We went to Niagara Falls last weekend with Dan's mom and Luke. It was a long long drive, and we stayed at a Quality Inn that wasn't. Ever since I heard some
20/20 expose on what goes on in hotel rooms, I find it difficult to sit on any available surface in a hotel room, imagining that it's teeming with feces and bodily fluids of dozens of strangers.
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| Clearly, Dan does not share my fears. Also, this is totally staged. Luke posed like this on purpose. |
We did a few of the touristy things, such as going to the Caves of the Winds (on the way down in the elevator, a young tour guide got on at the last second and turned toward the rest of us to say in a monotone voice, We are now descending 475 feet to the basin of the mountain...The elevator was so crowded that his nose was almost touching Dan's. I laughed out loud and Dan closed his eyes and I knew he was controlling himself to keep from laughing too).
They give you a little poncho and these free suctiony sandals, but I will tell you that death does not see that far away when you're standing on the rickety platform inches from the falls. I learned later that Niagara Falls is the second most common public space for people to kill themselves, with the Golden Gate Bridge winning first place. I also read about how a recent suicide that was called a copycat suicide b/c it happened just after another guy jumped (and lived). That made me feel kind of bad for the one who succeeded--even in death he was considered less than original.
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| Pamphlets like these were on hand in case you were considering jumping. |
We also waited in line for 1,500 hours to get soaked on the Maids of the Mist boat tour where we learned that a lady had gone over in a barrel and survived.
Next, we went to the aquarium and saw some penguins stuffed into a smnall, man made terrarium. Later, we went to a 50th Wedding Anniversary where the husband sang, "I Did it My Way"on karaoke. Then home again. I'm glad I saw the falls--I am--but I think both of us would've been happier at a B&B somewhere, though there's still the problem of the bedspreads.
Some more random photos from the trip:
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| We stayed at Dan's mom's house on the way out. This is Sheeva. I bowed her. |
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| Lillian and Dan. |
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| Luke and giant pancake. Best meal ever at the Red Roof Inn. |
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| Cheers. |
The other thing that happened recently was that I signed up for a graduate class at Penn called something like, Madness in Italian Cinema. I imagined we would sit around and eat Italian ice and watch Fellini films. It was cross-listed in cinema studies and the Italian department. So, on Wed., I found the classroom and sat down. The teacher hadn't started class yet, but she was talking to one of the other students. They were speaking in Italian. I said to the friendly-looking redhead next to me, "Oh, they're speaking in Italian." She blinked back at me and said, "The whole class is in Italian."
I said, "Okay, it was nice to meet you," and left. Don't worry, I found another class to take and I'm pretty sure it's in English.
Here is your moment of cat:
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