Niagara Falls, Canada

The water, the mist and most importantly the falls = HAUNTINGLY HEAVENLY!

Not only did we get to see the falls from the Canada side, which gives a better view than the American side, but we also got to go on the maid of the mist, which was a boat which took us really close to the falls. It's at that point of time that one realizes how incredibly big the falls are.

We reached on Friday evening, just in time to catch the last maid of the mist of the day.

The maid of the mist

Inside the maid of the mist-wearing protective rain coats  to keep us from getting wet as we get closer to the waters

The American part of Niagara Falls

The Canadian Part of the Falls

Even though we were wearing raincoats while we were on the maid of the mist we still got pretty soaked. The mist which is formed due to the falling of water from such a height causes it to continuously rain near the falls!

Later in the night, we went to this great Chinese restaurant for dinner called Mandarin. It was the best place i have ever been to. It had a fake sky ( I thought only hotels with lots of money to waste have those). And it had this HUGE buffet (which we did not go to since our family was vegetarian and we kids were the only non vegetarians:most of the buffet was non vegetarian). But the food was great too, so we had a great deal of fun. We also had a very funny waiter, which always make it better!!!!

The Fake Sky at Mandarin

A fish pond, treated more as a wishing well in  Mandarin

My uncle drinks Chinese tea!

..while my cousin, brother and i fool around!

After dinner we also went to this place near our hotel which was a little complex in itself. It was walking distance from our hotel and had a casino, some restaurants, a mall and lots of fountains-and off course, a view of the falls!
We walked towards the falls to see the lights. They had this set up there of laser lights (i think they were laser lights) reflecting on the falls, making it seem like the water is coloured. Basically they had it all super-commercialized!

A fountain in the complex near our hotel

Another fountain nearby!

A water fountain shaped as a wine making factory!

Niagara at night

The next morning before heading back to US, we went to the falls again. This time we saw the part of the falls where the water was falling down. It was amazing! The kind of things that your eyes don't believe.
The water was so forceful! It would take anything with it. It was apparently pretty deep too.

The water goes over the edge and joins the falls of niagara

On the way back we stopped by a friend's place, who lives in Buffalo, New York. He happened to be the president of the state university there, so he showed us around!!

At Buffalo: Stating the obvious

My cousin entertains everyone at a friend's place

My cousin once again comes to the rescue by managing to get everyone in the  picture at Buffalo University  

That was the end of our trip to Niagara, not only did we have to leave Niagara, but we also had to say good bye to our family, who we spent the last 10 days with. That was the saddest part.
Missing them a lot already!

We now head towards NJ, from where we will also take frequent trips to NY. Hope the coming week (and the last one in US) is as good as the previous one. 

State College, Pennsylvania

After 10 days of nomadic travelling, it was time for us to go to our relative's place in State College. They had been with us in Washington, but we still had lots of catching up to do!

We expected a quiet time at State College with family! But there was an incredible lot to do there. And since we were with them, it was so much more fun than last week had been.

Our relative's place in state college

We spent about 4 days there, which rushed by. I would have done anything to stop time!

We reached there on Sunday night, and were big time impressed to see such a big and beautiful house. And it was so cozy too!
On top of that, my aunt was an amazing cook! She gave us different cuisines to eat each night.

My aunt Nilima, a 5 star chef!

On Monday, we went for a picnic to a lake nearby called Spring Creek and later got a guided tour of the penn state university by my uncle, who is a professor there. We just keep getting luckier and luckier!

Picnic at Spring Creek

My mom and aunt stand next to the lake

One of the classrooms at Penn State University

My cousin and I laze around at Smeal Business School, Penn State University

A classroom at the Smeal Business School

My dad and uncle in his office at the University

The Nittany Lion Shrine at Penn State University, which happens to be the University's mascot

Our 2nd day, tuesday, was spent shopping. My aunt was a pro at shopping and knew the right places to take us, so we managed to get some really amazing stuff! Later we went to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner. This was the first time we ate at a Chinese place in the US. It was really different from what we get in India, and pretty good too!

A shopping break: Lunch at Dino's:An ENORMOUS PIZZA

Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant

On Wednesday, we went to Penn's Caves. We went into the caves in a boat, since the caves weren't dry. It was pretty amazing. We saw all the kind of rocks which grew inside. The tour guide also showed us the kind of shapes and images that the rocks formed-like one of them looked like the statue of liberty, another looked like a chinese doll!
These caves also had a mythical tale behind them about Princess Nittany and her lover, who was trapped inside the caves by her seven brothers when they learnt about the two's affair and their plans to elope.

Our fourth and last day was more relaxed, we spent our time gadget shopping and bought an i-pad 2 and a kindle.

I loved staying at Penn State! It was such a cute town, a place where you really can live. And being with family was so much fun too! We met our cousin after a really long time, which made it even more fun.

The best part is, that they're travelling with us to Niagra Falls for the next 2-3 days. So although this was the end of Penn State, we still have them for a little longer!!