The last time I went to Toronto I decided to avoid customs at the airport, so I flew to Buffalo, New York and drove through customs, which was actually way better! As I was driving, I was trying to plug my destination to the client's address, in the GPS and was unable to, but I knew I would be passing Niagara Falls so I just set the GPS for Niagara Falls...the town (but I didn't realize I was going to the town, something that is easy to overlook when you are driving a car you're not used to, in a state you've never been in and trying to program a GPS while driving instead of pulling over, Yikes!). I went through the town of Niagara Falls and the next thing I know, I'm on the road heading into Canada and it's 11:35 a.m. The reason the time is important, is because I had a 12:00 conference call that I was supposed to be on. I was trying to decide whether to keep driving and stop at the first place I saw and call in or whether to pull over and wait for 25 minutes. As the old saying goes, "to not decide, is to decide" I keep driving as I weighed my options and the next thing I know, I'm in the "tractor/trailer" lane heading to the border. There didn't appear to be any place to turn around, but that didn't stop me, I did a U-turn in the middle of the road, drove the wrong way and got into the car lane (like I should have been in the first place). I was next in line and waited patiently behind the other car. Finally it was my turn, I pulled up and...
Border Patrol Lady: Have you ever crossed the border before?
Me: Um, no, not in a car (I'm thinking at this point she saw the U-turn)
Border Patrol Lady: Do you see that line back there? (As she points way behind me).
Me: Yes?
Border Patrol Lady: That's where you're supposed to wait, not directly behind the other car.
Me: Oh...Sorry?
I got through customs, found a Wendy's and dialed the call in number. Well, guess what, my new cell phone carrier wouldn't work in Canada! I couldn't call in and I couldn't call or text anyone to tell them I couldn't call in! Well, nothing I could do about that.
I ended up getting to the client site a few hours later (had to change the GPS to Canada, that was the problem) and every person I saw asked me what I thought of "The Falls" and was it my first time to see them. I had to tell each person, that somehow I managed to completely miss one of the biggest natural landmarks in North America. Oops!
I ended up getting to the client site a few hours later (had to change the GPS to Canada, that was the problem) and every person I saw asked me what I thought of "The Falls" and was it my first time to see them. I had to tell each person, that somehow I managed to completely miss one of the biggest natural landmarks in North America. Oops!
Another fun thing I learned while there is that the only place that sells calling cards are convenient stores, which are completely inconvenient because they only take cash, but not my kind of cash! For some reason, I wasn't expecting that! I just assumed every place would take my Visa (or maybe U.S. dollars) just like in the U.S....I was wrong. :) but they were always very nice about it.
Two things I noticed about Canadian's (assuming everyone I saw was Canadian and not just a visitor like me)
1. They all seem to be very nice
2. They dress well.
They were so nice, that every person I had told that I didn't see "The Falls" was kind enough to tell me how they would get there. One person told me to stay another day because his inlaws were coming to stay and they would be going to "The Falls", he said, "You will come with us and we will make sure you see them this time". I politely declined the offer :)
Well, I took the rainbow bridge on 420 and got to "The Falls" or as we call it in the states, Niagara Falls.
I stopped a lady and asked her to take my picture. She said, "by yourself?" I politely said, "yes, please" but was tempted to say, "well, I guess we could use the self timer and you could get in here too!" :)
I waited like I was supposed to this time.
Border Patrolman: Do you have anything to declare?
Me: (I love the USA!, Go Canada!) Um, What do you mean?
Border Patrolman: Did you buy anything you're bringing back?
Me:(Three bottles of hot sauce I bought from the restaurant)No.
Border Patrolman: Okay, proceed.
...and I did, back in the USA...where I have cell phone service!
Pretty cool story. You finally did get to see "The Falls" so all is well that ends well. They say the Canadian side is the more visual/spectacular side too.
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It was beautiful and I didn't realize that you can feel the mist of the water!
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