resmarie

Today we have spent the whole day viewing the Niagara Falls from different angles. After breakfast we started with an Imax movie on the subject, then we went up in the Skylon Tower. We then went behind the falls in tunnels and finally we walked beside it. 

 

After having dinner at Hard Rock Café we are now totally exhausted resting in our hotel room. It has been a great day. I think we are longing for home a bit and it is nice but also intense to stay four people in a hotel room with a lot of luggage and two large beds in the same room, the boys in one bed and me and Amelia sharing the other. 

 

It has been wonderful to visit Arvid and I am so glad to have met and got to know Katy, Brad and Amanda. Thank you for making our stay so nice!

Today we left Liverpool and drove to Waterloo Premium Outlets (exit 41 on Interstate 90). Gym shoes were bought for almost everybody and we had some Chinese Food before we continued driving to Canada. The border was no problem and just a few questions were asked.

 

I was a bit worried when we arrived at the hotel and it appeared that it was not the hotel that I had booked, I had booked Days Inn in the US only we are in Canada now. Fortunately they did have a room for us.

 

We took a stroll down the road and it is all lit up like a fun fair. Lots of things to do. Had dinner at a beef restaurant, expensive but not priceworthy, I even sent my food out that hardly ever happens. We walked down to the shore, freezingly cold again, and saw the falls but most of all we heard them.

 

It has not really been my day today. I brought a bottle of wine from home and this is one of the last days to have it so we decided to open it. What do you use to open a bottle? Yes, a bottleopener! Only we didn't have one. It is fully possible to open a wine bottle with a manicure set. Only the manicure set is now broken. And Arvid was stuck with his finger in the bottle when he tried to press the cork downwards to get the wine out. However, it felt good to have some wine today.

 

It will be difficult to leave Arvid and go home. I hope he will have a great two months here before we see him again!

Arvid was staying with us at the hotel i Liverpool so we had to drive him home to Central Square to get is things and to be at the training at 10 in the morning. We are not so jetlagged anymore and are starting to sleep later in the mornings. Everything went fine and George and I stood and watched Arvid. The wind was pure ice and even though I had five layers of clothing I was slowly turning into an ice sculpture.

 

We then went home to Arvid to pick up some winter clothes that we will bring with us to Sweden. Soon it was time to go and watch Brad play La cross, a match in Baldwinsville (or something). Of course we all stood up to the national anthem before the match began. Suddenly the sun came out and I could peel off layer after layer and the world was lovely again.

 

After the match Arvid and I left George at the hotel and picked up Amelia, who has had a relaxing day on her own so far. The three of us went to Destiny Mall to look at some outlet shops but the result was meagre. After a quick meal at the food court we drove Arvid back to Central Square and then Amelia and I went back to the hotel.

 

We have now packed and tomorrow morning Katy, Arvid, Brad and Amanda will come and pick us up and we will drive slowly to the Niagara Falls for a few days before we go home on Sunday.

Today when we woke up the world was white. It was freezingly cold and I had to get up during the night to close the window.

 

George wanted to do some trekking and we all wanted to see a little more around here and it seems the closest interesting spot that we hadn't visited was Seneca Falls. As I understood it it would be some kind of waterfall but it turned out to be a small city to the north of Cayuga Lake.

 

Cayuga Lake is one of the Finger Lakes, a few narrow lakes west of Syracuse, famous for its landscape and also a lot of vineyards.

 

In Seneca Falls we visited the tourist centre and went for a stroll along the Ludovico Sculpture Trail. Although there are many museums we felt like being outdoors instead. When I packed I brought mittens and a hat but thought it a bit stupid. Today I was grateful! It was very cold. Amelia had three pair of trousers and a downjacket and looked quite happy for it.

 

No trekking in Seneca Falls.

 

Next on our list was a winery. Swedish Hill Winery - how could we resist such a name? I am the only driver but also the only one interested in wine so it was a very quick tasting. It seems the founders were Swedish but there was noone there speaking Swedish today. The wine was nothing special but it was fun to see they even have glögg.

 

Next stop Taughannok Falls. First we saw the waterfall from above and then we found a trail to see it from below. Beautiful walk. Close to the fall the mist from the fall spread to the trees nearby and freeze on the branches. You can hear the ice fall to the ground in the wind. A lovely place but hard to spell.

 

Time to eat! We drove to Ithaca and found a lovely Indian restaurant. Nice buffet and then a mango lassie! New energy for new adventures - or? Buttermilk Falls awaited us. The boys were so tired. We walked along the road, met two happy pitbulls with owners, the boys sat on a big stone and Amelia and I continued up to Lake Treman. It is possible to go around the lake but we didn't. We took the other side of the river back to the car. Unfortunately we could not see the biggest fall in the low part of the park since the trail was icy and therefore closed.

 

We drove on the east side of Lake Cayuga to the north back home again. The lake is narrow and you can see the other side from the road. We followed a scenic route and had beautiful sights, nice houses, open fields and sun on the lake. There are vineyards on the eastern side as well.

 

Time to eat again, this time at Tully's close to our hotel in Liverpool. Popcorn as starters reminded me of Lucy's Diner in Löddeköpinge, I guess it is supposed to be the other way around?

 

It has been a long day, we have seen a lot but I feel as if I will never stop being cold. Maybe a little wine would help?

Today we are having a snow storm. Arvid's competition was cancelled. Instead we went looking for shoes at the Great Northern Mall and visited Barnes & Noble, nice bookshop. Katy and Amanda joined us and we had a tasty lunch, Chinese Burbon chicken at the mall. 

 

We took another road home, quite a few actually, but everything went fine and now we are doing absolutely nothing at the hotel. Very relaxing.

Finally we managed to sleep a little late before breakfast. We had a funny time trying to fill up the car with gas including three people, loudspeaker instruction and various ways of trying to upon the lid. We managed to get to Arvid's school in time to see him practice and he was happy with today's result.

 

A picnic by Lake Ontario followed. As you will see from the pictures we were quite a lot of people and the picnic lasted just the right time to keep us from getting wet from the following rain. We drove past the place where Arvid's graduation will be held. Hope that you will take a lot of pictures then, Katy!

 

Köttfärssås, meatballs and spaghetti was on the menu for tonight followed by fruit and icecream. We are getting used to the routines in the kitchen now!

 

Of course we woke up early. After breakfast we went to Onondoga Lake Park for a stroll. Lots of people around and beautiful surroundings. The salt museum was closed today so we continued to Destiny Mall, the second largest mall in the US. George and Arvid managed to get trousers and Amelia had a great time on her own. Katy, Brad, Amanda with Tammy, Shannon, Jamie and Dylan came and we all had lunch. Then we went sightseeing to see some of the events available in the mall, like Canyon Climb, Wonderworks and bowling.

 

A quick tour to our hotel and then a tour to Wegmarks, a grocery store, where we bought some additional items to the salmon that was planned for tonight. It was nice to see the place where Arvid is staying and to cook the meal together. It is a great house will a feeling of home and I can see why Arvid is comfortable here.

 

We were guided by Tammy back to the highway, first drive in the dark and still a bit unsure about the way. We managed all fine and are now trying not to get to bed too early.

After a short nap we made contact and they all came to our hotel. Katy, Brad and Amanda and of course Arvid! So nice to meet you all and kind of weird to see Arvid after so long time, so familiar yet different. We went to a Chinese buffet and I didn't have to drive, I had quite enough earlier today.

 

Arvid has now come to stay with us and we will all meet tomorrow afternoon. It will probably be another early night tonight, we all suffer from the jet lag.

 

It felt very serious passing the border from Canada today. We went on the bridge close to the Niagara Falls and when it was our turn we handed over the passports. A kind but severe man asked us quite a few questions and then we had to park and enter the building to get stamps in our passports, to pay a small fee and get the permission to enter. Our ESTA, the visa application online we made before the trip to New York a few years ago, was still in the system. Kind and efficient personnel.

 

Now we are finally here after longing for Arvid so long and all we want to do is sleep.

After a loooong drive - we are now in Liverpool! Arvid and family are on their way! !!!!

Fick skjuts av Lisa, Amelias mamma, via en forvirrad fard i Malmo till Kastrup. 1,25 timmar till Amsterdam dar vi genast gick till incheckningen eftersom vi inte fatt platsbiljetter. Tur var det, planet var dubbelbokat och det var inte sakert att vi skulle komma med. Visst adrenalinpaslag med tanke pa gjorda bokningar nar vi kom fram. Vi kom med och fick dessutom sitta bredvid varandra.

Hur svart kan det vara att salja ratt antal platser till ett flygplan? Vi flog det storsta planet KLM har, ett bekant Thai-plan med bula och allt.

God mat och bra underhallning och framme klockan 19.55 lokal tid, 6 timmar tidigare an hemma. Toronto ar en stor flygplats och passkontrollen tar sin uppgift pa allvar.

Shuttle till Residence Inn by Marriott Toronto Airport fungerade bra och vi var mycket nojda med vart rum for tre personer. Glomde dock adaptern hemma sa det ar ont om strom pa telefonen. Har tillfalligt lanat en i receptionen. Vi ar redan vakna, ombytt, har atit frukost och sitter och vantar pa shutteln tillbaka till flygplatsen.

 

Forgot to write in English. So there is a jetlag even though we think we have adapted to our new time zone very well! Will soon leave for our drive to Central Square.

Har lite lätt ågren över att lämna jobbet mitt i högsäsong. Det har emellertid varit mycket jobb - och återstår en lång dag imorgon - den senaste tiden och det blir en hel del efter resan också. Hade planerat våren väl, tyckte jag, ett avbrott till Marrakech och sedan fullt ös till mitten av juli då arbetet klingar av. Men jag saknar ju Arvid så väldigt mycket... Arvid, 16 år, har läst vid Paul V Moore High School i Central Square, New York State, sedan början av september. Har inte sett honom på mer än 7 månader! Mammahjärtat längtar. Storebror George längtar också. Tror att även Arvid längtar. Och kompis Amelia är pigg på en tur.

 

Alltså bär det av mot Toronto på fredag för vidare transport mot Central Square, George, Amelia och jag gläder oss åt att träffa Arvid, hans värdfamilj och se var han bor!

 

Since this blog will hopefully be read by Arvid's family in the US, I will write at least some parts in English. Looking much forward to seeing Arvid again and his American family. It will be great to have inner pictures to visualize his experience and know what he will refer to in the future. Can't wait to go!

 

Oftast försöker jag beskriva resmålen för att locka till resor och få tips på vad man kan göra på andra ställen. Denna gång är målet mer att dokumentera Arvids omgivningar för familj som inte har möjlighet att åka över och besöka honom själv.

 

Pictures come with no language and I hope all of us who love Arvid and who is interested in being an exchange student can benefit from our blog stories.

 

Since the trip was decided upon rather late, the best tickets we could find were to Toronto. We will spend Friday night at an Airport hotel in Toronto and Saturday morning pick up our rented car and drive to Liverpool, since there is no hotel on booking.com in Central Square. I guess driving in the states can't be worse than driving in Thailand?

 

Going to Canada we do not need to fill in any documents to enter as is necessary to the US. Also entering the US from Canada means we need no ESTA permit. Will be interesting to see what forms they will make us fill in when we pass the border... I have a document from Amelia's parents that it is OK for her to come with me from Canada to the US, what if there is trouble with that? And I do not dare to bring any food in case it will be taken in the customs, pity, would like to bring a Swedish salmon.

 

Can't wait to go...