Toronto!

So back to the concrete jungle. High rise buildings, gridded roads riddled with cars. The works. Sigh.
But a different day all the same. Did all the touristy things, but actually took in all sights with a friend. A lot different from travelling alone; refreshingly different, I might add. A new friend, but a surprising likeness in interest that made the basis of an extremely enjoyable day.
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The CN tower. Classified as one of the seven wonders of the modern world for the sheer brilliance of the civil engineering. It has a glass floored observation deck at 342 m (the 113th floor)! It proceeds skyward for another 30 odd floors (till 346 m) where there is a 'look-out'). It was really brilliant! Not as much as it should have been on a 'normal' clear day, but there is a heat wave in Ontario that is making the world shimmer in a bright haze. But hey I don't have a parameter for comparison, and still found it amazing! The view is just buildings with Ontario lake fringing one part of the view; but the sheer fact that a skyscraper that looked so enormous when walking next to it is absolutely dwarfed to an apology to its original size is fascinating. So is the fact that you are walking on glass after a ascending 113 floors; what separates you from the ground about 340 m below is a layer of transparent material! Ya ya glass is super solid and can support the weight of a dozen hippos (http://www.canadacool.com/COOLFACTS/ONTARIO/TorontoCNTower.html); but the mind is a playful thing. I am not scared of heights, but walking on the glass was a test, I can tell you! It is such a weird feeling. Then I spotted this small spider hanging away underneath the glass, completely at peace. She put things in perspective in my mind.. It was almost like the silk she was spinning read, hey you, check me out!

The glass floor provides an uninterrupted view of the Rogers stadium (the one with a cover that was called SkyDome). So when we were making our way up and down the tower, we saw the cover at various stages from open to completely closed - interesting just by itself!
The Tower also included a 4D show. They fill you in with a bull crap of an introduction, about hybridization of an Amazon tree and a Himalayan tree to get a super tree, but if you ignore that, the show itself was good. Also a 3D show about Tahiti - reefs, underwater life and surfers - together made an interesting presentation.

Also went to Casa Loma, a castle built at Toronto by one of its wealthiest inhabitants, Sir Henry Pellatt during the 1900s. It was really beautiful, well kept, and had an interesting way of exhibit. It is a self guided digital audio tour - each person is given an instrument with pre-stored information. Need to key in the number of the room you are in to know more about it. Neat idea hey? So you move at your own pace and hear only what you want to hear! Nice.

Oh and I had a dosa after the longest time. Cheers to you back home!