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| Toronto Blue Jays v. Seattle Mariners |
My prime stop was at the Royal Ontario Museum, which is a museum of natural history and cultural history. The original museum, which opened in 1914, is an ornate brick-and-terracotta pile. A new wing, the Michael-Lee Chin Crystal, was added in 2007. Aside from the dramatic appearance of the crystal, an interesting fact is that it was designed by Daniel Libeskind, who is the master plan architect for the new World Trade Center complex in New York.
With any of these large museums, you have to go in with a plan. There is no way you can see even part of the collection in one stay. I determined I was only good for three hours of looking, and that turned out to be about right. I spent most of the time looking at the highlight exhibits, which were a touring show of Fryderyk Chopin and the Romantic Piano, and exhibit on Water, and a photographic exhibition on Oil by Edward Burtynksy. I also stopped to see the dinosaurs and large ancient mammals, and the gem and mineral collection. The highlight exhibits are often referred to as "edutainment", meaning they are designed to attract an audience--often an audience of children--by pulling together natural and cultural features in a manner designed to entertain as much as educate. The Water exhibit involved a number of interactive devices to represent the action of water and its effects on land, people and animals. The oil exhibit was a photo essay of about 40 large pictures reflecting the environmental impact of oil extraction, production and consumption. The Chopin exhibit displayed and chronicled both the key moments of his life and work, and the cultural backdrop of Poland, Austria and England.
Pictures of Mastodon skeleton with only one tusk, and of an White Rhinoceros that until recently was housed (alive) at the Toronto Zoo:
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| Mastodon Skeleton at Royal Ontario Museum |
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| White Rhinoceros at Royal Ontario Museum |
Next up was the CN Tower, which before the mass building of tall things in Dubai was the place to go to see things from way up while still anchored to terra firma. Since we've all been in airplanes we all know what cities look like from above. The advantage, if any, of a tower is that you gaze and reflect for as long as you want. For most of the people who were viewing along with me, this was about one to two minutes. It probably was even that long because it took about a half-hour wait in line and on elevator to get a chance at a look. The other exciting thing to do is to stand on a piece of plexiglass and look straight down. Screech if you feel like it. The basic look out level is at 1,136 feet. There is also a fancy restaurant at this level, and the world's highest wine cellar. The restaurant doesn't rotate. The more adventurous can wait another half hour for another elevator to Sky Pod, which is at 1,465 feet, or the equivalent of a 143-story building. There is also a new double-dare called the EdgeWalk, in which you are attached to an overhead line and walk hands-free along a five-foot-wide ledge above the Tower's main pod. The promo piece says, "Trained EdgeWalk guides will encourage participants to push their personal limits, allowing them to lean back over Toronto with nothing but air and breathtaking views of Lake Ontario beneath them." Price: $175 Canadian, and you get a 'certificate of achievement.' Not gonna happen.
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| Top of Toronto Blue Jays Stadium From Look Out Level of CN Tower |
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| Looking Down While Standing On Plexiglass Floor at CN Tower Look Out Level |
Mileage: 20. Cumulative mileage: 6,239
