Finally I get to see them - The Niagara Falls

 

Route from Harrisburg:

I 81, US 22, US 15, US 11 I 90, I 290 W, US 62

Vacation Dates: 14th Sep 2007 - 15th Sep 2007

I had always heard a lot about these majestic falls and seen innumerable pictures of people having fun at the falls but now we were planning to go to Buffalo to see the falls. My in-laws were here along with my husband's cousin sister, so it was a family trip. Like always we decided to drive to Niagara falls. The packed some nice vegetable biryani and moong dal chilas for the trip and started early in the morning as the drive is about 6 hours long from Harrisburg. Making two stops on the way, we reached Buffalo in the afternoon around 2:00pm. We had booked a hotel very near to the falls hence we checked in to the hotel and freshened up.

It was around 3:00pm that we left for the fall area. We chose a parking near the visitor center. Just next to the parking lot we saw a couple of Indian restaurants and we decided to come there later for dinner. We straight headed towards the visitor center to buy our tickets. The Niagara Falls discovery pass is a perfect bargain, for $30 it includes attractions like The Cave of the Winds, The Maid of the Mist, Niagara Adventure Theatre, The Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, Aquarium of Niagara and Niagara Scenic Trolley ride. With the tickets in hand we decided to take the Maid in the Mist ride as the last tour is around 4:00pm and we didn't want to miss it. They gave us these funny looking raincoats made of blue plastic sheet. I for once got lost trying to find the head of the raincoat. Anyway's all dressed in blue we stood in the line awaiting our turn to board the ship.

The Maid in the Mist is a half hour tour where they take you to the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and the Horse Shoe Falls. The experience is breathtaking. Once we were near the colossal horseshoe falls, we could see a beautiful rainbow adorning the sky from one end to the other. The rainbow filled with vibrant colors, the water droplets falling like rain, the wind blowing through the hair and the falls in the background they all made the perfect setting for taking snaps. Those gallons of water falling from a height of 176 feet create mist all around you and hence the name Maid in the Mist. Awesome is the word to describe the scene. While you are near the basin of the Horseshoe falls, you can see people at the cave of the winds on the Canada side.The power and force in the water makes you think where does all this water come from.

I didn't want this tour to end but then there were others waiting for their turn as we disembarked the ship. We headed to the Cave of the Winds next. But I would suggest that one should first take the Cave of the Winds tour and then go for the Maid in the Mist tour.

 

It begins with an elevator ride that takes you 175ft into the Niagara Gorge. Here they give everyone a pair of sandals (floaters) so that your shoes don't get wet while you enjoy the falls. And yes this tour is differentiated from others by the yellow color raincoats that they provide. This was another fun tour where we got to get wet standing beneath the falls.  There is this wooden staircase route that takes you to the Hurricane Deck, less than 20 feet from the torrents of Bridal Veil Falls. This is the place where you can soak yourself in the waters of the falls. I, my mom-in-law and cousin, we three had a blast getting wet in the cold water splashing on us. To be frank I don't think anyone of us wanted to leave the deck. We were also scheduled to go to the observation deck the same day but due to strong winds the deck was closed for the day so we were told to take the tour the next day. Once we were out of those yellow plastic bags we went to the cafe at the falls. It started to rain  as we were heading back. So we decided to stop by the Indian restaurant for dinner. Fireworks are held every Friday and we were told by the restaurant guy that the fireworks are visible from the restaurant site. So we thought we would have our dinner and then see the fireworks. Well we settled for the Indian buffet consisting of mutter paneer, dal makhani, chicken, Aloo, etc. They had another offer that if you have food at their restaurant then the parking was free in the adjacent parking lot. The food however wasn't very great. We did see the fireworks from the parking lot area.

Then we went back to the goat island from where one can see the lighting of the Niagara Falls. Every night white and colored lights illuminate the Falls and accentuate their beauty. The blue, red, yellow, green hues mix to provide an altogether different view of the falls. I am sure the falls look extremely beautiful and grand from the Canadian side. Before it would begin to rain again we decided to end the day and headed back to our hotel.

My husband definitely needed a good night sleep, after all he had been driving for seven hours and again would be driving back home the next day. We made a schedule as to who would get up when in the morning so that all get dressed up in time. In the morning after having some breakfast we drove to the fall site. We decided to go to the aquarium first. Luckily we were in time for the feeding of the seals. For five dollars they give you a cup of fish to feed the seals. The aquarium is nice but there are better ones in the US. However the highlight of this aquarium is the seal show. We were first seated in a hall where the trainer came in with a seal named diamond. She showed us some tricks and then we saw her perform in the pool outside. The show was fascinating. We then went to the observation deck. The winds were really fierce and strong on top of the deck but it gave a nice view of the falls. Looking down at the Maid in the Mist and seeing people enjoy the Cave of the Winds tour, I felt like going for another tour. We then took the Niagara Scenic Trolley and got off at the Adventure Theatre. At the theatre we saw a 40min film titled Niagara: Legends of Adventure. The film is about daredevil acts of the people who actually made their way into the falls and survived. It was almost 3:00pm when we left the theatre and headed back home. All of us had lots of fun and I of course made a promise to myself that I would see these magnificent falls from the other side of the border.

Washington DC - land of museums & memorials

 

Route from Harrisburg to Rossyln, Virginia :

US - 15 S I - 270 S

 

Vacation Dates: 23rd June 2007 - 24th June 2007

Hmm this is special because it was my first trip after coming to US and recently my husband had got some very good ratings about his work on the project. So it was kind of a double celebration.

We got married in May 2007 and I landed in US on 18th May 2007. Planning for the first weekend getaway was exciting. We planned to drive to DC as its just two and half hours away from Harrisburg. On Saturday we drove early morning from Harrisburg to our hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The Arlington area is nice to stay in and plus the Rossyln station is just next door. We stayed at the Quality Inn. The room was good. We checked in and parked our car at the hotel and took the metro from Rossyln station to the Smithsonian station. One thing to keep in mind while planning a trip to DC is that you need to walk a lot in DC so kick off your heels and get on your shoes. I didn't know that and came wearing my short heel sandals. It wasn't very bad but it did hurt a little at the end of the day.

From the Smithsonian station we walked to the Washington Memorial that stands tall in the DC National Mall area. Do not confuse the mall area for some shopping mall, its just a long park area between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Memorial standing in between. The Washington Memorial is 500ft tall obelisk which was built in two phases with the civil was interrupting its construction. At the monument they have the tours to see the inside of the structure and see the view from the 500ft level. But for this you need to either book tickets online in advance or get the tickets from the counter near the monument in the morning. The tickets are given free on first come first serve basis at the ticket kiosk which opens at 8:30am. However people line up as early as 7:30am because there are limited tickets. We hadn't planned for it so could not take the tour. I liked the monument, its simple but yet looks nice.

 

Our next stop was the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. The fountains at the memorial give a nice background for taking pictures. The world war II memorial has one pillar for each state of US. The view of the war memorial from Lincoln memorial is beautiful. Walking across the park we headed towards the Thomas Jefferson memorial. This one is near the tidal basin which has the very popular cherry trees that bloom in the spring and attract a lot of tourists. We then went to see the Holocaust Museum. You are not allowed to carry any food and drink items here. This museum tells the story of the planned murder of of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime. I was particularly moved by the exhibit which tells the story of a little boy -  Daniel's Story. Inside the museum they give passes for the main exhibition. There is a cafe in the museum campus incase you are tired of walking and want to take a break .

The best museum in DC is the Museum of Natural History. The best thing about the museums here is that all these Smithsonian museums are free and are located in the same area stretching from one end to the other.

In the museum of natural history lies the popular Hope Diamond -  a large deep blue diamond mined from the mines of Golconda, India. Oh they say diamonds are a girls best friend and here you can see some of the most beautiful diamond jewelry. The twinkling hope diamond is the biggest attraction of them all. Its simply beautiful.

Other areas worth mentioning are the Mammals exhibit, photography section, minerals and rock section. The butterfly section was closed for renovation at the time we went. We had our lunch at the food court in the museum and headed to the Air and Space museum. They have strict security check here. This museum is one of its kind. I hadn't seen anything like this before. The museum also has a 3D cinema inside. There is a Mc Donald's here incase you want to grab a bite.

Its twin brother museum is in Virginia - The Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum. By the time we finished the tour of the museum we were dead tired. Our last stop of the day was the White House. We kind of got lost  while getting there but finally managed to reach 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Just at that time they had blocked the roads because president Bush was leaving the white house. After waiting for about 40 min they allowed people to cross the road and see the white house from the across the iron bar fence. Outside the White House area lies the big Christmas tree which they decorate during the Christmas. Well I wouldn't say that I was impressed by the White House because from outside it looks quite small. Our own Rashtrapati Bhawan in India is more magnificent than this.

It was already quite late and we decided to have dinner in Georgetown so we boarded a circulator bus and arrived at Zed's. Zed's is an Ethiopian restaurant serving some very authentic and tasty Ethiopian dishes. This was the first time I was having Ethiopian cuisine and I loved the 'Anjeera Bread'. We had the vegetarian platter. It was about eight in the night and the temperature started to drop a little and it was cool. After dinner we decided to take stroll along the streets of Georgetown. Walking hand in hand we reached the river side. The view with the lights is nice. There are lots of eating outlets there. Well we chose Eddy's Ice cream shop as our next stop. We had a huge banana split. With no energy left to walk, we took a cab back to our hotel.

Next day it was a beautiful sunny morning so we decided to walk up to the Iwo Jima monument which was just 5 min from the hotel. This memorial is dedicated to all the marines who gave their lives in the battle of Iwo Jima. The monument lies in the center of  a huge park.

From here we took a metro to Smithsonian and headed for the National Zoo. The zoo is quite big but well organized. One can purchase the zoo map for $1 and navigate through various areas of the zoo. We witnessed the feeding of the Sloth Bear. The main attraction of this zoo is the Giant Panda Bear called Tai-Shan. He was born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on July 9, 2005. We were lucky to catch Tai-Shan playing outside.

The bird house is pretty good too. The flamingoes painted a pretty picture in pink. We spent almost the entire day in the zoo. The zoo has a cafe area where we had our lunch. The cafe does not provide many choices, it just has normal sandwiches, burger, fries and drinks. Do not forget to buy a souvenir from the panda gift shop before leaving the zoo. Around four we boarded the metro for Rossyln. We still had one place to go to before ending our trip. Bodies - The Exhibition was being held in Rossyln, very near to our hotel.  My husband had already been to this exhibition and wanted me to see it. It is one of its kind exhibition showcasing preserved human bodies (some also display horses) dissected to display the intricate details of different systems of the body. The bodies are prevented from decay by a means of a rubberization process whereby acetone and  plastics like silicone rubber & polyester are used to replace the water and fatty material in the body cells. All of the systems - skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive have been shown in detail. I was amazed to see the veins and arteries in such great detail. There is a section which shows the fetuses at various stages of development. Any amount of praise seems less for this work of art. This exhibition keeps moving and is held in different states. I would recommend to catch this display if possible. But if the mere mention of cut up human bodies makes you sick then this exhibition is not for you.

I had promised to be out of the exhibition by 6:30pm but I turned out at 7:00pm which worried my husband as I wasn't carrying a cell phone with me. It was  around 7:30pm that we left Rossyln. We stopped at Taco Bell to grab some grub and drove ahead. We reached home around 10:00pm that night. The first thing I wanted to do was hit the bed and that is what I did.