TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

A photo taken from the viewing deck of the CN Tower. I thought the shape of the two buildings on the right was interesting. Actually the tallest building could represent my youngest brother, VL, then the short rectangle is me, always have to be different and the other two buildings would be my sister, CH and other brother, TL. (What am I talking about? Blame it on the lack of oxygen for being in high altitude.)





The above Hippo (sightseeing bus) was a 90-minute tour around the City and then a splash into Lake Ontario. It is operated by the Toronto Hippo Tours. It is costly with $38 per ticket for adult and $25 for children (3-12 years old). It was different compared to the regular sightseeing bus or trolley tour as we were able to see the City both on land and from the waterways. The tour guide told us a way to remember all the surrounding lakes. She said to think of the word HOMES - Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior. If your budget permits, consider riding the Hippo as most of the children would enjoy the tour.

This photo was taken while the Hippo was on the Lake (you could see the rear view mirror of the bus). The decoration was part of the upcoming 2nd Annual Chinese Lantern Festival scheduled for July 19th to October 7th. I plan to talk to my brother and perhaps in the future we could attend the Festival together as a family vacation. The annual Festival is a showcase of over forty life-size illuminated lanterns, with nightly entertainment of dance, music and acrobats from China, food and crafts market and other Chinese traditional ceremonies such as Tea Ceremony and martial arts demonstrations. I thought my nephew, JL would enjoy such activity. For more information, please visit http://www.chineselanternfestival.ca/ or call 1-866-666-8996.

From the top-of-the Arch in St. Louis to the Top of CN Tower. A visit to Toronto would not be complete without a trip to the top of the CN Tower. We were told that the wait would be approximately 45 minutes from the time we purchased tickets, waiting to go thru security plus standing in line for the elevators. Turn out it was not too bad as the lines were moving quickly. Being an engineer, my husband enjoys visiting tall structures. We had visited a few structures such as Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Arch in St. Louis, and the Space Needle in Seatle. While living in New York, I never took the tour to the top of the World Trade Center. Sadly, I thought the buildings would always be there.