Let's make it to the Canadian border
A phrase from the film "Business People" (1963), filmed by director Leonid Gaidai (1923-1993) based on the stories of the American humorist O. Henry (pseudonym of William Sidney Porter, 1862-1910), including "The Leader of the Redskins" (1907) .
Original (end of story):
“As soon as the boy discovered that we were going to leave him at home, he raised a howl like a ship's siren and clung to Bill's leg like a leech. His father tore him off his leg like a sticky plaster.
How long can you keep it? Bill asks.
My strength is not what it used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can vouch for you in ten minutes.
That's enough, says Bill. "In ten minutes I'll be across the Central, Southern, and Midwestern states and have enough time to run to the Canadian border."
Although the night was very dark, Bill is very fat, and I could run very fast, I only caught up with him a mile and a half from the city.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .
See what "Let's manage to reach the Canadian border" in other dictionaries:
Let's make it to the Canadian border There is still plenty of time left... Live speech. Dictionary of colloquial expressions
WE HAVE TIME TO RUN TO THE CANADIAN BORDER- adj. There is still plenty of time left... Explanatory dictionary of modern colloquial phraseological units and sayings
Business people Genre Comedy Director Leonid Gaidai Scriptwriter Leonid Gaidai based on the short stories by O. Henry ... Wikipedia
Books
- Collected works in 3 volumes (number of volumes: 3), O "Henry. The famous American writer O. Henry (William Sidney Porter) is the author of popular short stories, a master of original plot twists, colorful dialogues and stunning denouements. ...
- O.Henry. Collected Works (set of 3 books), O. Henry. The famous American writer O. Henry (William Sidney Porter) is the author of popular short stories, a master of original plot twists, colorful dialogues and stunning denouements.…
- Kings and Cabbage Noble Rogue The Voice of the Big City Stories by Henry O. The famous American writer O. Henry (William Sidney Porter) is the author of popular short stories, a master of original plot twists, colorful dialogues and stunning denouements.…
And get into an amazing country where a person breathes so freely
In three weeks it is difficult to know the depth of such an immense country as Canada. However, there are more than enough impressions from being in its Olympic villages to acquaint the readers of "R" with some of the characteristic features of this surprisingly curious country.
Babel
The first thing that caught my eye in Vancouver was the international composition of its population. Here, as in no other country in the world, and I happened to visit more than two dozen of them, there are a lot of people from China, India, other Asian countries, as well as the former Soviet Union. For example, at the metro station, next to which the main stadium of the Winter Games is located, there is also Chinatown. And its name is appropriate - Chinatown Stadium. For a moment it even seemed that he did not leave the Olympic Beijing-2008, there are so many immigrants from the Celestial Empire here. Versatile dialect surrounds you throughout Vancouver, although, of course, English and, to a lesser extent, French, the two official languages of Canada, predominate. By the way, the official representatives of one of the French regions of this country expressed indignation to the organizers of the Olympiad at the fact that their native language was practically absent at its grand opening.
As it turned out, the consequence of the "Babylonian pandemonium" in the province of British Columbia, which is home to about 4.5 million people, and partly in all of Canada, is that it has all the conditions to attract foreigners. This is one of the few countries where it is quite easy to obtain a residence permit through a variety of immigration programs, which makes it today, perhaps, the most accessible and attractive in the whole world. Evidence of this is the repeated recognition by the United Nations of Canada as a state with the best conditions for people to live. And if you take into account the climatic, economic, demographic and other conditions of British Columbia and Vancouver in particular, the third largest city in Canada (2.5 million people) after Montreal and Toronto, it is not surprising that this area has become the focus of so many ethnic groups.
Better begging than stealing
The capital of the XXI Winter Games is located on the west coast of Canada and has a very mild climate and exceptionally picturesque location. The average temperature here in winter does not drop below plus 6 degrees, and in the mountains, where half of the Olympic competitive program took place, it fluctuates around zero. In summer it is about 25 degrees. The paradox of this region is also that for one day you can go sailing on a yacht, then skiing, and after that play golf or tennis. According to the authoritative English publication "Ekonomist", Vancouver is the most comfortable city on the planet today, and in terms of the main indicators of the quality of life it is constantly among the leaders, sharing laurels with such cities as Zurich, Vienna and Geneva. Thus, the average life expectancy of men here is 75 years, women - 81.4. These and many other factors cannot but attract people from all over the globe, including the disadvantaged. Their large number, especially during the Winter Games, was an unpleasant surprise. They ask for alms, earn it with the help of musical instruments in crowded places. Moreover, some of them, without hesitation, immediately lay out their simple belongings, often with them a four-legged dog friend. Indeed, it is better to beg than to steal, as one French proverb says. It is also noteworthy that Canada has very strict natural legislation, and, for example, a dog, cat or broken tree thrown out into the street can be subject to a very substantial fine.
The greatest concentration of poor fellows in one place happened to be observed in the suburbs of Vancouver when they got to the training camp of the national hockey team of Belarus. There was an ambulance and a fire engine at the bus stop where they changed trains. On the opposite side of the street, about 50-60 homeless people set up a bazaar-station, exchanging belongings directly from their "motor homes", from shopping carts. Some drank, smoked, including cigarettes, possibly with weed, and did not pay any attention to the police, who checked the documents of a motley crowd. Alas, such are the costs of the beautiful and heavenly life of the "stone jungle" of fashionable Vancouver. Tolerance, attention, care for this category of people, who have lost their life orientation, is also an integral part of Canadian democracy. And as one of the volunteers of the Olympic mission of Belarus told, they are especially busy with them in the cold season, so that, God forbid, they don’t freeze. But not every one of them agrees to the guaranteed warmth, shelter and food of a rooming house or shelter. But the priestesses of love in the well-worn along and across Vancouver did not see a single one. Perhaps they live in strictly defined places for this, on the streets of the red light districts.
Greenpeace is from here
As it turned out, Canadian reality also implies complete equality of men and women. And most eloquently about this was the number of the fair sex in police and military uniforms, in uniforms of firefighters and road workers. The means of transport of the first of them are also curious: cars, horses, bicycles and on foot. Everything will fit for the performance of functional duties. Surprised once at the metro station and a serviceman, with a full military parade, with a long black beard and mustache. And one city bus driver, as it seemed, never took off his turban at all in the same dense "vegetation". Evidence of respect and tolerance for all diasporas, religions, views and the attitude of law enforcement agencies to the protests of environmental and other organizations against the Olympics in Vancouver (by the way, the world-famous Greenpeace society is from here). Peaceful processions were simply accompanied by them, aggressive ones, with breaking shop windows, setting cars on fire, were severely suppressed. But, I think, the vast majority of Canadians in their hearts still welcomed the universal holiday of sports. The best proof of this is the crowded stands even at the "passing" matches of the hockey tournament, or at qualifying matches in other disciplines. And the genuine interest of the aborigines in the Russia House, where the XXII Winter Games in Sochi were presented in a very original way, completely resulted in a half-kilometer or more line at the weekend. The fans were also intrigued by the grand opening and closing of the Games, tickets for which were sold out long before these ceremonies. And just before their start, the price of tickets from speculators went off scale for a thousand dollars. And after all, they bought, since the average income of citizens per family is 53 thousand Canadian dollars a year, almost equivalent to US dollars, and about 4,500 a month. If desired, even the unemployed could do this, because the maximum allowance in Canada is 55 percent of the average salary. And why not live in one of the richest countries in the world?! Including energy resources, in which Canada is second only to Russia. A country that cannot be understood with the mind, cannot be measured with a common yardstick of its final results in Vancouver. Our allies planned to win ten gold awards, received three. And the southern neighbors were completely left without a single award! So, the Olympic set of medals of Belarus against the comparative background of former compatriots is a super achievement. By the way, it was the Ukrainians, whose diaspora in Canada has already exceeded one million people, who most often congratulated us on the medals of Grishin, Novikov and Domracheva.
The main treasure of the country
One of the assets of Canada is, of course, the environment, its flora and fauna. For example, half of the serpentine of the 120-kilometer route to the Olympic Whisler passed along the tall mountains on the one hand, on the other hand, along the strait, alluring with its landscape and an article of snow-white motor ships and yachts. The mountains are multi-colored, in some places covered with lichen, but mostly with dense forests. Streams and even small waterfalls flow from some rocky cliffs. Some of them are covered with a metal mesh, and in especially dangerous places they are also treated with a special film. The nature here is truly pristine. The vegetation in this area of British Columbia is dominated by spruce forests, larch, pine, cedar and small shrubs. Occasionally come across oaks and dear birches. Forests cover half of the province, and the trees here are the tallest in Canada. As a consequence, the most prosperous branch of its economy is timber processing. It is easy to guess that the next most important is tourism. Majestic mountains, beautiful parks and well-equipped beaches attract about 20 million people every year, for whom the most diverse recreation is provided. So, in the aforementioned strait, very informative and exotic excursions are held for tourists. From the shore they can feed seals, walruses and fur seals, and from the ship - whales, killer whales. Mining is also an important industry in the province. Coal, metal ore, precious and rare metals are being developed in mines and mines. By the way, British Columbia ranks second in the country in gas production and third in hydropower.
There is also plenty of life in these parts. In the ocean, rivers and lakes, in the number of which this country is ahead of the rest, up to 80 species of fish are caught. I had a chance to see Canadian geese live, and in Vancouver - gulls, herons and albatrosses. It is noteworthy that the birds are not at all afraid of a person, letting them in at a very close distance. In the surrounding forests there are grizzly bears, which frightened our Olympians in Whistler, wolves, lynxes, cougars, foxes, raccoons, marmots and many other living creatures. Every 10-15 kilometers on the way to the second Olympic village there are residential and outbuildings, cottages and luxury hotels.
Whistler itself is a world-famous ski resort and a fabulous town nestled at the foot of beautiful mountains. It was founded in 1900 and its name, which means “whistle” in Russian, is due to the marmot that lives here and makes this shrill sound. A 15-minute drive from it, the Olympic Village was erected, in which standard IOC living conditions were provided for all sports delegations. No frills, but quite tolerable, as some Belarusian athletes noted. But the special attraction of this area, and this was said by everyone without exception, is the virgin beauty of nature, the intoxicating mountain air and ringing silence.
And yet, not the flora and fauna, but the people, a significant part of whom are emigrants, are the main wealth of Canada. The best social security system they have created in the world allows the country to be one of the most peaceful, politically stable and safe to live in the world. And how can one not recall the immortal phrase of the literary hero O'Henry, which was placed in the title of the material, which also interprets the essence and originality of this international country.
On the picture:"Russian house".
Photo: Konstantin BELOUS
"- Are you bringing apples, lard?"- every time I arrive in the States, I remember a scene from the movie "Brother-2". And a horror story before the first trip, when they scared me with America:" It’s not enough to get a visa here, you also have to convince the officer that you won’t stay!".
The US-Canada border is the longest unguarded border in the world. Customs supervision is carried out only on the major roads between the US and Canada. In the villages, in the fields and in the forests, there are neither customs posts nor any border fences. Despite the fact that after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the main US-Canada roads, police-border control was strengthened. However, the increase in control caused a mixed reaction from ordinary residents of Canada and the United States, as well as business representatives, who were forced to face additional checks that were unusual until then.
Part 1. From America to Canada
It usually takes three hours to get to Vancouver, including the border. The main thing is to choose the right checkpoint from the three available: Peace Arch on Highway No. 5, Pacific Highway just to the east, or Lynden near the American town of Delta. There is also Samas, but he is already very far from Vancouver. The border runs exactly along the 49th parallel, along which Zero Avenue is laid on the Canadian side, connecting all the checkpoints to each other. In the USA, there is also the possibility of a detour if you suddenly get into a heavy traffic jam.
1 In our case, they chose the lesser of evils: it was a mistake to leave on Friday evening, traffic jams at each border stretched for hours, although there was visually less “red” on Pacific than on Peace Arch.
2 We drove along the navigator “gardens” almost to the very border line. The traffic jam at the crossroads leads to the border. Everything is there today. Most of the cars have Canadian plates.
3 People are freaking out. Someone tries to get ahead of the queue, but most behave decently. Compared to what is happening on the borders of Russia (and Georgia, Ukraine, Finland), everyone is very disciplined. But we had to crawl for an hour before we saw the border terminal.
4 A life hack for the “smartest” ones: first, fly along the free lane to Duty Free, then pretend that you are leaving with purchases and join the general queue. There is also a free extreme left lane, where NEXUS ONLY is written. Nexus is such a system “for our own”, proven and often moving between countries, citizens of both states. They don’t even need to show their passport, just put a special card on the reader, and if the border guard sitting in the booth has no questions, they can pass through in a couple of seconds.
Everyone else needs passports, and this was introduced relatively recently, before Americans and Canadians traveled to each other on a driver's license, but after 9/11 and other terrorist attacks, the rules were tightened, you have to get a full-fledged international document.
5 A feature of both countries, there are no border controls at the exit from the States and Canada, only at the entrance. In theory, this can be used for duty free trips without stopping by Canada to return home (although there you will have to go through full-fledged border control and answer questions about where you are coming from). In practice, they are asked not to do this, implying a violation of customs rules - a crime.
6 Finally, Canada's checkpoint. The very passage of the border took no more than a couple of minutes, we did not get out of the car, did not open the trunk and did not show the contents of the cabin. I just handed over two passports to the policeman, he took them in his hands and asked questions before opening the documents. They are almost the same every time, but may differ depending on your answers to them:
* where do you live?
* Purpose of visit to Canada?
* How long are you going?
* where will you live?
* who owns the car?
Although in most cases, they did not ask about the car at all. It was a rental car from the Seattle airport, where we flew in and where we will fly away in a month, and so we drive and travel around the USA and Canada. Documents for the car were not needed at all. Canadians never opened the trunk.
After a short conversation, the border guard opens the passports, scans them and stamps them with an oval blue stamp. After entry, you can legally stay in the country for up to 6 months. In the USA, they write the date by which you need to leave with a pen, in Canada they don’t.
Part 2. From Canada to America
7 Now I'll tell you how to get from Canada to America. So something the same, but there are nuances. There are scoreboards on the tracks with up-to-date information about the length of the queue at different crossings. If you go not on Friday or Sunday evening, not on the eve of major holidays, crossing the border will take a maximum of 20 minutes, including the queue.
8 There is also no control at the exit from Canada, you can turn around and go back if you change your mind about going to the States. Who needs it and why? The option “I forgot my documents will not work” - at the entrance to the country, the officer will talk in exactly the same way as if you had just arrived from America. And the answer option: “Yes, I just turned around” will not suit him, he will have to present a document and explain the purpose of the visit to Canada. This happened to us when we missed the duty free turn and decided to go to the second round. Well, at least I didn’t put a new seal. They don’t put them at all if they saw that they had recently moved in.
9 Duty-free shops are usually located outside the country, but there are joint US-Canadian ones.
10 Assortment - as in any "djutik": perfumes, souvenirs, alcohol. Lots of maple syrup and sweets/cookies with it. There are caps / sweatshirts of average quality. I had the only 10 Canadian dollar bill that they decided to spend and bought a great furry friends elk pillow preparer. Click on the right arrow on the photos and scroll, there are hidden other pictures. Happened? Do this whenever you see arrows :)
11 And now - to the States! Canada has two official languages, and in French the United States is written as EU! Do not confuse with the European Union, then UE (Union Européenne), and here - États-Unis!
12 The passage of the American border practically does not differ from the same procedure on the Canadian side, all officers are outwardly relaxed and friendly. I wonder how they are in Mexican?
The border guard took the passports and first of all checked the visas. Then the same questions about the place of residence, the purpose of the visit and the type of activity followed. Having learned that the trip began in the USA and we were just returning, she drew attention to the license plates of the car. Rental? Again, no one asked for documents. But the woman became interested in the contents of the trunk and interior. She came out of her booth and asked to open the trunk. I pressed the button on the panel and stayed behind the wheel. She glanced at the suitcases, closed the lid herself, then opened the back door behind me and saw a small cooler bag. She asked what we were carrying and if we could open it. I saw cold cuts in the package, cheese and berries. Berries were produced in the USA, lucky. Otherwise, they could be asked to throw it away, at the entrance to the States there is a strict quarantine of plants and food.
13 Canadians don't have that: while you're standing in line for an officer, you're being scanned, recorded, and photographed by half a dozen cameras.
14 I got to the Arch of Peace, the main border crossing between the US and Canada, at the very end of the trip. I made a special trip to visit this unusual place. Exactly on the border of the two countries, on the 49th parallel, a ten-meter white arch with open gates is installed. You can approach the arch from either side and walk in the park, freely crossing the border without documents.
15 The Arch of Peace was built at the border crossing in 1921 to mark a lasting peace between the two countries, and it was the first such structure in the world.
The park at this place was broken in 1939, pushing the checkpoint a couple of hundred meters.
16 It turned out to be an excellent area for festivities, with hectares of lawns and flower beds.
17 On the Canadian side of the park, a huge living carpet has been grown in the shape and colors of the national flag.
18 This one-story house has a free toilet. Clean and well maintained. I checked both Canadian and American, there are different plumbing 🙂
19 The moment of crossing the border.
20 The flags of the two states are placed on the same level, but there is an illusion that the flag of the country on whose territory you are standing is higher.
21 “Children of a common mother” - written on the pediment of the arch. Can you imagine the same monument and the same words on the border of Ukraine and Russia? Here's an example of how it could be.
22 The arch has become a tourist attraction, and no one cares that people walk in the restricted area and take pictures. In fact, the border itself can be easily removed here, no one said a word to me. And schoolchildren from both countries bring excursions here to talk about friendship and fraternal peoples.
23 How do you like an international marathon that starts in one country and ends in a neighboring one? It somehow reminded me of the Russian-Norwegian “Friendship Ski Track”, when the border is opened once a year and you can even walk to the border post and even take a picture. And in the rest of the year, you won’t go into the border zone for a cannon shot. Here, the park was created for this, so that people walk and have a great time on the border. They could put a couple more restaurants, such as on the highlands, where you can go from Bavaria to eat Tyrolean sausages or vice versa.
24 While we were walking, a traffic jam formed at the American checkpoint. We passed it in 10 minutes.
25 Canadians have a British Columbia Visitor Center in this place, but I saw it too late, I was too lazy to turn around.
26 A road sign reminding Americans that Canada has a different system of measurements and speeds are indicated not in miles, but in kilometers. Just for this, duplicate values in km / h are needed in American cars.
27 There are other frontiers, forgotten and abandoned. You won't see people there anymore. Now everyone uses personal transport, but there was a time when America traveled by train. This boarded up railway station was the first and last stop on the Canadian side, border guards came in here and checked documents, just like Suzemka or Kazachya Lopan on the border with Ukraine!
28 Trains run here even now, though more and more freight trains. Although there is also a passenger service, the Seattle-Vancouver train takes 4 hours versus 3 by car. Has anyone traveled on a similar train? Share your impressions in the comments!
29 Traditional frontier devastation in the small town of Blaine, USA. Although this is only one kind of such, on the other hand everything is decent (see the following photos, this is the same Blaine).
31 Currency exchange in a border town. This is where all Canadians buy gasoline. It costs more than other gas stations in the state, but much cheaper than in British Columbia, where the price will jump to $ 1.5 per liter.
32 For dessert - the sweetest! Abandoned border crossing! I could not leave readers without something unusual. Once a checkpoint in Noyes, Minnesota, was a strategically important and busiest border crossing point east of the Great Lakes! North of Noyes, on the Canadian side, is Emerson, Manitoba.
33 When countries built large and modern crossings a couple of miles from here, the flow of cars moving through Noyes dropped to zero: there are almost ten lanes and booths, there are only two. The Canadian government closed the Emerson crossing in 2003 and the Noyes crossing was retired in 2006.
35 Inside, devastation and desolation are common for such places, wallpaper peels off from dampness, a fungus has gone on the walls. Buildings deteriorate quickly without people.
- How long can you keep it? Bill asks.
“My strength is not what it used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can vouch for you in ten minutes.
“That's enough,” Bill says. “In ten minutes I will cross the central, southern and mid-western states and have time to run freely to the Canadian border.
O "Henry" Leader of the Redskins "
I honestly didn’t intend to stuff you with more sweets, but on Saturday afternoon my friend called with a question: Nadia, would you say, offhand, some quick dessert?
OOPS!!! It is these pies that I call "Run to the Canadian border", and in my understanding this means that you can cook them 15 minutes before the guests arrive. I will tell about them now, because I mentioned them to my friend.
1 pack of folded dough (my favorite is "Star" yeast-free)
2 large sweet apples
Cinnamon…
We remove the core from the apples, first cut in half, and then each half into slices. 
The dough, of course, is desirable to pre-thaw it in the refrigerator, but if fate is not at all favorable to you, then quickly put it in the microwave in the defrosting mode. I won’t say about the defrosting time, because. All microwave ovens are different. It is important for us to get the dough in a condition suitable for rolling, and not in the condition of a runaway porridgeJ.
We spread the dough on parchment, lightly sprinkled with flour, and roll it out. Why did I write a different number of pies? Because if the dough is not rolled out, then from one pack there will be 12 pies with a very high dough. I don’t like thick dough, so I roll it out and I have more piesJ.
R askatali, cut into squares as shown in the photo and made the same cuts in the corners. 
Next, diagonally lay 2 apple slices on each piece of dough and sprinkle it with cinnamon. We pinch the edges of the dough and get such a nice little envelopeJ.
Speaking of apples! Filling options may vary:
If the apples are sour, then sprinkle more sugar on top.
If there are no apples in abundance, take an apple + pear
We send the envelopes to the oven, heated to 180 degrees. We bake until done. 20 minutes max.
We eat everything in 10 minutesJ
And not to use this chance would be somehow completely stupid.
So, a story about two cars, six people and one waterfall...
Niagara has a couple of chips.
Chip times - they talk about it awesome enthusiastically.
Chip two - all the way just five hundred miles. From Chicago. In a straight line.
And chip three - half of the waterfall, generally speaking, in another country. And I want to go there too. =)
And at 19.30 Thursday, six people in the same house were arguing when two cars should leave. A bunch of arguments, inconsistencies in terminology and ideological differences. Well, I have another plate of dumplings. But she doesn't count.
Like any dispute, it ended with something in the spirit of taking "weakly" on the ability to assemble in 30 minutes.
And I kept quiet. I didn't collect anything either.
But when did it get in the way?
... Fifteen minutes later I was flipping through a friend's tape ...
... At 20.00, the crew of Nissan entered the route ...
... And at 20.05 - the crew of the "Daewoo" shki with me on the radio operator's seat ...
CP 1 - Detroit.
We honestly had a tent. And hope for campsites.
However, the American scientist Sasha Shemyakin still argued that normal people book hotels in advance. To which I replied in the same confident tone - "Unsportsmanlike."
True, we still failed to refuse the offer to find us normal free places.
I even have SMSs preserved, with an encrypted description of where to go.
Maybe we'd go there in droves.
But then it came but.
"Nissanovtsy", nothing hesitant, slipped a short turn to Detroit. They ran for ten miles without noticing anything. And since we slipped through, we decided to cut further, following the signs. Suddenly, they won't let you down.
Our co-driver gave the signal on time, and twenty minutes / two pit stops / of the gap were recouped at that moment.
And be happy.
If not for the repair of the road and detour. Well, not at all indicated on the Google map route sheets.
And leading away to the rainbow / well, night actually ... / gave.
What something wrong, was discovered only when the street was finally found, lit up on three fragmentary pieces of the map, a quarter was left from the tank, and the necessary turn was missed for the same ten miles.
Turned around. With the mood: "Hurrah, we don't need to go further into this wilderness, WE TURN BACK!"
As for the wilderness, we, of course, got excited.
The Embassy of Canada - yeah, it was in the very center - so far, however, at two in the morning, and therefore closed.
And a tip from another crew - "Well, we went to bed, stopped at the parking lot - before it you need to turn left onto the yyy street, then from it - to the right, there will be a large store with red neon, here we are in the parking lot nearby."
We were not yet frightened by the fact that the tip was given by a sleepy voice.
And we went.
On an unforgettable excursion into the culture of Detroit.
No, well, we are in theory / and that's not all. =)/ knew that the city is half dead, but still ranks second in the States in terms of crime.
But this is not a reason not to appreciate the burned-out skyscrapers in the city center and a ragged black man with a wheelbarrow of garbage, showing unambiguously obscene gestures to the only white people on the street, that is, to us? Well, or suspiciously looking inside the car from a rusty bicycle ...
In general, the spiral in the center of Detroit was wound twice - a sleepy tip did not lead anywhere, except for random passages under a brick and past the police building.
Well, past the unfriendly blacks with abandoned houses, es-no.
Well, we got to the parking lot. We met with our people at the embassy - and they arrived on their tail.
All the signs were in place ... However, only after they entered the parking lot mentioned more than once.
And that street - goes in two pieces ...
The next morning, from the "Renaissance Center", where the very embassy was found, we / well, do not wander around the most "spectacular" places alone, even during the day? .. / did not get out under the motto: "We were looking for everything the biggest - so, Detroit is the biggest SCRATCH we have entered!"
We filled out carbon-copy applications, gave them along with passports and letters stating that we were good, honestly paid the visa fee and went to drink coffee.
And then they returned to collect their passports.
The first one went... Declined.
The second one was also closed.
The third is me. Sorry steward.
Approved. Wow.
The fourth - with a visa, the fifth - the documents are not ready, the sixth - a citizen of Estonia, and a visa to him - like salmon wings.
This is arithmetic.
And if it’s closer to life, then only those who can’t enter because they don’t have rights can enter.
Two drivers were turned away, and the third one is waiting.
There would be a drum roll, but the embassy, after all, is impossible ...
Tadam.
All our crew - with visas.
All not ours - without visas.
True, a hot Estonian guy does not need to.
And here we made one logical move, which then all the remaining days cursed.
They exchanged cars - a two-door Lanos seemed much more suitable for two people than for four. And "Nissan-don't-remember-what" - on the contrary.
No one knew yet that from the inside, everything is slightly the other way around.
Changed - have a good trip - tear ...
... Canada welcomed me warmly. A friendly cheerful border guard and a thick smell of manure.
They had nothing to do with each other, but still.
And it was KP-2.
On the way we found London. Even the Welcome Center said there was nothing there...
According to modest estimates, only eight people can be accommodated on the bed of a double room in a small roadside hotel ...
But we had sleeping bags.
KP-3 - obviously, Toronto. If you look for everything, then in the middle there will be the highest observation deck. CN Tower, Toronto, 13 meters above Ostankino at the top of the tower, 447 meters - the height where civilians like us are allowed.
Why am I...
Indeed, high. And we were lucky with the weather - Niagara is really visible /only small-meeeelko/.
And with attack aircraft flying under the windows.
It looks like it's such a skill - to hit the towers at the time of the air show.
And more... More... More........
There was air.
In general, I myself am now sitting and salivating in the photo, because the card reader was lost somewhere.
But I will show it. /At least, if you strongly ask./
Well, there's nothing else to do with it.
A girl from the Welcome Center presented a card and drew circles on it. We wandered around the parks - indeed, the circles looked like something worth going around in Toronto.
But the main thing began at five in the evening, when all the museums were closed.
Including the castle of one new Canadian, near which we stood and thought - either go inside, or the devil with him, and just decided to disperse according to interests ...
Well, the museums close at five.
But not for the deputy about to.
It turned out that a certain clearing was already being laid at the New Canadian tables...
...The next circle was Chinatown.
True, Muscovites for some reason think that this particular circle did not mean: "Look!", But: "Don't get in, it will kill you!"
For me, it's quite colorful.
...Mugs remained. One. Named "Fort York".
So we were waiting to see something...
Even then they waited when they went to the log shed behind the fence and checked on the map whether everything was so with the landmarks.
But there was a fort.
And there was also a meadow.
So... Fort, view from the outside - an earthen rampart, grass and rooftops.
They did not take the assault.
For some reason.
The very best CP. Niagara. If not the longest, then the most famous waterfall.
And by two o'clock in the morning we went to him - by ear.
The driver and navigator got out - grunted: "Where is he?" - and returned to look further.
It later turned out that the Horseshoe was right below us. =) Literally five minutes later, when we were standing near the side, we watched how the jets were racing...
... And a dozen cars flashed emergency lights - well, what to do, "emergency" section, for everyone something breaks for an unknown reason - under the signs "stop is prohibited."
But the Canadian police are on the alert... They generally have roads - like in Russia, and the police act in exactly the same way. =)
At the first sign of a nix, all the cars were miraculously repaired and fell off no worse than those same jets from that very Horseshoe cornice.
And the police caught the weakest and sickest member of the herd.
No wonder Niagara lies at the latitude of Sochi.
No matter how shabby and inn the yard was, at the counter they wringed the price no lower than in Marriott. And they offered to cheat with payment methods. And they offered a bunch of other things when they saw fucking tourists who - for sure - want to sleep at three in the morning.
They weren't attacked. / Even the Big Predatory Beast attacked the wrong ones, sneaking up to our navigator while he was knocking on the door. Have they fed him at the hotel? The wounded man definitely needs bed rest.../
It all almost ended with the car being stuck next to the parking lot of tourist buses behind an incomprehensible house.
Nearly.
Operational reconnaissance of the area showed that we managed not to reach twenty meters to an open campsite with free places.
And we had a tent.
And that's where it ended.
And anyway... Camping with a shower and hot water is already a resort...
General view from Niagara... Uhhhh... Impressive.
I may write about it separately and a lot. With illustrations.
In the meantime - so as not to be silent - I will send you to listen to an Indian legend.
Now, of course, the "Misty Maiden" is not the same - just a sightseeing boat diving into the Horseshoe cauldron, in the heart of a foggy cloud ...
It would seem - only showers from all sides.
It seemed. Would.
The wind, seagulls are circling in a whirlwind of spray, water is flying along with them in a thin suspension ... Cold white smoke. Veil, lost top and bottom - not to mention the north. Air and water - together - are so strong that they no longer ask if you want to be familiar with them - they simply stroke the collarbones and put them on the shoulders.
Let me remember. Everything about wind and water.
And then - a reverse course, tourists in wet polyethylene, streams flowing down the "wings" of the hood.
Some of them felt - no less.
Someone - no, you will not know.
Dial enough words still will not come out of either one or the other.
General views of the waterfall - we are waiting. For a walk down to the base of the waterfall - a queue for an hour and a half.
An alley, a rainbow in the purest two orders, jumping over a fence where you really want to, transparent and smooth streams of water - they break into smithereens a meter below, at the base of the threshold ...
An hour and a half later - a tunnel under a rock, behind a layer of flying water. Somewhere around here he should go to the portal. And the truth...
Phrase of the day: "I walked here, hoping to see something incredible, enlightening the soul and giving food to the mind, I waited and hoped, I walked - and now, on the edge of the abyss, I have only one question left... So what?"
Television ripples were shown in the first portal. White structureless, and characteristic noise.
But I was not in vain hoping that this was not all.
In another portal - jets are visible.
And on the site...
...In general, one would think of me that I forgot to put on a hood in vain.
Not in vain and not forgotten.
Specially.
It opened up on the edge and caught the most enchanting flurry of spray provided by the tour.
Do you feel...
Naturally, you feel how you instantly get wet from the sole to the tips of your ears.
And also...
Well, guess for yourself.
The ship is only twice as close, and open from all sides.
Forget that you are not from the elements.
And then remember.
But it will be later.
And then we lost a hot Estonian guy.
No, it is clear that everyone needs to steal something from the souvenir shop, and with how many / and what / people are waiting on the other side of the planet - it’s not a sin to buy half of Canada.
But we honestly stood in line and went to the first exit from the ticket office.
And they sat down to look at the rainbow - the exit was not anywhere.
And after half an hour they thought that in such a time it was possible to buy up the whole of Canada. Leaving no half for the followers.
Let's go look.
In bad places - no.
The sellers refused to remember the answer: "Estonia" to their traditional question: "Where from?".
The Welcome Center is hospitably closed with a barn lock.
Phones sit down, and the connection is not hung.
We've arrived.
The world, of course, was saved by SMS messages - and then it turned out that out of the three exits, the comrade chose the farthest one, and he didn’t even get cold about the other two ... And he honestly walked to the car.
Found.
Thank the gods.
Night. Fireworks...
Let's wait for the photos. =)
And then we returned. The border guards frowned, trying to understand - why do we need two identical DSKs, and we were already afraid that the problem of spending the night had been radically resolved - until the identity was clarified, at the border.
Identities established in ten minutes.
The night was broken.
So he asked: "Where are you coming from?" - I thought it was stupid to answer: "From Canada" on the US-Canadian border. Almost already answered: "From Niagara" and realized that we were going from the Canadian city of Niagara to the American city of Niagara ....
-...and blurted out: "From Russia".
Excerpts from Buffalo:
... "I already remember this place!!" - said on the third and a half lap of the first roundabout encountered in the US. I'm afraid the hot Estonian guy remembered Zadornov's joke about "no more than three times."
Straight or right?
-Directly...
The car takes off forward.
-... the scribe is full, TURN RIGHT!
I understand that this music perfectly tones up, drives away tiredness and does not give tiredness, and this is why it is beautiful in the current situation ... But, ***, it already seems to me that a crowd of woodsexual maniacs is chasing me!
