Niagara Falls

Hello and welcome to Weekend Coffee Share #41! I’m glad you’re here. Please come on in, help yourself to a cup of coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate at my coffee station and let’s chat.

It was a week of lovely autumnal weather, with daytime high temperatures ranged from 20C to 22C (68F-72F). I did my best to be outside in it:

I treated one of my nieces to a belated birthday Sunday brunch. Good food, good conversation.
I celebrated Thanksgiving Monday on October 11 by going to Toronto Islands with my family in the morning, then met up with my neighbour for a 5K walk in the afternoon, before returning home for a special dinner.
I did a lot of cycling and walking on the next three days to see various historic sites and public art exhibits.

Last Friday, I shared the first half of my best trip to Niagara Falls which covered the spectacular waterfalls. Today I’m sharing the second half which covers the Fleurs de Villes Niagara Falls floral trail.

About Fleurs de Villes

Fleurs de Villes events are organized in various cities around the world. I was thrilled to attend two of them close to home this year: Fleurs de Villes Rosé in Toronto (August 4-8) and in Niagara Falls, Canada (September 24 – October 3). Both events were free.

Fleurs de Villes Niagara Falls

Fleurs de Villes floral installations in Niagara Falls were spread out along a trail with a short uphill hike. My sister and I picked up a brochure that includes a map and listing of the floral exhibits. Most of them were outdoors and some were indoors.

The weather was perfect for our walk: Sunny, high 21C (70F) and calm wind. We had so much fun chatting, following the trail, discovering, viewing the floral displays up close and taking photos. I hope you enjoy the following photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Floral designs with autumnal and orange hues

Floral Railings and Stairs. — Floral Railings and Stairs outside Niagara Parks Police Station includes beautiful dahlias, berries and yellow leaves.

Queen Victoria Mannequin. — Queen Victoria Mannequin looks regal in a cream dress made up of fresh roses and mums, and burgundy accessories.

Bell Media Phone Booth. — Bell Media Phone Booth wrapped with beautiful autumnal garlands.

Orange Floral Hoop in remembrance of the Residential School Children.

Ketel One Botanical Floral Rainbow at the Falls and a real rainbow.

Three Sisters Indigenous Mannequin. — Three Sisters Indigenous Mannequin is designed to represent and honour the companion planting of corn, beans and squash, an agricultural practice used by the Indigenous peoples of this region.

Corn, beans and squash - the 'Three Sisters'. — Corn, beans and squash became known to the Haudenosaunee as the ‘Three Sisters’, for how they functioned together to provide a steady source of nutrition and sustenance.

Floral Tomato Truck, a classic Studebaker truck at Zappi’s.

Fallsview Mannequin at the corner #2 in autumnal hues. — Fallsview Mannequin at the corner #2.

Floral Staircase. — Floral Staircase (orange carpet) inside Marriott on the Falls.

Floral designs in other colours

Click on any image to see it in larger size and use the arrows to move through the gallery. Marilyn Monroe starred in the film Niagara in 1953. The mannequin dress was made of red rose petals.

It was my sister’s first visit to Fleurs de Villes. We both loved the floral trail and enjoyed our trip to Niagara Falls. Thank you for following along virtually.

Linking to #Colour2021: Orange , #FOTD, #LifeThisWeek, #PPAC18, #SundayStills: Orange.

Your turn:

How was your week?
Which of the above floral designs are your favourites?
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Hello and welcome to Weekend Coffee Share #40! I’m glad you’re here. Please come on in, help yourself to a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate at my coffee station and let’s chat.

My sister and I took a day trip to Niagara Falls at the end of September for two purposes:

To revisit Niagara Falls.
To walk the Fleurs de Villes floral trail.

The weather was ideal on the day of our visit: Sunny, high 21C (70F), and calm wind. Without traffic, we covered the 126 km (78 miles) driving distance from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Ontario in about 1.5 hours.

Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls, and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls. It’s named Horseshoe (since 1721) because it looks like a horseshoe. It’s also known as Canadian Falls since it’s situated in Canada. The other two falls are in the United States.

The main road along Niagara Falls is Niagara Parkway. During this visit, we were lucky to see several variations of the rainbows over Niagara Falls: one rainbow, double rainbows and full rainbow arch. They were incredible and stunning!

Niagara Falls in Photos

Here are some photos of Niagara Falls. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Niagara Falls parking lot. — Arrived at 10 AM at an empty parking lot with a ‘loosey goosey’ traffic jam.

Horseshoe Falls in the morning with rising mist. — First glimpse of Horseshoe Falls at 52 meters (170 feet) in height and about 670 meters (2200 feet) wide. The combination of massive volume of water and flow speed produce the mist high in the air.

The Niagara River. — The Niagara River flows at approximately 56.3 kilometers/ hour (35 miles/ hour).

Spectacular Horseshoe Falls. — Horseshoe Falls, a natural wonder of the world.

Skylon Tower and Illumination Tower in Niagara Falls. — A gorgeous morning guaranteed spectacular views of Niagara Falls from the Skylon Tower. The round tower on the left is the Illumination Tower.

Skylon Tower 'Yellow Bug' elevators. — Two exterior glass-enclosed ‘Yellow Bug’ elevators moved along the Skylon Tower: One near the round base at the top and the other near the bottom.

Direct view of American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

Rainbow Bridge, Observation Tower, American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and the Maid of the Mist boat.

Niagara Falls zipline. — The Zipline cables in the photo go past the American Falls and toward Horseshoe Falls.

View of American Falls from Queen Victoria Park.

Niagara Parkway. — Niagara Parkway with Queen Victoria Park on the left and the Skywheel (ferris wheel) above the trees.

Flower beds in front of Niagara Parks Police Station.

Horseshoe Falls whopping volume of water siphoned at an average of 750,000 gallons each second.

A small rainbow appeared to the left while the Maid of the Mist boat approached Horseshoe Falls.

The Maid of the Mist passed by the rainbow as it exited Horseshoe Falls. Note that everyone wore blue rain ponchos. You’ll get wet anyway but it’s a thrill of a lifetime to be close to Horseshoe Falls, hear its thunderous roar and feel its spray.

Two rainbows appeared at Horseshoe Falls. — Double rainbows appeared at Horseshoe Falls.

Rainbow arc extended from Horseshoe Falls to Rainbow Bridge. — Rainbow arch extended from Horseshoe Falls to Rainbow Bridge.

Rainbow arc across Niagara Falls to the Rainbow Bridge — Rainbow Bridge on the left is one of the three international bridges that connect the cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and Niagara Falls, New York, United States. The other two international bridges are Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.

Horseshoe Falls with two rainbows. — Horseshoe Falls with double rainbows and an incredible volume of water flow. 20% of all the fresh water in the world lies in the five Great Lakes and most flows over Niagara Falls.

Lucky gull by Horseshoe Falls. — Lucky gull to see this view of Horseshoe Falls.

Lunch. — Lunch: Vermicelli with spring roll, grilled meat, peanuts and vegetables.

Rainbow at Niagara Falls. — Rainbow at Niagara Falls around 6 PM.

Ways to Experience Niagara Falls

I’d recommend first time visitors to experience the falls by:

Walking along Niagara Parkway at day time and staying late to see the falls illuminated every evening beginning at dusk (free).
Boat operated by Hornblower Cruise or Maid of the Mist.
Getting behind Horseshoe Falls. See Journey Behind the Falls.
Dining at the Skylon Tower. Its Revolving Dining Room restaurant silently rotates 360 degrees every hour, giving diners a constantly changing vantage point.
Helicopter or zipline if you’re adventurous.

If time permits, I’d recommend a longer stay to explore Niagara historic sites, parks, gardens, wineries, the Whirlpool Rapids, and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I feel fortunate to have had many visits to Niagara Falls, one of the Earth’s natural wonders. This trip was by far the best: Perfect weather, no crowd, spectacular Niagara Falls with rainbows, girl time with my sister, good food, and beautiful Fleurs de Villes Niagara Falls floral trail.

To be continued…

What do you think of Niagara Falls?