CN Tower

When you look at the panorama of Toronto you are sure to notice one building.

Of course, the Financial District is very interesting ...

... but I meant the CN Tower.

It is 553 meters tall. In 1976 when it was opened it was the tallest building in the world. Its name "CN" originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. In preparation for the privatisation of the railway, the Tower was sold to a public company responsible for management of real estate property.

The Tower is quite intimidating when you stand next to it.

The circle on top is an observation deck. I could not refuse myself the pleasure of going there. From the top you can see the entire city of Toronto.

Here comes the Financial District again. Not many people (not mentioning horses) can look down at all those banks.

Here you can see the airport of the Toronto Islands, named after Billy Bishop, a Canadian pilot from World War I. The incredible thing is that it is really located on an island. As a result you cannot reach it by car, bus or train. You can only take a ferry.

And another glimpse at the Toronto Islands. This is where we took the panoramic pictures. As you see, next to the starting lane there is a little harbour.

The views from the CN Tower are breathtaking, But the Tower itself is an attraction, though it is meant only for those most courageus (like me of course). Part of the floor is actually made of glass. So you can look down and see what is below you. But the "below" means here a couple of hundreds meters.

* * *

This is the end of my trip to Canada. This was truely amazing. Thank you so much Aleksandra for taking me on this journey.

Toronto

The last city that we visited in Canada was Toronto. Toronto is the largest city in Canada, it is also the capital city of the Ontario province. Back in 18th century the indegenious inhabitants sold the land on which Toronto is located for some cash, 2,000 gun flints, 24 brass kettles, 120 mirrors, 24 laced hats, a bale of flowered flannel, and 96 gallons of rum. I would not call it a good deal to be honest. Especially since I realised that it was the price for more than a quarter million acres of land.

We arrived with the Go Transit to the Union Station.

We walked to the Nathan Philips Square, named after one of the former majors of Toronto. It is a scene for concerts, manifestations and gatherings. It has also the peculiarity of facing two Town Halls. The Old City Hall has a distinctive clock tower.

In front of the Old City Hall you will see a memorial of soldiers who lost their lives in the two World Wars and the Korean War.



At the beggining of 1960s te Old City Hall proved to be too small to be able to accomodate all officials. Nowadays it is used as a court house for the Ontario Court of Justice. The city's municipal government is today located in the New City Hall (also called the Toronto City Hall), opened in 1965.

I've shown you the seat of the local government so it's time to show you as well the local legislature,  informally known as the "Ontario Provincial Parliament".

The third place of power in Toronto is of course the Financial District. It is also the financial heart of Canada, with numerous banking companies, corporate headquarters, legal and accounting firms, insurance companies and stockbrokers.

Here you can see the Toronto Stock Exchange, the largest in Canada and the seventh largest in the world (by market capitalisation).

We then walked the longest street in the world (at least people from Toronto have no doubts it is the longest) - the Yonge Street.

We finally arrived at the most important spot of the day - the First Toronto Post Office!

Here we wrote many postcards to all our postcrossing friends. The surprise was that we had a special guide in Toronto, one of the Canadian Postcrossers, Marie.

That was a long day. We still have one important place to visit. But we will go there tomorrow. I will only let you glimpse.

Royal Botanic Garden (Ontario)

Our next stop in Canada was the Royal Botanic Garden. It is located on the border of Burlington and Hamilton in Ontario.

The RBG includes a few distinct parts. In the Rock Garden you can see and smell some local and exotic plants. Like the fountain grass ...

... or the hibiscus.

The day was extremely hot, almost 40 centigrades. So I took this nice lane ...

... that lead me to a fountain.

Unfortunately, bathing was forbidden. At least for horses. So I only washed my horseshoes.

With a new strength, we moved to the Hendrie Park. On our way, I saw one of the most amazing things I have seen ever. A bee colony without an actual nest or hive, just attached under a footbridge.

Inside the Hendrie Park I saw (surprise surprise) some nice plants.

And a bit more plants.

But of course a modern botanic garden cannot only show plants. We were lucky to see an exhibition of a sculptor from Zambia (another must-see place for me).

Finally, we went to the RGB Center. The biggest attraction was the artificial lake with colourful fishes. Alexandra told me that when she put fingers inside the lake the fish came and touched her finger tips. I preferred not to check.

And some nice water lilies to complement the fish.

I really enjoyed this trip to the Royal Botanic Garden. As they say - any trip is nice if it is done in good company.

Niagara Falls

I bet all of you have heard of Niagara Falls. Most probably you have seen it in many movies. But did you know that in fact there are three falls in the complex? And that the state boundary between US and Canada goes through them? Well, I did not. But luckily Aleksandra explained it to me before we went there.

We had some time for discussions as the queue to take the Maid of the Mist was really impressive. Finally, it was our turn.

As you see, everybody was wearing blue coats to protect from water. First of all I thought it is just marketing. Trust me, it's not. The mist is so dense you can hardly see the Horseshoe Falls (what a nice name by the way).

The American Falls seem a bit calmer, though I have been told it is not always the case.

Next to the Falls you can see the Skylon Tower. On top there is a revolving dinning room. From there we could admire both falls - the Canadian one ...

... and the US one.

And of course eat a very nice dinner.

After the meal we had a nice walk to the edge of the Fall.

The flower clock says it is time to move on.

Fort Henry and the 1000 islands

In one of the previous posts you have seen the beginning of Rideau Canal in Ottawa. Now I will show its other end in Kingston (Ontario), i.e., the Martello Towers.

They are part of a bigger fortification called Fort Henry. It was built by the British which can be easily recongised by the British coat of arms on the gate.

The Fort is animated by the Fort Henry Guard, a special organisation which tries to visualise to the guests the life in the fort in the days of Queen Victoria. They organise regular parades.

I could not believe my eyes so I leaned a bit through the handrail.

Yes! It was a goat!

I later found out it was David, the mascotte of the Guards.

One of the biggest attractions of the Fort is the firing of historical cannons. The Guards take care of them of course.

Here you can see one of the cannons closer ...

... and closer.

Later on, we decided to take a little cruise in the Thousand Islands Region.

So far, my only though about 1000 islands was the famous dressing. Now I realised it is a wonderful landscape with many beautiful islands (to be precise there are 1,864 no 1,000).

Just have a look here ....

... and here.

Navigare necesse est as they say.