It was time to say goodbye to the lively city of Toronto this morning to go to the Niagara falls – one of the few borders that isn’t known for political tension or wars, but for natural beauty (although the “Mauerstreifen”, the strip of land where the Berlin wall once divided east and west Germany around Berlin is also known for being a very long and connected biotope and having a large biodiversity).

The weather was nice – and because it is July, it was also very hot, but that wasn’t really a problem in the car on the highway.

First stop on the way upstream to the falls was the “whirlpool”, a bend in the river with very strong currents. And there is a cable car over this part of the river – because why not. On the way, you cross the American border several times without actually setting foot on American soil… and no, you don’t have to go through border security.

Just a few kilometers up the river I caught my first glimpses of the Niagara falls – they are truly impressive, and they look even more impressive if you have a size reference like a boat in front of them.

After checking in to the hotel we went back down to the falls – even though the temperature (33°C) in combination with the humidity (obviously close to 100% because of all the spray) was absolutely terrible. We decided to take a boat ride with the “hornblower” right up to the falls nonetheless… which cooled me down quite a bit as you can see on the last photo xD

After resting in the hotel for a while (where, thankfully, the aircon worked) I went back down to the Niagara Falls shortly before 10pm to see the light- and later firework show that they offer on some days of the week. After all, I didn’t want to miss a good opportunity for some long exposure photography!

…The way back to the hotel, with a detour through the “action district” of Niagara Falls (yes, that’s the city’s name). Most photos make you believe that the falls are in the middle of nature – but as a matter of fact, there’s a lot going on right around them.

And that pretty much sums up my afternoon and evening at the Canada-US border.