Niagara Falls in the winter

Eleven days ago I went with 3 other colleagues to Niagara Falls and, later, Toronto, with even more people.
It was worthwhile. I was a bit skeptical, some people had told me that the town was horribly touristy (and it was) and I am usually not that impressed with the major tourists sites, so I was not sure if I was going to enjoy the sights or not.
Luckily, we arrived at the river close to the American Rapids, which are nice falls, but not that impressive at all. Very disappointing. But this disappointment made the view of the Horseshoe, the main attraction, that much more interesting.
I am certain that the falls at winter were more interesting for me than they would have been in the summer, and, because it is not the main season, the town is not too busy and everything is certainly easier around there. The only tourists around are odd people like us or 19 and 20 year old Americans who take advantage in the difference of the legal drinking age.
Yes, the town is extremely touristy. Take a look at the Frankenstein Burger King or any of the many "scary" or "haunted" attractions. I don't know why they have all congregated there, but it is really funny. So, in the end, the fact of it being touristy to extremes is not that bad, just adds a bit more of zest to the experience.
We didn't get to do the traditional boat excursion, for obvious reasons. Below, some pictures and videos on Picasa.

080313-14 Niagara Falls

4 Mannheimers in Kingston's winter

A cool picture taken by Viktoria at the frozen Ontario Lake.



I am going ice skating soon, to enjoy the cool weather and bright sun.

Mont-Royal aux Montreal

We arrived yesterday in the afternoon in Montreal, left our things in our great apartments in the hotel (really great accomodation, but at a certain price) and went out on foot to take a look at Montreal. It is cold here, but i don't complain, it is enough to be dressed properly.

At night we met Hadi, one of our MBA colleagues at his friend's place and went out to the Seven club, on Crescent Street, where we got VIP treatment. Thanks a lot, Hadi!

Today Marc suggested we go to the Mont-Royal Park, so we took our comfortable Grand Caravan van and drove up there. The day was magnific and we had a great time in the park. The views from up there are fantastic, it mus be great to have such a nice park in the center of the city.

I decided to take a break and do some work on an assignment I still have to hand in this weekend, so I have to give it a go now. Others went to take a look at the Museum of Fine Arts, with the lights show at the Notre Dame in the old center of the town at 7 p.m..

In the evening we plan to visit a restaurant suggested by Peter, a Mannheim colleague who actually is from Montreal, Swartz's. I hope to meet a Brazilian friend then, who is studying here. She actually was my sister's good friend during college.

Well, a great weekend so far. A few pics for you. Talk to you later.

Winter shoes

Be sure to bring or buy good winter shoes for your winter semester in Kingston. The main characteristics, in order of importance, are:

• Water proof



• Anti-skidding



• Warm



• Easy to clean

Well, it gets wet here. That's because of the snow and ice mixture that you will find on streets, even when it's cold. So you want a water proof shoe. It is not fun to walk around in negative temperatures with wet feet.

the mixture of snow and ice also stains all sorts of materials, specially leather. So you don't want to ruin your nice dress shoes. And you want your new shoes to be easily cleaned for the same reason.

It gets really slippery around here, so a good sole design is a safety necessity.

And if the shoes aren't that warm, that is not a big problem, as long as your feet are dry. You can always use warm socks, or layers of socks.

I bought short boots at Mountain Equipment Co-op in Toronto, and am happy with them. Somewhat similar to the ones pictured below. It was boxing week and, with tax, I paid less than CA$70. A good price, I believe. Expect to pay up to CA$150.

Yes, I know. Not a very exciting article. But it was one thing I was considering before coming here. Winter boots are difficult to find in countries where you don't have a strong winter and heavy to carry in your lugggage, so I really recommend buying them here.

Ice cold organizational behaviour

Yesterday was the last exam I was really worried about. Organizational behaviour. But it turned out that I wasn't too badly prepared, thanks to some own work and to some great help and a efficient summary on motivation by Marwa.
Now I have marketing and operations management to go. But I liked those classes, am confident about the subjects and the exams are only 40% of the final grade, having already gotten a good grade in the marketing group assignment and expecting a positive result for the OM project as well.

From 071211-12 Ice...

Much more interesting, I believe, is the development of the weather around here. The lst 3 days have been very cold, finally. We had had a cold wave in November, but, after that, the weather had become pleasantly mild and unpleasantly wet. Now we can say that it is really cold: for the first time, the lake has frozen closed. The ice layer is not really thick at about 5 mm, but it is a beginning. Let's see how it develops. Maybe we'll celebrate our farewell party *on* the lake?
Some pictures in the following album:

071211-12 Ice in Warwick

What awaits me in Kingston, Ontario, Canada

winter marina
Originally uploaded by 416style

So these are the high and low temperatures I am bound to experience in Kingston. Not extremely low as feared, but certainly more than two long months with short days and negative temperatures all through. I just hope I will be able to do something fun with all the snow around. But I've heard that kite snowboarding won't be an option.

Monthly Averages
	January	February	March
High Temperature ( C )	-4	-2	3
Low Temperature ( C )	-13	-12	-6
Precipitation ( mm )	69.5	63.2	76.5