(ignore the title its actually still about canada)

Well, on Friday we left Sarnia. And we had Wendy's. That wasn't the highlight but i happen to think it was quite an important part of the day! We left Sarnia with Kate, George and Liv, and began the 3 hour drive to Niagra Falls. On the way (about 2 hours in) we stopped off in Hamilton where my other cousin Matt goes to university and went for a meal with him. We then continued to Niagra (a place that reminded me of las vegas or somewhere- the buildings were all lit up and a massive casino stood high in the center) and checked into our first comfort inn of that weekend! After a few drinkies (a delicious bottle of Strawberry white zinfadel) in the company of my aunt and uncle, we went off in the dark at about 11pm through the town to see the beautiful falls. in the dark we couldnt really see much as unfortunately they werent lit up, but we sure could feel it! we were absolutely covered in freezing mist chucked up from the falls. Everything was covered in the most beautiful icecles though and the trees around the edge of the falls were completely frozen! eventually we left the falls, wet, cold but happy and walked back to the hotel to settle down and watch some TV.

after a restful night we woke up and checked out of the hotel and went for breakfast.... all you can eat of course- the true canadian way! We then got to experience the falls in daylight- what an incredible sight! From the rapids at one end to the crashing spectacle that is the falls themselves! Niagra Falls, the town, somewhat resembles Disneyland in its attractions and activities.. whilst exploring we visited the rainforest cafe where we saw something amazing... there were people calmly standing around with snakes hanging off them! we got to hold the beautiful serpents and spent a long time in their company. Phoebe did a particularly good impression of Medussa with snakes crawling out of her hair ! At that point, all 3 of us girls decided we wanted a pet snake.

after the snakes we pottered around taking touristy photos and went on a movie simulator type ride which was fun! We had to wait for a while for it to start but spent our time taking more photos with the lady on reception who just happened to be made of wax!

unfortunately our time constraints meant that we had to depart for toronto, so we sadly waved goodbye to the falls and made our way to Richmond Hill, Toronto where we were staying with one of Shane's (Beths Friend) friends for the night. We arrived at about 4.30pm and had to bid farewell to my incredibly kind aunt and uncle who had let us take over their house for almost 2 weeks! Sad because I probably won't see them all again for a while!

Donna, the lady we stayed with in toronto, was incredibly welcoming and hospitable and we are so grateful to her for having us to stay. We got taken out to the Mandarin- a delicious all you can eat Chinese buffet with Donna and her parents,it was especially busy because of the Chinese new year which was cool because they gave us lucky coins as part of the celebration it was a lovely meal and a great night. The next day we decided to take a walk to Yonge street- the longest street in the world and the cold was incredible. it was like being hit by 1000 knives! i think the temperature was around -20 windchill. I didnt even know my ears HAD feeling til they lost it!! On our way to the airport we dropped into the 2nd biggest mall in canada and it probably could have swallowed guernsey whole!

The check-in process for flying to the US is different to every other we'd experienced. Long, tedious, boring and draining. What with visas, customs, security and all it wasn't a particularly relaxing experience. We got lucky on the American Airlines flight to LA though- front row with extra leg room! After we'd arrived and collected our luggage we called for our courtesy airport shuttle to take us to the 2nd Comfort Inn of the weekend. We waited. and waited, and waited. and eventually, after slight panic that it wouldnt come at all, it arrived and we piled on. The check-in process at the hotel was quick and easy, taking only an hour in total!.... Apparently our reservation wasnt on one of the systems which caused the lady at the desk some confusion, but luckily after 45 minutes her colleague arrived and managed to handle it quickly and efficiently. After a quick detour to a nearby 7/11 to get drinks and food we gratefully found our room and it was HUGE! well worth the wait! 2 large comfortable beds, fridge, microwave, coffee machine and a great bathroom! That was a gooood night's sleep!

We awoke to typical LA sunshine and starting packing up at the same time as drinking as much coffee as we could (come on, it was free!).