WW#194 – Rainbow

 

 

 

 

 

More pictures from Dianne, Russ and Shannon

Wordless Wednesday

Places I've been to #03

 

(Picture from Social Times)
 

 

Hi, all. I'm very happy that this series of posts seems to be well liked. I still have a few places to show you, but unfortunately not all of the pictures are going to be mine in some of those posts. For example, I am planning to show you Rio and Buzios (Brazil) and the beautiful Valparaíso and Puerto Montt (both in Chile), but I have very few pictures of my own, so I will have to, well, um... borrow some pictures. You know I always give credit to the author. It's not that I'm going to put them there and then claim they're mine, like some serious blogger does with a job search widget he took from My Bonjour Quebec...

 

But let's go back to the subject here... Today I'm going to show you pictures from a place not too far away from here, but that's spectacular. I got to go there several times last year, for business, and I was lucky enough to stay at the Hilton; my room had a fantastic view. I know you're going to like these pictures!

 

 

Hola a todos. Estoy muy feliz de ver que esta serie de posts parece gustarle. Todavía tengo unos cuantos lugares que les quiero mostrar, pero desafortunadamente no todas las fotos serán mías en esos posts. Por ejemplo, tengo planeado mostrarles Río y Búzios (en Brasil) y las bellísimas Valparaíso y Puerto Montt (en Chile), pero tengo muy pocas fotos propias, así que voy a tener que, bueno... tomar algunas fotos prestadas. Igual Uds. saben que yo doy siempre crédito al autor. No es que voy a poner las fotos allí y decir que son mías, como hace el que bloguea en serio con un buscador de trabajos que sacó de My Bonjour Quebec...

 

Pero hablemos de cosas relevantes... Hoy les voy a mostrar fotos de un lugar que no queda muy lejos de aquí, pero que es espectacular. Tuve la suerte de ir muchas veces el año pasado, por negocios, y fui lo suficientemente afortunado como para poder alojarme en el Hilton; mi habitación tenía una vista fantastic. Sé que estas fotos les van a gustar!

 

Niagara Falls, Ontario - Canada

 

Niagara Falls was the first part of Canada Gaby and the kids got to know, on Feb 14th, 2001

Niagara Falls fue el primer lugar en Canadá que Gaby y los chicos conocieron, allá por el 14 de Febrero de 2001 

 

Many times, the falls actually freeze due to the extreme cold. You see a giant column of ice, and then some steam coming from behind, that surely comes from the water that is still falling underneath. It's really cool!

Muchas veces ocurre que las cataratas se congelan debido al intenso frío. Uno termina viendo una gigantesca columna de hielo, y una torre de vapor que sale por detrás, seguramente proviniendo del agua que aún cae por debajo. Es realmente cool!

 

The hotel was in front of the casino. You can see the American Falls (in red, they do light shows every night); the multi-coloured building is already in the American side.

El hotel estaba en frente del casino. Pueden ver el salto americano (está rojo, porque hacen shows de luces todas las noches); ese edificio multi-color ya está del lado americano.

 

View of the Horseshoe Fall from the 33rd level (where I would have breakfast every day)

Vista de la caída de Herradura desde el piso 33 (donde yo desayunaba todos los días)

 

Carolina was actually able to join me one day, due to the crazy working hours I had (I worked after midnight that time). This picture was taken three months after the first one, yet it seems to be from almost the same spot!

Carolina pudo venir conmigo una vez, gracias a los horarios que yo hacía (esa vez trabajé de madrugada). Esta foto la saqué tres meses después de la primera, y sin embargo parecería que la saqué casi desde el mismo lugar!

 

Niagara River has a very strong current. There's a section called the whirlpool, where you can cross taking the aero car shown in the picture.

El río Niágara es muy torrentoso. Hay una sección que se llama el remolino, donde uno puede cruzar tomándo ese carro colgante que muestro en la foto.

 

They have fireworks every Friday and Sunday (and every night during the summer). It was funny having to look below in order to see them!

Tiran fuegos artificiales todos los viernes y domingos (todas las noches durante el verano). Fue divertido tener que mirar hacia abajo para verlos!

 

This one is a great shot of the American Falls at night. But it's not mine! (from Snowboard.com forum)

Esta es una gran foto del salto americano por la noche. Pero no es mía! (es de Snowboard.com forum)

 

An older picture of the Falls fully frozen. Yes, those little black dots are people! (picture from Manoharan's Picasa Web Album)

Una foto más vieja, mostrando la catarata toda congelada. Sí, esos puntitos negros son gente! (foto del Album web de Picasa de Manoharan)

 

Finally, a spectacular picture of Ripley's Believe it or not! Museum (they're all that far out) (picture from Howard Johnson's "HoJo by the Fall")

Finalmente, una foto espectacular del museo "Créalo o no" de Ripley (son todos así de locos) (foto de "HoJo by the Falls" de Howard Johnson)

  

Technorati Tags: Travel

Share this post :

 

Triskaidekaphobia

I'm in a hotel -again- this week, in a room on the 17th floor. As I was taking the elevator down today, I realized that there was no 13th floor. It goes from 14 to 12 (or 12 to 14, if you're going up) :-)

It still surprises me. You would believe that educated people should not be afraid of a number. But it seems that I'm wrong.

Wikipedia says that 'a specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia'. Boy, I rather fight my fears, so I don't have to remember that word.

Mc Idiot's

I don't like drive-throughs. Everytime I go to one of them I have the same problem: I don't understand a word they say through that thing. It led me to believe that my ear also has an accent.

With time, I learned to assume that they're saying something in the lines of 'can I take your order please' first, and then something like 'Coke to drink', so I reply accordingly. This reminds me of Marcelo, a co-worker who travelled with us to USA in 1997 and didn't know a word in English. He was going to be alone for lunch most of the times, so we taught him how to get by at any fast food joint. Here's the script:

Clerk: fWDQGERRQEGQERVE?
Marcelo: Combo number (insert number), please.
Clerk: 24t2efewfEEGWWFWw?
Marcelo: (insert beverage), (with_or_without_ice).
Clerk: 24t2fwDVSSVSDVSVSSVSD?
Marcelo: (for here | to go)

He was fine for the rest of the trip.

Here was my conversation at the McDonald's in Niagara Falls yesterday:

Guy behind the speaker: 2ttfwdvsTRJUEWREB?
Gabriel: I want a combo number 4, please, plain. Only cheese.
Guy behind the speaker: eqgravfbgjewrTA?
Gabriel: Diet Coke, no ice. Please, remember only cheese in my burger.
Guy behind the speaker: rweaserwhtwrefAWF?
Gabriel: No, that's all, thanks. A PLAIN cheesburger, fries and diet Coke, no ice.

I paid and drove away. Got to the hotel, changed my clothes and finally got ready to eat.

The burger had ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce, cold syrup, melted crayons, worcestershire sauce, rice noodles, parts of a shoe and something that resembled a patty.

Idiots.

Look down!

Now this was interesting. I had to come to Niagara Falls again tonight, as I'm expected to be at the hospital in St.Catharines very early in the morning.

It's Victoria Day today, so there were fireworks right in front of the falls. The funny thing is that I'm on the 27th floor, so the fireworks were actually below me. I had to look down to see them.

So there I was, sitting on the couch, drinking a diet Coke and watching the fireworks explode under my feet.

It never fails

There's something about Canada, that makes it very appealing to people in Argentina. When you say you live in Canada, they look at you as if you were coming from Mars or Jupiter. To Argentines, Canada is definitely 'the end of the world'. It's funny, because it's not further away than, let's say, China. But that is how it seems to work. Oh, and of course, all the stereotypes: it's winter all year round, and we all live in igloos. The idea of us going to the beach is just crazy.

This must be the reason why every time I send an e-mail to a radio show (I listen to many Argentine shows on the internet), not only it's read, but I become some kind of a 'celebrity listener', just because of where I live. I mean, this people know nothing about me, but that I live in Canada. Hence, I'm important. :-)

With all this in mind, I was listening to a soccer game last Wednesday night (Boca-Velez). It wasn't any of the big radio stations, but one that follows my team (Velez) wherever they play. I know the guys through a Yahoo! Group, but that's about it. Still I decided to call and let them know that I was listening to their transmission. I was at the Hotel in Niagara Falls, so I called a Waterloo number on my cellphone, then dialed the passcode and then placed the call.

Of course, they put me on the air immediately. I blurbed a few words and that was it. They kept talking about me, and then the radio host said "I know Gabriel, he's handicapped and he lives in Canada". Well, now they know two things about me. Only problem is that the first is not true!!!

I might be fat, and I certainly still limp from my broken hip, but other than that I'd say I'm fine. I wonder how they got that idea. Calling back to let them know that it wasn't true would embarrass my friends, so I decided not to do it. I can't help but think that maybe they had me confused for somebody else...

I'm a horrible father...

I used to say -and I mentioned this here before- that whenever I had to leave for work I would feel that I was a terrible father and husband for leaving Gaby and the kids home alone. Even after my January 7th epiphany, I still feel that way (and I do realize that Gaby is perfectly able to get around and do whatever she needs to do).

I spoke with Gaby tonight and she told me that the kids indeed miss me, especially Santiago. He seems to be a little down, and he told Gaby 'sometimes I feel like Dad is calling me and I turn around'. Boy, I would expect Florencia or even Juan to be sad that I'm not around, but not Santi. He's a big kid now (well, not even 12 yet).

So, there you go. Santi misses me, and I feel I'm a terrible father. But at the same time, I'm happy that he still wants to be around me. There's a lot of time for him to realize that it's definitely 'not cool'.

Santi, I miss you too. We'll see each other tomorrow. I love you.

Dad

Lone wolf

I was in the bathtub (watching TV) when I started to think about my family back at home. I miss them very much, and I feel lonely. But somehow I am enjoying my loneliness a little.

I feel I like this. Am I a loner? Great thing this English language: two words that look similar have completely different meanings: I'm not lonely, but I do think I might be a loner.

Who knows.

Livin' large

I'm at the Niagara Falls Hilton because I'm working off a hospital in St. Catharines, Ontario, this week.

The hotel is just beautiful; the rooms are big and have a jacuzzi (with sliding windows so I can watch TV while in there!) and I'm on the 28th floor, so I have an incredible view of the American Falls (right in front of my window).

There's a restaurant on the top floor, to which we go for breakfast (which is also great). That place has a bigger, wider, even more beautiful view of the falls.

So I love it in here. I still miss Gaby and the kids, though. Being along sucks. Or does it?