Apparently Oscar Wilde never actually said that about Niagara Falls – he called them one of the “keenest and earliest disappointments” which is not quite as pointed. Anyway, today I went to see them. What with Oscar’s comment and every guide book ever decrying the tacky and touristy building around the falls my expectations were not that high. But in fact, the falls are very impressive and although the surrounding buildings are horribly tacky (the US side is even worse apparently, which I find hard to envisage) it doesn’t really affect your enjoyment of the view itself. Actually, the route down there was more depressing, particularly between Toronto and Burlington, which appears to be just one loooong strip mall. Yuk.
One brilliant thing I did see in Niagara Falls town was a bus which had as its destination “Hospital-Optimist”. Now, I’m going to assume that this means there is also a “Hospital-Pessimist” bus, with one for people who are upbeat about their prognosis you know, I really think I’m going to beat this. OK, only 25% of people survive this operation, but why shouldn’t I be one of them? While the other bus has people saying things like Sure, my doc says that I’m going to be fine, but I don’t think she knows what she’s talking about. Heaven knows what would happen if you missed your bus and had to get the wrong one.
So much beauty out there 