Day 15, Sep 8, 2017:
Wasted some time getting reception to deduct parking fees and arguing about the breakfast inclusion. We had our breakfast in the regular
room at Hilton which was given free after our discussion. We had a table with view of the fountains and it was
pretty nice.
When we took the car from CASINO
parking, the ticket was for $20, which happens when there is some
special event. We knew about this probability, so no great shakes.
We drove to Toronto avoiding toll road
407. Missed the cutting of our hotel road and wasted a lot of time
going round in the downtown. Reached the hotel, kept our bags and
drove to the zoo.
TORONTO CITY PASS:
Toronto CityPASS covers admission to
five top Toronto attractions, priced 41% less than the same tickets
purchased separately. We covered 4 of them, Zoo, Aquarium, CN tower
and Casa Loma and it was so worth it! We LOVE museums but sadly there was no
time to include them too.
Zoo was closing at 4.30 and it was 3 already. We
bought the city pass, the sweet reception girl phoned the gate people not to charge
us for the parking and we drove back.
We drove to CN tower. Again it was
tough with the crowds and we turned into some paid parking garage
nearby. We knew about the green parking which is cheaper but could
not find any. We didn't mind the $30 parking fee. We walked to the square.
We walked to Ripley's aquarium. It's adjacent to CN
tower, we wanted to reserve CN tower for later at sunset.
Ripley's Aquarium:
The exhibits hold more than 20,000
exotic sea and freshwater specimens from more than 450 species. Final
cost approaching C$130 million. The aquarium opened to the public in
October 2013,
The aquarium is organized into nine
galleries: Canadian Waters, Rainbow Reef, Dangerous Lagoon, Discovery
Centre, The Gallery, Ray Bay, Planet Jellies, Life Support Systems
and the Shoreline Gallery. It is home to more than
20,000 animals. 100+ interactive displays, nine galleries, and three touch exhibits featuring sharks, rays and horseshoe crabs.
Our video shows the exhibits better than still pics can:
Ripley's aquarium, Toronto
The Ride through a moving walkway
through the underwater tunnel in Dangerous Lagoon and
getting close-up views of the aquarium's most fearsome-looking
animals, including sharks, stingrays and sawfish is AMAZING!
TERRIFC EXPERIENCE!
There was a live jazz concert and it
added to the magic!
We reluctantly exited and went to CN
tower. Showed our city pass and went up.
CN Tower:
Completed in 1976, CN tower is a
553.3 m-high (1,815.3 ft) concrete communications
and observation tower.
It was the world's tallest tower until 2009 being overtaken by Burj Khalifa and Canton Tower. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.
It was the world's tallest tower until 2009 being overtaken by Burj Khalifa and Canton Tower. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.
The glass floor and outdoor
observation deck are at 342 metres (1,122.0 ft).
As is our usual practice we went around
sunset time and had great views.
It was surreal watching cars run
1100 feet below under our feet at the glass floor. The glass floor has an area of 24 sq m(258 sq ft) and can withstand a pressure of 4,100 kilopascals (595 psi). The floor's thermal glass units are 64 mm (2.5 in) thick, consisting of a pane of 25-mm (1 inch) laminated glass, 25 mm (1 inch) airspace and a pane of 13 mm (0.5 in) laminated glass.
Ripley's aquarium terrace is seen under the floor here with cars on the road.
That was the end of another lovely day.
All Days Hostel:
This is our hotel room at All Days hostel. The guy had done a switcheroo on us and did not give us a private ensuite as we had booked but just a private room with a washroom across to be shared with another room, We were pretty annoyed but since we are early risers it did not matter.
On the positive side, the location is
great, just 2 km from CN tower/downtown, room was clean and comfy,
kitchen is great, owner was also smiling and friendly other than the
issues mentioned. No lift, just stairs.
The owner did not take card payment but insisted
on cash right when we turned up. It should have been mentioned if
it's mandatory to pay in cash.
After some arguing, he gave us parking
on the street and returned 20cad for the difference in room rates.
Day 16, Sep 9, 2017:
CASA LOMA:
It was built as a residence for
financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Much of Pellatt's fortune was
made through investments in the railway and hydro-electric industries
in Canada. Legislator Adam Beck launched a campaign against the
great industrialists of Canada proclaiming hydro power "should
be as free as air".
Through legislative process and by whipping
up anti-rich sentiment, Beck was able to successfully appropriate
Pellatt's life work and take his electric companies from him. Beck
then led a populist revolt to raise Pellatt's taxes on his castle,
Casa Loma, from $600 per year to $12,000. Pellatt, already
experiencing financial difficulties, auctioned off $1.5 million in
art and $250,000 in furnishings. Pellatt was able to enjoy life in
the castle for less than ten years. Pellatt was driven
near-bankruptcy which forced him and Lady Pellatt to leave Casa Loma
in 1923.
After he died on March 8, 1939, thousands of people lined
Toronto streets to witness his funeral procession, and he was buried
with full military honors. The city seized Casa Loma in 1933 for
$27,303 in back taxes. 1997 until 2012 the castle underwent a
15-year, $33-million exterior restoration largely funded by the city
Casa Loma sits at an elevation of 140
metres (460 ft) above sea level.
The house cost about $3.5 million and took 300 workers three years to build (1911-14). Due to the start of World War I, construction was halted.
At 98 rooms covering 64,700 square feet (6,011 sq m), it was the largest private residence in Canada. Included an elevator, an oven large enough to cook an ox, two vertical passages for pipe organs, a central vacuum, two secret passages in Pellatt's ground-floor office, a pool, and three bowling alleys in the basement (the last two were never completed).
Most of the third floor was left unfinished, and is the Regimental Museum for The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. [Pellatt joined the Regiment as a Rifleman and rose through the ranks to become the Commanding Officer.]
There are detailed signboards in many rooms, it was an enjoyable visit.
Below is a mother of pearl peacock
TORONTO ZOO:
We drove to the zoo next. Our main
target was grizzlies, panda and polar bears.
With an area of 287 hectares (710
acres), home to over 5,000 animals (including invertebrates and fish)
representing over 500 species the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo
in Canada. It is divided into seven zoogeographic regions:
Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and
the Canadian Domain.
We bought the zoomobile ticket 9cad pp and rode
to the stops. It is hop on hop off. Got down at stop 2 Domain hill and hiked the steep slopes to see
grizzlies. It was busy digging. We were quite happy we had not
encountered any on our hikes.
Then went back up the slope, got on to
the zoomobile for the next. Pandas looked cute and were busy eating
the bamboo shoots.
This is the replica of a Bowhead whale skeleton
This is a bush plane
The best show was by the polar bear cub who was
playing with a barrel (covered in our video). We watched in fascination, the parents walked about too. We had
expected that polar bears would be sluggish in the warmth of the
day!!
Kookaburras and kangaroos were great
At 5 we called it a
day and walked back to our car, paid the $12 parking fee and drove
back.
Day 17, Sep 10, 2017:
Our flight was at 12 noon and the drive
was some 45 minutes. We had to return the car and then go to the
terminal. For flights to US, there is preclearance at Canada airports. For
flights before 10, people have to be there 3 hours before. Rest, 2
hours before.
We started off at 7.45 am and drove to
the airport. Almost near the airport there was some black stuff on
our lane. Son slowed down, the thing hit the car and there was a mild
noise. 2 cars were pulled up on the shoulder. A couple was standing
nearby, the lady was gesturing at us saying this had happened to them
also, and asked us to pull over!! Son wanted to check if there is any
issue, I said "keep going. We are not stopping near this lady".
We did not have any problem with the
car, returned the car and walked to our terminal. The security threw
away the rice I had packed to eat before boarding. Well, it takes all
sorts! We made it home without any other issues.
Canada has been fabulous and our
vacation is full of great memories!
VIDEO LINKS:
Canada
videos album with all videos:
Individual video links are as follows, some have music, others original sounds, all are captioned:
Bow falls, lake Louise, Moraine lake, Yoho NP, Spiral tunnels, Takakkaw falls, Natural bridge over Kicking horse river, Johnston canyon hikes, Lake Louise Gondola
Icefield Parkway:Banff to Jasper
Jasper to Lake Louise to Golden to Le lac Jeune
Alberta drives
Sea to Sky Highway, Vancouver
Vancouver(Queen Elizabeth Park, Blodel),
Victoria(Butchart, Miniature world),
Toronto (CN Tower, Casa Loma)
Niagara falls botanic gardens, butterfly conservatory, bird kingdom
Hotels
https://photos.app.goo.gl/liiqDG4v7Rzes5nv1
Vancouver
Queen Elizabeth Park, Blodel Conservatory original sound
Toronto zoo
Ripley's aquarium, Toronto
Niagara falls, Skylon tower, Hornblower cruise and Niagara-on-the-lake
NEXT POST:
is
the beginning of the report on our Nov 2017 holiday in Budapest,
Prague and Austria
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