Today was Sunday. We planned to visit C N Tower and Aquarium. For this, we were to go to Down Town once again. Keeping in mind the parking problem, we preferred to take metro. It was very chilly outside. We finished our breakfast and started before noon.
We reached Down Town and walked towards C N Tower. It got it's name because it was built by the Railway Company, Canadian National. Its construction was completed in 40 months in 1976 at a cost of 63 millions. It is a 1815.3 ft high concrete communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure for 32 years i.e until 2007 when Burj Khalifa came up .It is still the third tallest tower in the world ,and attracts more than two million international visitors annually. It can withstand an earthquake of 8.5 at Ritcher scale. Because of its height, it is struck by lighting approximately 75 times a year. The lighting is, however, sent to ground through copper rods that run down side of the tower and grounded.
Tickets for both the visits had been booked on-line. There was a covered sky walk which we took to reach to C N Tower. The city has so many paths which takes you to different places on foot either through underground or through such type of covered sky walks. Else no one would have dared to come out in open in such a freezing cold.
At CN Tower, our tickets were checked, we were frisked for security and taken up through a fast lift that took less than a minute. As we came out of the lift, we found ourselves in a full glass covered round observation gallery. The outside unobstructed view of Canada City was just breathtaking. The vast spread of Lake Ontario could be appreciated only from C N Tower. Cars down below were like tiny toys moving with remote control. A huge jungle of skyscrapers had suddenly appeared from no where. Smoke emitting from roof tops of these buildings was clearly visible slowly merging with the clouds. A little distance away, there was an Airport- perhaps cargo airport. A plane had just taken off and another was waiting for clearance at the run way. Suddenly, it started moving. The runway was not too long and I was thanking if it did not take off soon, it would land in the lake. But it was air borne even before finishing the half run way. Soon it was flying over the lake and disappeared. Another plane had started rolling on the run way.
We captured quite a few shots and queued up to go to another comparatively small observation gallery 100 meters top. It took us more than half an hour before our turn came. The view was more or less same from this gallery as well. The lift then dropped us at a floor which was made of glass. Standing on the transparent glass and looking down gave us a thrilled feeling. These glasses are so tough that it can withstand weight of 8 hippopotamus. People lied down on the glass and took selfie. It reminded me a Chinese bridge that had a glass floor.
We took elevator and came down. The exit was compulsorily through a gift shop, though we did not purchase any item. But I liked the idea to tempt visitors by forcing them to exit from the gift shop.
It was not possible to stay outside for long. We hurriedly entered the nearby Aquarium.
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