The CN Tower was very close to our hotel and we were waiting for a sunny morning to go to it (and to avoid the weekend). This was the 1st morning that had no clouds when we woke up so it was a CN Tower day. We wanted to get there early to avoid crowds....which we managed to do. I took these first 2 photos on the bus ride home from Niagara Falls.
The CN Tower opened June 1976 and is still the world's tallest freestanding structure on land and is one of the most visited landmarks in North America. http://www.cntower.com/
Height of CN Tower:
Glass Floor Level - 113 storeys - 342m (1,122ft.)
Look Out Level - 114 storeys- 346m (1,136ft.)
Sky Pod - 147 storeys- 447m (1,465ft.)
Total - 181 storeys - 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 in.)
This is the 1st photo - its the elevator going to the top. The speed of elevators is 6 metres/second (20 feet/second) and you could barely feel the movement - so smooth! They now have a glass bottom in the elevator...this is a shot of that.
We went immediately to the glass floor because I knew it would get busy. The thickness of the glass floor is only 2 1/2 " .... and if I had known that, I might not have jumped around on it (ha ha, yes I would). There were alot more of these glass floors than the last time I was here...its it 2 places with about 8 rectangles of glass in each. Hard to take a photo of you laying on it and still see the ground below - so I took one just looking down. They had this mirror up (how I got the 2nd photo)...which I assumed was to help take a photo...but it didn't help at all....must be for something else.
OK...so photos showing the view...
The building with the green roof (closer up shot is 2nd) is the Royal York Hotel - our hotel was across the street (to the left) - behind the tallish green-glass building (so you really can't see it...ha ha).
This small building with the red top in the middle of the next photo (amongst the trees) is Casa Loma - our next stop after we were done at CN Tower.
This is the round house that had the Steam Whistle Brewery in it - its across the street from the CN Tower & Roger's Centre
I thought this was cool with the shadow of where I took the photo from.
Some of these photos were taken from the higher 'Sky pod' level (there was no glass...so easier to take the photos). When you were done and got off the elevator, there was a gift shop....surprise. Actually, it was a surprise...the last time I was there, the only souvenirs in the building were up in the tower and it was a teeny tiny shop. Now its huge...but...they had the worst selection of postcards of the CN Tower...so I got my postcards for the place elsewhere. Wouldn't want to have postcards of the place you are at. They did, however, have postcards for Lake Louise and Banff...ha ha...oh so close to here!
The building with the green roof (closer up shot is 2nd) is the Royal York Hotel - our hotel was across the street (to the left) - behind the tallish green-glass building (so you really can't see it...ha ha).
This small building with the red top in the middle of the next photo (amongst the trees) is Casa Loma - our next stop after we were done at CN Tower.
This is the round house that had the Steam Whistle Brewery in it - its across the street from the CN Tower & Roger's Centre
I thought this was cool with the shadow of where I took the photo from.
Some of these photos were taken from the higher 'Sky pod' level (there was no glass...so easier to take the photos). When you were done and got off the elevator, there was a gift shop....surprise. Actually, it was a surprise...the last time I was there, the only souvenirs in the building were up in the tower and it was a teeny tiny shop. Now its huge...but...they had the worst selection of postcards of the CN Tower...so I got my postcards for the place elsewhere. Wouldn't want to have postcards of the place you are at. They did, however, have postcards for Lake Louise and Banff...ha ha...oh so close to here!
Then, yet another 'Disney-wannabe' photo (well, photos)
Then, we went on the Subway to Casa Loma. This is the 1st time I was on the subway in Toronto - it was just like any other subway (like in London) except that it didn't have the sign that says "Way Out" with an arrow. Why is it that subways always have that same subway smell (not a bad smell....just the same smell)?
After we got off the subway, I realized that we had to climb up this long staircase to get to Casa Loma - not called the castle on the hill for fun. I wasn't able to get a photo of the outside because there was scaffolding for repairs and display tents around...not overly attractive.
http://www.casaloma.org/Visitor/
Casa Loma was completed in 1914 and is a two storey, 7,500 square feet house. The owners were only in it for 10 years because they couldn't afford the taxes...even after selling most of the furnishings and eventually the city took over the house. It was left and almost demolished until the Kiwanis group decided to restore it in 1937 and open it as a museum. It is used for lots of movies and tv shows.
You are given these hand-held phone-like things to do your own tour around the house and hear the history - quite handy. The furniture is not original, but is supposed to be consistent with what might have been there in 1914ish. It was really hot in there. They might of had 2 windows open in the entire place and 1 large fan on each level (so 3 in total). It was quite stifling in there.
http://www.casaloma.org/Visitor/
Casa Loma was completed in 1914 and is a two storey, 7,500 square feet house. The owners were only in it for 10 years because they couldn't afford the taxes...even after selling most of the furnishings and eventually the city took over the house. It was left and almost demolished until the Kiwanis group decided to restore it in 1937 and open it as a museum. It is used for lots of movies and tv shows.
You are given these hand-held phone-like things to do your own tour around the house and hear the history - quite handy. The furniture is not original, but is supposed to be consistent with what might have been there in 1914ish. It was really hot in there. They might of had 2 windows open in the entire place and 1 large fan on each level (so 3 in total). It was quite stifling in there.
There's lots of blue in this house...just to my liking!
You are able to go up into one of the towers - it was bloody hot up there and because the stairs were so narrow...you could only go one direction. So...if people were coming down, you had to wait until they got to the bottom....but sometimes it meant that more people would start down before you could get going up....quite annoying! These are photos of the downtown and CN tower to see where we started our day.
We went to the gift shop and there wasn't anything to purchase. Once again...there were no postcards of Casa Loma - not sure why you can't get postcards about the place the gift shop exists in...but no problem getting postcards about Alberta? Odd.
After that, we went to Spadina House - which is right next door to Casa Loma - who knew?! Its a lovely old house that was originally built in 1836 and was out in the country. From the photos from Casa Loma, you can see that its quite a distance (approx 3 miles or 5 km) from the main area of Toronto not far from our hotel (or York as it was called). It was renovated with additions in 1912....around the time that Casa Loma was built. It was a very large property and the owners sold alot of the land to the city for development and where Casa Loma is, was part of the land held by the owners of this house. The family donated the house and furnishing to the City and it opened as a museum in 1984. http://www.toronto.ca/culture/museums/spadina-history.htm
The cool thing about the house is that all the furnishings etc are original to the house...whereas, at Casa Loma...the owners sold all their furnishings so little, if any, of what's in there is original to the place. The tour is short...but because rarely anyone goes there because tourists go to Casa Loma without realizing this is here...we had a private tour. The cost of the musem is only $6 and because its the 175 anniversary of Toronto this year, it was free during the summer.
We went to the gift shop and there wasn't anything to purchase. Once again...there were no postcards of Casa Loma - not sure why you can't get postcards about the place the gift shop exists in...but no problem getting postcards about Alberta? Odd.
After that, we went to Spadina House - which is right next door to Casa Loma - who knew?! Its a lovely old house that was originally built in 1836 and was out in the country. From the photos from Casa Loma, you can see that its quite a distance (approx 3 miles or 5 km) from the main area of Toronto not far from our hotel (or York as it was called). It was renovated with additions in 1912....around the time that Casa Loma was built. It was a very large property and the owners sold alot of the land to the city for development and where Casa Loma is, was part of the land held by the owners of this house. The family donated the house and furnishing to the City and it opened as a museum in 1984. http://www.toronto.ca/culture/museums/spadina-history.htm
The cool thing about the house is that all the furnishings etc are original to the house...whereas, at Casa Loma...the owners sold all their furnishings so little, if any, of what's in there is original to the place. The tour is short...but because rarely anyone goes there because tourists go to Casa Loma without realizing this is here...we had a private tour. The cost of the musem is only $6 and because its the 175 anniversary of Toronto this year, it was free during the summer.
SO - if you ever get to Casa Loma - spend the extra 1/2 hr or so to go to Spadina House (its not open on Mondays)
Then we got back to the hotel by subway, changed and took off, by subway, out West of the city to the Old Mill hotel for a jazz concert. http://www.oldmilltoronto.com/index.php Beautiful building...but I didn't take my camera, so no photos.
On this day, we walked approximately 5,700 steps, which equated to about 7.5 miles.
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