place has to anyone is built around the fact that God saw fit to stick a couple of waterfalls in it...
The railway station has 2 tracks (not even platforms, so when you get off, VIArail provide you with a step), and when you get in to the station, there is one kiosk for tickets, and a timetable on a sheet of paper that tells you there are 3 trains a day to/from Toronto, and 2 to/from New York. Thats it. Doesnt tell you anything more, no intermediate stops, just an arrival and departure time for less than 10 journeys a day..
Niagara itself looks like a worn out place. It is clear that the 'downtown' area is kept separate from the tourists - its probably 3k away so I doubt that many of the visitors even visit it. There is a derelict Rosbergs department store as you leave the station, and a wander down Queen St, the main high street of 'downtown' Niagara is a walk through an empty wilderness. No one lives here, no one visits here. The entire place, you get the feeling, has only ever been put there because of that waterfall up the road.. Nothing flashy, no neon lights, and nothing modern or decorated about any of the buildings - city hall apart, which is in pristine condition and features a mock falls in its entranceway.
It seems even the resources of the town are not wasted on its own people. The town recognises its lifeblood are these visitors, and it would appear a huge proportion of any funds are channelled towards that end - informative, new signs all along the river edge as you approach the falls, various beautifully kept lawns and parks in and around the falls and amusements to offer respite for the visitors in pleasant surroundings - it is as though the 2 places are entirely separated from one another.
Niagara reminds me of Blackpool. Clifton Hill, which is a road leading to the water's edge, could almost be the sea front at Blackpool, with a collection of haunted houses, food outlets, pubs, amusement arcades, wax works, souvenir shops... and as you move further away you get row after row of motels at one end, and B&Bs at the other. Not sure if Niagara is the romance capital of the world, but i had been there 30 mins when i saw a wedding couple in front of a B&B. Even saw a B&B called the Gretna Green hotel. People back home might sense some irony in this reference.
Basically, its like a Blackpool because, in addition to the waterfalls, Niagara has had to learn how to provide for people to keep them here, keep them entertained and keep them spending - after all, you wouldnt travel to see a waterfall if there was nothing else there, and today I saw tourists from Australia, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Japan, as well as the UK. There is the world's largest indoor bird aviary, a waterpark, various rides for the kids, and of course, varoius methods of seeing the waterfalls, be it by boat, helicopter, or from the Minolta and Skylon towers that give you a view of the falls from 200+m above them. The Americans had hot air balloon on their sides. Always have to be better dont they?!
For me, the most interesting part of the day, as well as seeing how the town looks, was looking at the electric generation. The Electrical Development Company of Ontario Limited first built a plant for electrical generation here in 1906. 100 years ago. Foresight indeed. Interestingly though, that building has been left to go to waste, whereas in the UK i'm pretty sure we'd create a museum out of it of the history of water power (compare with Rutland Water back home) and fleece people for cash to go round it. Here, the building, and what it stands for, is gated up. Shame.
I'll go back to the place many times I'm sure. Its so close, and its a guaranteed visit for any guests. But i wont want to talk to tourists. Although i will gladly do the tourist thing, and take pictures from above what is a fantastic feature, I would love to know what the real people think of the place - blessing or curse? The tourists come, the tourists go, and 3km away, this small town called Niagara Falls sits and seems to stagnate. How would that make us feel I wonder?
On Wed night i had the foresight to pay $64 (30 quid for 120km, not bad) for my train ticket to Niagara. I just went for the day - after all, i figured that once i had seen it, I would be bored and would just want to come home - which is pretty much as it went.
Niagara falls is an interesting place, but you do feel for the people who live there. It is really tiny, Stamford (lincs) tiny, and the only relevance the place has to anyone is built around the fact that God saw fit to stick a couple of waterfalls in it...
The railway station has 2 tracks (not even platforms, so when you get off, VIArail provide you with a step), and when you get in to the station, there is one kiosk for tickets, and a timetable on a sheet of paper that tells you there are 3 trains a day to/from Toronto, and 2 to/from New York. Thats it. Doesnt tell you anything more, no intermediate stops, just an arrival and departure time for less than 10 journeys a day..
Niagara itself looks like a worn out place. It is clear that the 'downtown' area is kept separate from the tourists - its probably 3k away so I doubt that many of the visitors even visit it. There is a derelict Rosbergs department store as you leave the station, and a wander down Queen St, the main high street of 'downtown' Niagara is a walk through an empty wilderness. No one lives here, no one visits here. The entire place, you get the feeling, has only ever been put there because of that waterfall up the road.. Nothing flashy, no neon lights, and nothing modern or decorated about any of the buildings - city hall apart, which is in pristine condition and features a mock falls in its entranceway.
It seems even the resources of the town are not wasted on its own people. The town recognises its lifeblood are these visitors, and it would appear a huge proportion of any funds are channelled towards that end - informative, new signs all along the river edge as you approach the falls, various beautifully kept lawns and parks in and around the falls and amusements to offer respite for the visitors in pleasant surroundings - it is as though the 2 places are entirely separated from one another.
Niagara reminds me of Blackpool. Clifton Hill, which is a road leading to the water's edge, could almost be the sea front at Blackpool, with a collection of haunted houses, food outlets, pubs, amusement arcades, wax works, souvenir shops... and as you move further away you get row after row of motels at one end, and B&Bs at the other. Not sure if Niagara is the romance capital of the world, but i had been there 30 mins when i saw a wedding couple in front of a B&B. Even saw a B&B called the Gretna Green hotel. People back home might sense some irony in this reference.
Basically, its like a Blackpool because, in addition to the waterfalls, Niagara has had to learn how to provide for people to keep them here, keep them entertained and keep them spending - after all, you wouldnt travel to see a waterfall if there was nothing else there, and today I saw tourists from Australia, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Japan, as well as the UK. There is the world's largest indoor bird aviary, a waterpark, various rides for the kids, and of course, varoius methods of seeing the waterfalls, be it by boat, helicopter, or from the Minolta and Skylon towers that give you a view of the falls from 200+m above them. The Americans had hot air balloon on their sides. Always have to be better dont they?!
For me, the most interesting part of the day, as well as seeing how the town looks, was looking at the electric generation. The Electrical Development Company of Ontario Limited first built a plant for electrical generation here in 1906. 100 years ago. Foresight indeed. Interestingly though, that building has been left to go to waste, whereas in the UK i'm pretty sure we'd create a museum out of it of the history of water power (compare with Rutland Water back home) and fleece people for cash to go round it. Here, the building, and what it stands for, is gated up. Shame.
I'll go back to the place many times I'm sure. Its so close, and its a guaranteed visit for any guests. But i wont want to talk to tourists. Although i will gladly do the tourist thing, and take pictures from above what is a fantastic feature, I would love to know what the real people think of the place - blessing or curse? The tourists come, the tourists go, and 3km away, this small town called Niagara Falls sits and seems to stagnate. How would that make us feel I wonder?
posted by CBC at 10:30 pm
4 Comments:
Hmmm ... did you go downtown? I mean, everytime I go to Niagara Falls I go up the street from the falls right by the casino and all those tourist stores? Did you miss that street? The place is jammed with people all the time. It's the tourist section. Also, there's a great area with awesome bars...
What I truly think of it? Don't care for it because of the busy tourist areas. Plus, I find most restaurants dirty and yucky!
But, if you are into wine - Niagara has some great wine tours!
cbc isn't allowed to drink if there are ladies about....
hmmmm, thats probably true about the drinking (i'm really laying off since I've been over here too, which is good for health but not for my ability to hold beer!) but please, anonymous, less of the abuse! You do want to stay anonymous dont you! (Actually thats probably no threat whatsoever!)
Yeah - was both downtown in Niagara itself, and in Clifton Hill, which was one of the touristy high streets with the amusements and some pubs and things. The contrast was amazing.
Abuse?
it's a government health warning isn't it?
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