A Break in the Routine

On Wednesday, Skip and I got away to Niagara Falls for a couple of days. It's a great time of year to go to the Falls because there's hardly anyone there and the hotels offer really good deals.

Before checking in, we hopped over to the US to do some outlet mall shopping and I also hit JoAnn Fabrics. We had no trouble returning to Canada with our purchases after only being over for a few hours. Yay!

This was our view from our suite on the 29th floor taken with the panoramic feature of my iPhone 4S. Isn't it amazing that such a cool photo could be taken with a cellular phone?

That's the Rainbow Bridge behind the Skylon Tower and the American Falls in the centre of the photo. The building on the right is the Fallsview Casino and the mist of the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls on the right.

Dinner at the Brasa Restaurant was somewhat of a buffet with servers coming around with skewers of different types and cuts of meat for one to select from.

After looking at the weather forecast the next morning, we went directly to the Skylon to go up to the top for a panoramic view of the area. The skies were clear and visiblilty was great.

The American Falls and Goat Island are on the left. Again, the mist from the Horseshoe Fall blocked the view of the Falls. That tall building to the right of the falls is the Fallsview Casino and the Hilton on the very right.

Here's a better view of the Horseshoe Falls that Skip took.

After lunch back at the hotel, we went to Bird Kingdom to see their collection of exotic  birds and animals.This kookaburra didn't seem bothered by us at all.

There was a nice variety of parrots: a Green Wing Macaw,

 

 an African Grey,

and a Blue and Gold Macaw.

 

 He liked to wave at people going by.

This is a White Cheeked Bulbul from Asia.

This Victoria Crowned Pigeon is from New Guinea.

We were fortunate to get to see an immature Scarlet Ibis.

 My favourite bird was a multi-coloured Gouldian Finch from Australia.

Here's a better photo by Martin Pot. I'm thinking those colours would make amazing sock yarn.

Bird Kingdom a nice place to visit on a crisp winter day as the indoor climate is tropical. The sun was quite low in the sky so the light was not great for taking pictures. This place is not well-advertised but it's definitely a worthwhile place to visit while in Niagara Falls.