Okay, I thought I was getting better at handling dark and fear. The truth? Not at all. I was in Magnetawan, but now that I went back to everyday’s comfort it became hard again. I slept just five hours maybe, waking up in the middle of the night because of a really great storm that luckily hit the city at night and not when we would have been around sightseeing.
At 6am I was already up, I guess I am getting used to function without being at full energy. I can do it, but I still think that a healthy dose of sleep is still required in the long term.
Around 8am my mom woke up and prepared some oatmeal for the two of us. I spent the morning trying to catch up with the journal, but I could not really do that much. It is fun because one day I am doing great, then the next day I am so behind. It is hard to keep up because we walk all day, sometimes with the luggage, so we are all very tired mentally at night. Even if I want to write, sometimes my eyes are just too heavy to collaborate with my will.
After breakfast I bought some water and biscuits from the store in front of our house so that everyone could have breakfast. I actually wanted to buy all the things we needed for lunch, dinner and next day’s breakfast & lunch, but the only edible things they were selling were snacks and soft drinks.
I prepared myself to abandon my journal and go to the closest Aldi, which was two kilometers far from our home. It meant around thirty minutes by foot one way, doing the grocery shop and then another thirty minutes to come back. Too much, so I contacted our host and he gave us some useful tips on where to go for grocery shopping.
My dad joined me to keep a little bit active after a good night of sleep in which everyone slept well and long. We went inside a Walgreens but did not find any vegetables or fruits. So we went to Dash’s Market, the one our host recommended us. It was a nice shop with good quality food and competitive prices. I found the vegetables section interesting because they had a system that kept spraying water on the vegetables every now and then to keep them fresh. It was so cool.
My dad wanted to buy a package deal of Dorito’s, but we calculated how much everything in our shopping cart cost and found out that the Dorito’s were out of our budget. When we payed, we actually payed less and so dad gave me the look for “See? We could have gotten the chips…”
When we went back, Gabe, mom and Genzl prepared the lunch sandwiches with tuna, lettuce and onions. We were supposed to use tomatoes too, but we bought a small number of them. The tomatoes would have been keep for the dinner.
With the sandwiches and the snack ready, we went out in the direction of the Niagara Falls. Today we bought the all day ticket, because we had to take four different bus to go and come back. It would have cost more than just five dollars. For once, we found a good deal on the daily pass.
It took us a ride of sleepiness and smelly Spanish backpackers to get to the falls. Actually we went to the info center first. Not to ask for anything, just to use the washroom. It is funny, but at least it was clean! Moreover, they were selling some souvenir and I really wanted to buy a mug because it was so cheap (only seven dollars while it would usually cost more than twenty) and I really liked the logo they designed. In the end we decided to come back before closing time.
Out of the info center, we walked to the falls on the American side. To be honest, we did not start the tour immediately. In fact, we looked for a place to have lunch first. Those picnic table with a giant umbrella in the middle are usually useless again the sun because the only moment when the umbrella gives shade to all the table is when the sun is exactly ninety degrees above our heads. So it happens maybe once a day for a couple of minutes. So yeah, we tried to squeeze in the shade to enjoy our sandwiches.
Done eating, we went to Luna’s island first and I have to admit that I was a little bit unimpressed. The view was not ideal for pictures or just to enjoy the view, but I got excited because I could recognize the location from one of the “Run Bts!” show on the Canadian side of the falls.
We decided not to do any kind of tour because they were so expensive. I know that I will probably not visit the place again, but it was really not worth the money. In fact, without paying that much we could enjoy the day and see many beautiful scenery anyway.
After Luna’s island we moved further from the bridge that connects USA and Canada. We prepared ourselves because from the distance we could notice a great mist going to the sky, probably the result of tons of water hitting the ground below at a really high speed.
When we got there it was like sudden rain would fall on us without any warning for a dozen of seconds before stopping. Here the view was stunning and could have made anyone realize how small humans are compared to nature. We took some cool and original pictures with our phones because it was too dangerous to use the camera. A sudden falling of water would have damaged it. I wanted to use mine since it is old and I do not mind if it gets damaged, but I had forgot the memory in my computer.
Next stop was the suspended deck. Here we payed one dollar and a quarter each to be able to go on it and take some pictures. Moreover, with the same pass we could take the elevator to the ground floor. On the deck we took many pictures again (this tourist life), while at the ground level we had fun getting soaked. We took the blue ponchos available for people and went exactly below the falls. We managed to take some pictures there even if the water kept interfering with the touchscreen.
On our way to Canada we found so many souvenir shops and in the end we could buy the magnets for my mom and some other stuff that we will give to our relatives. Because if you do not know, Filipino people will not buy souvenir for friends. Just for family and relatives.
With already three and a half hours gone, we finally went to Canada. At first we thought that it was so easy to get in, but at the end of the bridge we actually stayed in line for a long time for the controls. The kid in front of us used his mom pepper spray, the one you used when you are being attacked. He sprayed it so close to his little sister (who was a little black girl in a family of white people) that she started crying and coughing. Some of the gas arrived to my brothers and me. We started coughing and turning our heads in sync like a well coordinated team. Now I know how it feels like, even if it was not directly sprayed on me. We were lucky it was not direct because I heard that it hurts so much in the eyes, though I doubt it could go around my glasses. It was curious to see how the mother and the older brother kept making the kid feel guilty. They did it so much that he started crying and apologizing. It was a good reminder of how I will not raise my child. Teaching guilt can not be something that helps fulfilling someone’s character.
We expected a very long waiting time, but it did not take that much. Thanks to the people giving up on the line and an accelerated pace, we finally arrived at the control stand. One of the very few unpleasant Canadians asked us some questions before letting us into Canada. He even thought that Gab did not look like his passport picture, so he gave him a doubtful look. He asked us how long we were staying in Canada and I was like “well… two hours I guess?”. In the end he let us pass.
Finally over the border, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafè first. I took my time to decide for a souvenir because I was pondering if it was worth to spend a little bit more to get a more beautiful souvenir. Man, I hate to take decisions based on money so I followed my gut and bought the expensive t-shirt that looked better.
There was a store with sales going on, but when we got in we found out that it was only for certain t-shirts and with certain policies. So we went to the stores next to it. The first one was the Coca Cola cafè, which was very cool. It would have been ideal for Genzl to floss there because it was really unique, but he was embarassed to do that. Next we went to the Hershey’s world. Hershey is a chocolate brand that also includes Reese and Kiss. Oh my, I wanted to eat so much chocolate because of the smell permeating the store. It was very tempting, but after the last twenty-four hours of spending, I felt it was the right time to stop spending for unnecessary things. It was either them or betting on my music, and you can bet (sorry for the pun) that I am going all in on my music once I will be back home.
No one bought anything in the end, so we headed to the lake front where the Bts filmed one of their variety episodes. We took some pictures there too with the falls in the background. I wanted to go even further, but my family was too tired and my dad cut it short saying that the front lake was all the same with different angles of view.
So we headed back and actually caught the bus to home last minute. I took a peek at all the pictures on my brother’s reflex. I scrolled also my gallery and found a picture of Genzl in the bathroom that really made me laugh out loud in the bus. My mom thought it was a beautiful picture because I showed it to my brothers, but when she saw it she got mad.
During the ride, a lot of youngsters got on and started making so much noise. It was okay since I enjoyed hearing their slang and accent. I find American accent so cool, more chilling than British accent. The only thing I did not like was the fact that they kept being impolite to the bus driver because the back door was not opening most of the times at the bus stop. Though when we got off it opened so easily. There were two green signs with “Push here to open” written on them. Probably those young lads did not press on the signs but just knocked the door for it to open.
When we got off, we hoped to catch the last bus we needed to get home. The fact was that on my brother’s cellphone there was written that the earliest bus would have arrived more than an hour later, but since we noticed a trend in the bus schedule, we waited at the bus stop. We soon realized that it would not pass, probably because o the work in progress on that part of the street or the schedule that was actually right. Whatever the case, since our apartment was on the same avenue where we were waiting, we decided to walk.
We started from 36 Hertel Avenue and after a long walk lasted fifty minutes we arrived at 1335 Hertel Ave, the place where we were staying. It was late but not that late, which was fine. My brother Gabe and my dad gave up half way through and decided to bet on the bus schedule. Genzl actually came with me and my mom who really resembled someone who was a walking champion in her previous life.
With everyone home we started to cook and had a good pasta fresca again, this time with all the ingredients and rigatoni as pasta. Oh man, during the day we ate every hour the different snacks and food we prepared for the day, but in that moment I was so hungry I could have eaten two kilos of pasta. We used the bread leftovers to do scarpetta on the plates.
While everyone was already sleeping I wanted to catch up with the journal, but my eyes were defying both gravity and my fatigue by staying open so I took a ten minutes power nap. I did not obtained the effects I wanted, but I could stay up long enough to wait with my mom for the dryer to finish working. Every time it finished drying it would rang so much with a very loud noise that resembled the intercom.
Done drying, we both finally went to sleep. Oh man, I think I fell asleep so fast.
Godyl Go! 