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with Ninfa Leonardia
OPINIONS

The ‘fall’ of two countries

Ninfa Leonardia

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- I finally got my long-time wish to try the famous Amtrak trains of the U.S. but didn’t think I would get a surfeit of it! We got to this city that has the fortune to bare a part of the magnificent waterfalls known throughout the world for its awe-inspiring grandeur which, however, has retained the greater part of its beauty in the part it shows in its Canada side.

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It was a long, long nine-hour ride from the equally famous Pennsylvania Station, better known as simply “Penn”, and the setting for a lot of American drama movies. I admit the Amtrak ride was comfortable, more so than most of the planes I have tried because it has more leg room – so important for such a long time of sitting – and also wider aisles for walking up and down.

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We, my cousin, Allan and Lourdes Gomez from Riverside, California – decided, however, to go by train in order to enjoy the scenery on the way. Frankly, however, there was not much to see, except long stretches of greenery provided by the same plants and trees and a long stretch of water from the historic Erie and Ontario canals with some fields here and there. But they were a striking contrast to the vast, arid deserts of Nevada and part of California, especially on the way to Las Vegas and Arizona.

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We arrived (as we left) on time after stopping at stations such as Hudson, Poughkeepsie, Rome, Rochester and Buffalo, before which a loud and strident voice would announce the stop and more passengers came on and others got off. When it stopped, later for a very long time, we wondered what happened until an elderly, visibly annoyed lady, said it was already Niagara, and grumbled why there was no announcement. Then the train began backing up a long, long way and all of us who were not natives wondered, until someone said we had to get off or get taken to Canada! That scared me, as my Canadian visa has long expired and I’d probably be nabbed as an illegal entrant then!

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The station was located in that what looked like an outback – no stores, no buildings near and only a few taxis waiting. We had to share one with two Asian-looking men to go into the city and our hotel. But when we showed the driver its address, he said, “This is Sheraton in Canada, not in Niagara, New York”. Horrors! How could I go there? The reservations had been made through the internet and there was obviously a miscommunication. Luckily, it was not a weekend so Sheraton-Niagara could accommodate us.

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By then it was just 9 p.m. and we were starving, but after a quick but tasty and very filling meal at the hotel’s TGIF restaurant, we called the taxi whom we had arranged to be our “suki” to come and take us to the falls to see the lights show. There, we stood at the railings watching the flash of the rushing waters and hearing its roar with several other people, some with their entire families, including babies. Having seen the falls from the Canada side years ago, the U.S. portion did not impress me as much. Also, I noted that the park set up near the U.S. falls is not as well maintained.

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Allan and Lourdes got up very early the next day to see the Canada portion which they could do just by crossing the bridge over the Ontario. I did not go with them, not only because I had already gone there long ago, but because the area would already be Canadian territory. But our “suki” driver, an amiable Pakistani, who runs a fleet of something like our colorums with his relatives and friends, made sure we saw other beautiful and worthwhile spots in the city named after a waterfall belonging to two countries.*

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