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Well an impromptu trip away took Nicky and I to Toronto for three nights. Flying out from Glasgow we arrived on Thursday October 12th about 3pm, to be greeted with the news that it was 0c with windchill and snow on its way - and me without a jacket having sensibly left it in a cab in Krakow three weeks before!We were staying in a guesthouse just of Dundas Square, in the heart of downtown Toronto. We initially intended to travel down to Niagara Falls on the Friday however news reports of 60cm of snow with a further 15cm due put us off, so we did the CN Tower, the Steamwhistle Brewery tour and some shopping. We timed it perfectly - the weather while we were up the tower was fantastic with clear skies until we came down and the clouds rolled in. The Eaton Centre was perfect for spending time and money a plenty while the wind was up. The Steamwhistle Brewery was a great tour - very informative. I can now feel extremely educated as I down my beers now! The free beer provided was more than welcome!We decided to chance the weather on the Saturday and travelled down to Niagara Falls only to find that while the surrounding area had been hit quite badly with the snow (Buffalo NY particularly) the Falls themselves were completely clear. Again the weather was great - cold but clear skies and sunny. The Maid of the Mist tour was well worth it, taking you very close to both falls, although the ponchos, regardless of how stupid they may look, were an absolute necessity - heading towards the Horse-Shoe Falls is like entering a tropical storm, only not as warm.The Falls are spectacular - there is no way pictures can do them justice, no matter how hard I tried. Although we didn't travel over to the American side (time just wouldn't permit) it was fairly clear to see that the Canadian side, with the horse-shoe falls on it, are much more impressive. Sunday was a relaxed day, having covered much of the city and certainly all the main points we wanted to on Friday/Saturday, so some more shopping was in order before heading to the airport around 2pm, exhausted but having had a brilliant time. Although we didn't see much of it Canada seems like a great country - and everyone we met was so friendly. Some people in the Hard Rock Cafe bought us drinks while we were waiting for our table as they were so impressed at our spontaneity, a couple we got talking to in Niagara Falls offered us a place to stay should we ever head to Ottowa and gave us a keyring as we were discussing the Mounties and it turns out the husband is in the RCMP, and everyone was more than willing to help us the few times we 'took slight detours'. I'd definately go back, and now really want to see Montreal and Vancouver - fingers crossed for more cheap flights and I may do another impromptu trip across the ocean!
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