View of the American Falls, taken from the Sky Wheel attraction.

We are officially back in Ottawa after a fantastic trip to Niagara Falls! What an incredible place! Certainly unlike anywhere I've ever been in Ontario before!

We boarded the bus at 1:00 am on February 14th, arrived in Niagara 10 hours later, and headed straight to our hotel. Since we arrived early, we couldn't check into our room, so the hotel staff graciously stored our luggage while we went out to explore.

The front lobby of The Hilton Double Tree Hotel.

The downtown district of Niagara Falls is full of activities and entertainment, not to mention a variety of restaurants and hotels. Since we decided to visit in winter, rather than summer, we missed out on a few seasonal activities like the boat tours or mini golf.

Even though it was incredibly snowy, seeing the falls in winter was certainly a memorable and enjoyable experience none the less. We had a really fun time exploring the Clifton Hill area and sampling the food from restaurants that we don't have here in Ottawa.

Some of the local birds at the Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls.

Where We Stayed: The Hilton Double Tree Hotel 

Where We Ate: Margaritaville - IHOP - The Rainforest Cafe - Ruby Tuesdays

 *We actually went to Margaritaville twice and ate at the hotel restaurant three times

What We Did: Sky Wheel - Niagara's Fury 4D Experience - Journey Behind the Falls - Bird Kingdom

*We had planned on going to the Butterfly Conservatory, but unfortunately the bus was cancelled due to weather conditions

Overall, we had a really wonderful time, and we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip and see one of the greatest natural wonders in the world!

Local Tourism

Of all the seasons, I have to say that spring is more than likely my favourite. I absolutely love the sunshine, the sound of birds in the trees, and perhaps most of all, the beautiful array of flowers that bloom and grow, filling the air with their sweet fragrances. Considering my birthday happens to be during spring, I must admit I am a bit biased, but I just can’t help but think it’s one of the loveliest of seasons. 

With all that being said, I want to begin my very first post in the travel section of my blog by talking about local travel. In my case, this means touring around Ottawa, and if I get the opportunity,Kingston (where my family lives and where I grew up). Now, let me quickly remind everyone that I am still relatively new here in the city, so I certainly wouldn’t consider myself an Ottawa tourism expert or anything. Since my boyfriend and I moved here in September, this is actually my very first spring in the city.

When we first moved from Vancouver in May last year, we spent the first few days in Ottawa visiting my boyfriend’s parents before we continued on to Kingston, where we lived until the end of August. Luckily the weather was absolutely beautiful so we got to do a lot of walking around the city. Here’s a brief list of some of the things we did last May that we really enjoyed and I would highly recommend:

> Take a tour of Parliament

> Walk along the Rideau Canal

> Have tea in the Fairmont Chateau Laurier

> Walk around the Byward Market and check out the street vendors and performers (If you’re hungry, I recommend trying Zak’s Diner for some classic diner food in a cool retro atmosphere! Also, they have really great milkshakes that are big enough to share!)

> Check out the museums! My favorite, aside from the Museum of Civilization (which has a big section under construction until 2017 unfortunately), is the Nature Museum.

> Take a walk through Major’s Hill Park, located right by the National Art Gallery 

One thing we have yet to do because it hasn’t officially started is check out the tulip festival here in Ottawa! I absolutely love flowers so needless to say I am very excited to go to a festival all about tulips! It’s going to be going on from May 8th to the 18th so I’ll post more on that soon!