London, Ontario

As I mentioned before, in summer I moved to London, Ontario from Vancouver, British Columbia because of my husband's studies. This city is not so big and have about 360,000 people, but it is a pretty and comfy place that located on the east of Canada. Some old apartment buildings are similar to Russian ones. For me it is difficult to compare London with Vancouver; they are both interesting and absolutely different in architecture, culture, environment, and of course weather. This winter is cold in London; I would say it is kind of similar to Russian winters, but local people told me that this winter is the coldest for the last 20 years. In Vancouver the snow is usually once a year during a week or two; all other time it rains a lot that is sometimes could be kind of depressing. It depends on the person; what you prefer the most: snow but mostly sunny or rain but mostly foggy in winter.

Vancouver and Toronto are the most expensive cities in Canada to live in. If you want to buy an apartment or a house in Vancouver,  it will cost you a lot of money. For a example, the apartment with one bedroom in Burnaby, Great Vancouver area, my friend bought  for $550,000 a few years ago. The real estate in London is much cheaper. However, the car insurance in Ontario is more expensive than in British Columbia. The same thing is many squirrels and different kinds of birds that I like and even try to feed them on my balcony.  In short, every city has its own pros and cons, and only we themselves can decide what we want for our life,what we can accept, and what we can sacrifice with. Every place has its own beauty, magnificence, and interesting history.

There is a very good educational institution called University of Western Ontario that is one of the top universities in Canada and has a good reputation around the world . Ivey Business School of Western University is one of the top business school in the world according to rankings from Businessweek, Financial Times, and QS Top MBA. Also, one of the largest colleges in Ontario is Fanshawe College located in London. I would say the equivalent in British Columbia is British Columbia Institute of Technology where I studied. If you have any questions regarding to London or Vancouver, please ask me. I will be happy to answer them if I can.

And, of course, I would like to share photos the city of London to give you an idea what it is about in summer, fall, and winter times. In winter the city seems a little dark because of the snow, but it is not every day :)

Cardinals (Bird)

During this winter I decided to feed birds on my balcony, and I discovered for myself new beautiful creatures. One of the examples is the cardinal. The bird has a such rich red colour and an interesting cirrus on its head. Here some pictures of the bird.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Usually, I don't write much in my posts, but this time I decided to share my opinion and information that I have about the place I visited. Maybe it will be useful for someone.

Because we moved from British Columbia to Ontario, we found an opportunity to visit Niagara Falls. I had always wanted to go there and here we are. It is an amazing place created by mother nature. You see there how the water is powerful. By the way, the rainbow appears very often that gives more charm to the falls.

Also now there are many other attractions on a different taste. In one word, it is a tourist place. In a hotel we got a brochure with coupons to various attractions,gift shops and even for free parking. Usually if you are more close to the falls, it is more expensive parking. The closest one costs $18, that is a little further $5 for an hour. However, you can find a free parking;  you just need a walk a little.

We were going to Niagara Falls for the weekend in the beginning of the November 2013. The weather already was a little cold and first day was raining a lot. However, we were lucky because tonight the rain stopped and the next day was sunny. Anyway, we found what we would do while it was raining. We visited the Butterfly Conservatory where we watched different colourful butterflies in a different size. I was amazed and was ready be there all day long. Maybe I show some of the pics of butterflies in the next post. At the evening we walked near the biggest fall named Horseshoe Falls and enjoyed different colour of illumination on them.

By the way, if you want to go a few places, it is better to buy the wonder pass on the internet. It includes  the Butterfly Conservatory, Journey Behind the Falls, and Niagara's Fury. From October 25 to April 30 the pass costs $19.95 for one person without taxes. Also a very nice place, I think, is the Bird Kingdom, but we didn't have time to visit it. The gate price is $16.95 without tax, but you can use a coupon that give you a discount $2. You can print it from the website or take it from the brochure at a hotel. However, if you buy the ticket online, it costs $13 without tax.

 If you buy every attraction separately, it is very costly. For example,
                Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory costs $13.50 without tax. Hours of work is 10am-5pm.
                Journey Behind the Falls costs $15.95 without tax. It works during 9am-8pm  but 9am-6pm on Sunday.
                Niagara's Fury costs $13.50 without tax.

Be honest, I wasn't like much Niagara's Fury. If it wasn't included to our pass ticket, I wouldn't go. When you come there, they give you a raincoat. You watched a short animation how the falls were created. Then you are going to a separated room and they imitate a boat shaking it a little, and on the monitor around you you will see a video as you are going on the boat. Sometimes they splash water to make you feel like you on the boat. The size of the monitor is  a half of the wall and you cannot imagine completely that you are on the boat. Overall, I am not impressed at all.

Journey Behind the Falls was nice. You go on the elevator to very foot of the falls where from an observation desk you will see the massive water flow. Also there are a tunnel but not so long with two windows to water flow. It is up to you how much time you will spend there because in fact you will be there just on the observation desk.

It was a pretty enjoyable trip. I hope to go there one more time in summer.

The Falls at Night