From May 27th to June 2nd, I visited Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. Yes, I’m crossing one off my 30 Before 30 list, because I’ve finally visited a foreign country!

I went with the ‘rents, who decided to take the 7 hour drive up there from NYC. Thankfully, I’m not a kid anymore, so I didn’t keep asking if we were there yet, but jeez, that was the longest ride!

Having only seen Niagara Falls in pictures, seeing the falls in person literally took my breath away. Majestic doesn’t even begin to describe the scene.

Here’s a rather lengthy photo diary of my time in Canada:

Day 1 – May 27th: Crossing the border into Canada, seeing the Falls for the first time, and Clifton Hill at night

Day 2 – May 28th: Solo shot cups and Oakes Garden Theatre

Day 3 – May 29th: Niagara Falls Botanical Gardens

Day 4 – May 30th: Back to the Falls

Day 5 – May 31sr: St. Catharine’s Museum, Welland Canal, Happy Rolph’s, and Clifton Hill Fun Centre

Day 6 – June 1st: Tiptoeing over to the U.S. side of Niagara Falls!

Day 7 – June 2nd: Lazy day with Canadian TV

I actually really enjoyed my lazy day in the hotel spent watching Canadian television shows Motive, The Listener, and Flashpoint. Watching The Listener has introduced a new actor to my list of celebrity crushes: Craig Olejnik.

So back to NYC I went on June 3rd. Here are a few things I learned about Canada:

• HST is the devil. Thank GOD that harmonized sales tax nonsense doesn’t exist in New York.
• It appears Canadian construction workers don’t know how to properly conduct a road detour (a story for another time).
• Canadian border patrol is way more lenient than the U.S. border patrol (another story for another time).

Overall, I had a blast in Niagara Falls! I’m excited about traveling outside of the U.S. in the future because it really is true that you don’t actually understand your own country’s culture until you venture outside of its borders.