The Niagara Falls:
We flew to Detroit from Osaka by Northwest Airlines. All of the flight attendants were Americans this time. The members of the tour were Japanese but we were like being in America. Even my pronunciation of "tea" was not understood at once by a flight attendant. Two years' English conversation learning did not work well. We changed at Detroit on a local airlines and flew to Buffalo. When boarding DC8 at Detroit, the door of the cockpit was luckily open. I peeked in it and took a photo because I had been eager to see it with my own eyes. My flash surprised the pilot preparing for the flight. I said, "I am sorry!"
We took a bus at Buffalo, crossed the border from America to Canada, and arrived to a hotel near the Niagara Falls about midnight at Canadian local time. When thinking of Japanese local time, we had not slept about 30 hours since last night. We had late supper and slept well. On the next day, we got on a sightseeing boat and saw American and Canadian Falls. When the boat stopped at the front of the Canadian Falls in the spray of falling water, I heard that the PA (Public-Address) system of the boat said, "Ladies and gentlemen! This is the Niagara Falls." I was impressed by the huge amount of falling water and the sweet voice of the announcer. Set fireworks called the Niagara Falls are famous in Japan. But before seeing the Falls with my eyes, I couldn't imagine them by the fireworks but now I can do it.
After seeing Niagara Falls, We busily moved around the sightseeing spots on a sightseeing bus but most of the foreign tourists stood at favorite spots watching the Falls for a long time. Of course, we had to move efficiently because we came from distant Japan but then I felt the difference of our national characteristics.
Lake Louise and Canadian Rockies:
We arrived at Toronto by bus, and flew to Calgary on an Air Canada. From Calgary, we took a sightseeing bus and began to run the road on grasslands. We were not able to see any other scenery than grasslands for a few hours. I felt I was now on the North American Continent(Switzerland was also a part of the European Continent but I could not feel it the continent because we mostly ran on roads between high mountains.) Suddenly the grasslands changed to mountains when the bus went over a small hill. The scenery continued for a few hours. Anyway Canada was huge. We arrived at a hotel, Chateau Lake Louise. The scenery combined with Mt. Victoria and Lake Louise was beautiful. The colors of the lake and the mountain changed by the sunlight. Twilight lasted until a little after 10 p.m. and daybreak began at about 4 a.m. On the second and third day, we went to Payto Lake, Athabasca Glacier, Moraine Lake, Emerald Lake, and Takakkaw Falls in Canadian Rockies on the sightseeing bus. They were really fantastic. I thought that efficiently planned tourist spots and good explanation at each spot by a Japanese guide were the most attractive point of this packaged tour.
Vancouver: We returned to Calgary by bus and flew to Vancouver by an Air Canada. On the next day we went to Vancouver Island by bus and ferry. We met an American couple, who came from Oregon, on the ferry. We took photos by turns and promised to send them. Since then our communication by letter has continued. Recently we began to exchange e-mail. We visited Butchart Gardens. The Gardens were too large to walk around. So We couldn't have enough time to see beautiful spots. After returning to Japan, they sent us wonderful photos of the flowers in the gardens. Our memory of Butchart Gardens becomes vivid again with the help of the photos.
This trip left three memories in our mind. Those are the nice American friends, the scenery of the huge Niagara Falls, and beautiful Lake Louise.