Jernie's Hub

As far as I know, the Taipei 101 building (below) is the tallest in the world at the moment.
I am aware that Dubai is currently constructing the soon to be tallest building in the world, The Burj Dubai. It’s construction began in 2005 and is expected to be completed by 2008. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world's tallest building when finished. It will be almost 40% taller than the current tallest building, the Taipei 101.

The Shanghai's Oriental Pearl TV tower is also in line with these tall buildings. It is 468 meters high (1,536 feet).

Anyway, the CN Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National (CN) who wanted to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry by building a tower taller than any other in the world. The construction boom in Toronto in the 1960's transformed the skyline characterized by relatively low buildings into one dotted with skyscrapers. These new buildings caused serious communication problems. With its microwave receptors at 338 m (1,109 ft.) and 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 inches) antenna, the CN Tower swiftly solved the communication problems with room to spare. As a result people living in the Toronto area now enjoy some of the clearest reception in North America. For more information check the website http://www.cntower.ca/portal/SmartDefault.aspx?at=737

Anyway, we bought the tickets at the lobby. On the screens displayed are different kinds of tickets we can buy. Check-out this webpage http://www.cntower.ca/portal/SmartDefault.aspx?at=841

The tower has 4 lookout levels.
The Glass Floor and Outdoor Observation Deck is located at a height of 342 m (1,122 ft)
The Horizons Café and the Indoor Observation Deck – located at 346 m (1,136 ft.)
The 360 Restaurant - is located at 351 m (1,150 ft.) The floor rotates once every 72 minutes allowing you a complete and unobstructed view of the city below.
The Sky Pod, the World's Highest Public Observation Deck is located at 447 m (1,465 ft.), another thrilling 33 floors straight up.

We wanted to take the ‘Observation Sky Pod Experience’ (Look-out + Glass Floor + Sky Pod) however there was a 75 minutes waiting time. We were not prepared to stand there that long so we opted to take the ‘Observation Experience’ (Look-out + Glass Floor) instead.Once we had the tickets we went straight to the elevator. There are 6 high-speed glass fronted elevators. I was bracing myself against the sensation as we race upwards at 22 kilometers per hour. The crew gave us a little bit of information about the view in front of us and we reached the Indoor Observation Deck in just 58 seconds. The floor was a little bit crowded but we found ourselves a good corner to have a good look at the view outside. The view is certainly breath-taking. It was really worth the climb. Up there, we had a good view of Toronto and parts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). If you are in Toronto, you should not miss this opportunity. Better do it when the sky is clear. Here are some nice shots taken up there. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Then we took the stairs to the lower level where the Glass Floor is. I have read a lot about this in the internet that it takes a lot of guts to really step on this glass floor with a direct view straight down from 1,122 ft. I thought that the whole floor is made of glass but it was just a portion of the whole floor.The people were busy taking pictures: some lying and some were crawling on the glass floor.

It looks simple though, so I tried to step on the glass floor and looked straight down. Oh, no! It was scary. Somehow I felt that I am being sucked down. Huh! I had a very uncomfortable and horrible sensation. But I was so desperate to have a shot in this floor; so the most I could do is sit at the edge of the glass floor without looking down at all.

I couldn’t believe seeing other people stepping on it just like a normal floor. The glass floor is 2 ½” in thickness, the size of each panel is 42” by 50”, with layers from top down two ½” layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together and a one inch layer of air for insulation, two ¼” layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together. Though it is said to be safe because the floor is 256 sq. ft. of solid glass that is 5 times stronger than the required bearing standard for commercial floors, it doesn’t give me enough guts to stand on it.

After we completed our round, we went up to the Horizon Café for drinks and light lunch. We chose a spot on the harbor side so we have the luxury to enjoy the beautiful sight of the Lake Ontario. The clear blue sky and the blue waters of the lake gave us all up there awesome views which were captured in our cameras. Sitting up there enjoying cocktail drinks is indeed the highlight of the day. What a wonderful afternoon we had!




From where we were, there was a long queue going up to the Sky Pod. In as much as we wanted to go up there, we just didn’t have the patience to wait for more than an hour. So we decided to head down the tower. At the lobby we spent some time at the souvenir shop and collected our souvenir photo. It was a nice shot of us but as expected they were asking a fortune for it, $23. I find it too expensive but if you want it all you can say is ‘egal’ (German word for ‘it doesn’t matter/whatever’).

Since, the sun was still high-up we decided to take a stroll along the Harbour Front. The last time we were here was last February when the place was completely covered with snow. But now, it looks like a completely different place. Sightseeing cruises are now out; there were lots of tourists around. Some private boats were also cruising around the lake. It is a nice place to spend the afternoon. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and shopping mall lined along the Harbour Front. It is pretty interesting to see this place transformed into a summer joint.

Overall, it was a day well spent.

For more of these pictures, check the Photo Gallery Section : CN Tower & Harbour Front.