Saturday, July 4, 2015

Niagara... Here We Come!

Niagara Falls must be one of the most beautiful things I've seen yet. Its was breath taking. Being so close to the waterfall was an amazing experience, but there was a price to pay with beauty. Before we could get to the boat that would take us near the falls we had to wait in a very long line. Now I wish I could be talking about the 10 minute lunch lines I  wait at in high school, but I am not. The line my cohort and I had to wait in line for about an hour before we could reach the boating dock. Waiting in line isn't always the best thing but in this case, it wasn't time passed just on waiting but time used to observe. Being in line, my cohort and I experienced a bit of a cultural shock. We saw so many people who represented so many nationalities. We saw many people from India as well as many people from the South American countries. Besides their difference in nationality, they all came together in this one common place to see something beautiful. 
Look at this Line!
We made our way to the boat and received these cool ponchos. It was bit of a trouble to get a good spot on the boat but my cohort and I found a way to maneuver through the many people. The boat began to move and the whole waterfall unveiled itself from the angle we were place in. For Niagara Falls, I was more than prepared for the falls to fall on me. I brought extra clothes, a poncho, two sweatshirts, and a zip-block bags for phones. I thought to myself, "I'd rather be safe than sorry." Fortunately I was lucky enough to not need all the things I brought. We barely got splashed on by the falls! Niagara Falls was an amazing site to have seen and I was so thankful to have experienced it with my cohort.
My View!

Just a part of Niagara!
We later decided to have some lunch. We got something that was close by. It was the Niagara Falls Food Court, which wasn't much of a court since their food options were limited. We got some food, but the food was definitely overprice for its quality. If there is one thing that I learned in Hotel Management it would be that customers deserve the quality product they are paying for. I don't think Niagara Falls got the memo, but aside of their food, they did offer beautiful scenery. 

After eating, we went to the line for the Cave of Winds. This activity allowed tourists to actually go under the water falls. We started in the line, thinking it was going to take around an hour again, but we were wrong. For this activity there was about four lines before reaching the actual falls. The first line was to get the ticket punched and to get slippers that were mandatory for the tourists. The second line was to take a picture in front of this Niagara Falls backdrop. The third line was to get to the elevator to take tourists down to the waterfall grounds. The last stage of waiting was a line to actually get to go to the Cave of Winds. We didn't know about the four lines until we reached the beginning of the third one.

We were so tired by the end of the second line, we created a resting system. This system was an efficient system that allowed everyone to have a brief break between waiting. We waited for around three hours before making it to the third line. At that point it was a matter of time that decided whether we said for the rest of the line or not. Some of us wanted to leave, while others wanted to stay. Mr.Chan-Law ripped up some paper into six pieces and a pen. He gave us a piece and told us to write down stay or go. Depending on the vote it would decide what we would go. When the papers were all turned it. It was a little intense. What were we going to do? It was like we were contestants to the show Survivor, but it was amusing as well. As Mr.Chan-Law called out the voted everyone near us in the line listened as if it was the real Survivor TV show. 

We ended up leaving because the line would have taken another three hours and we would have been late to get dinner, so we cut our losses and left. We stopped at a pho place to get dinner. It was called Friends & Pho. After dinner we left back to Cornell. Today was an amazing bonding experience with my cohort. Today might have been the best Saturday I spent yet!

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