Canadian National Tower. . .

Also known as the CN Tower or La Tour CN. Canada has two national languages. English and French. So, everything is printed in both languages.

Today we road the subway into Toronto. This was a bit different than taking the train to Chicago basically because I didn't know what the heck I was doing or where I was going. But I am a pro now! We headed downtown. Had lunch at Hard Rock Toronto (this is becoming a tradition I think since Indy!) and then walked and walked and walked to get to the CN Tower. The Canadians bill this as the tallest building in the world.

Hmmm....I think people from Illinois may have a problem with that since we have the Sears Tower. In reality, the CN Tower is taller, but it is a TOWER not an OFFICE BUILDING!!!! The primary purpose of the CN Tower is radio signals. It is a pretty cool structure though. We went to the observation deck, the outside observation (that was neat), the glass floor (can you say vertigo???) and the sky pod, which is 33 floors above the main viewing deck!

Toronto Zoo

Yesterday, our first full day in Canada! was spent at the Tornoto Zoo. Our resort is about 90 minutes from the city, so we enjoyed the scenic drive in. The zoo has some cool Sumatran Tigers, African Elephants, Polar Bears, and Orangutans! It was a full day looking at all the exotic species, many of which are nearly extinct or endangered.

Here is what I have learned about Canada so far:

Speed limits are posted in kilometers/hour and usually the maximum is 80, which sounds like a lot but translates to a mere 50 mph! So, everyone speeds like a bat out of hell or else you would never get anywhere!

There is a reason geese are called Canadian Geese - they are everywhere!

Gasoline is not cheap. It says 1.02 at the pump but that is for a LITER of gas NOT a gallon - yikes!

Milk is sold in 4 liter BAGS! What is wrong with the jug???

"About" is not a word - it is aboot.

The $2 coin (yes coin) is pretty darn cool looking and I will be bringing one home. Other money looks pretty similar to Eastern Caribbean dollars. (Darn that British Commonwealth!)

Apparently, we have an "accent" LOL - darn midwesterners.

I will post other words of wisdom about Canada later.

Oh Canada

Tomorrow the kids and I are off to the metropolitan-Detroit area to spend some time with Brian. Packing today was reminiscient of our trips to Nevis, without the pressure of weight restrictions. LOL

On Saturday, we are off to Brechin, Canada. The resort where we are staying is located on Lake Simcoe about an hour north of Toronto. We plan on spending a few days exploring Toronto: the zoo, CN Tower, Science Center, and Harbourfront (yes, that is spelled correctly, it's an English thing). I had to dust off the passports - not that they haven't been used recently ;) - since there are new travel restrictions in North America. Apparently, these restrictions are really serious especially when taking kids under 18 across the border. (I would wonder about the border guard who might think I was stealing kids that look exactly like me though.) The kids and I are pretty much on our own on this trip because Brian has to "work". So, I am a bit nervous, but we will do fine.

I will post some hopefully amazing pictures when I have a chance. I have to work on my paper: A New Change Model. Isn't that exciting?