UP, DOWN, AND BEING SIX

If I'm not careful, recounting today's events will make me sound like a six year old. See, the truth is I went up a tall tower, then saw some fishes (the shark was my favourite) then I met a real fireman who let me sit in the real fire engine and he put the sirens on and let me dress up in his uniform and everything...

Now, all of that did happen - and it is true that at various points today, I was about as excited as a six year old, but I think that's OK when you're on holiday from the real world...

First up, and quite literally, was the CN Tower. I've been fascinated by this structure for a long time. I was telling Emmie and Nick that I used to have a book of Guiness World Records which had a page on the world's tallest buildings - spiking up somewhere between the Eiffel Tower and the World Trade Center, was this awesome structure. I learned lots today. The CN Tower was completed in 1976 and for 34 years it was the world's tallest free standing structure. It's 553 metres high and is currently the tallest lightning rod in the Western Hemisphere. It was built as a radio communications tower, but soon became a tourist attraction and now welcomes over 2 million visitors every year.

Oh and it's amazing being up there. I held on to my hat as we walked around the observation gallery. The wind swept in from all directions. The view is spectacular, above the skyscrapers, the tiny planes landing at Toronto Island Airport, the expressway and the glinting cars below. It reminded me of how much we as a species, can achieve.

"How tall was the Tower of Babel, Matt?" asked Nick, rather poignantly dragging me out of my reverie. I had a wry smile at that.

"Nobody knows," I said.

I got out of the lift at the bottom with a kind of dizzy, disconnected feeling. I wandered through the gift shop, unable to hear anything until my ears popped. That's the disconcerting trouble with descending 553 metres at 20 kilometres per hour.

Next up (and kind of down and through) was the Aquarium. We did indeed see some 'fishes'. They gawped at us from the other side of the glass, unblinking and other-worldly. There were tiny fish, colourful fish, gigantic sea turtles, weird pulsating jellyfish, eels, blowfish, rays, fish from the Pacific, fish from the Arctic, clownfish, piranha, swordfish and sand tiger sharks.

I've always thought of the ocean as a kind of alien world: a dark, mysterious and vast network of corals and waving plants where all kinds of truly weird and wonderful things live - things with teeth and gills and bulging eyes and stalks and swirling fins and tails. The Aquarium didn't disappoint me.

It's right underneath the CN Tower too. In fact, you can look straight up from just outside the Aquarium. Similarly, you can see the roof of the Aquarium from the glass floor, 500m above it, if you're brave enough.

I didn't know what could round off such a fun day - and then I got to really embrace my inner six-year old, by sitting in a fire truck. One of Emmie and Nick's friends here is a firefighter. 

It's huge, inside and out, the Canadian fire truck. Driving this monster at speed must take real skill and strength.

Perhaps that isn't a surprise, given that those two things (along with astonishing bravery) are sort of prerequisites for firefighters. Technical writing doesn't really match up. I doubt it fascinates many six year olds either.

Golly, technical writing. I used to do that, back in the other time zone. I'll be back to it in a few days. I'm not sure I want to think about that just yet. I am still only six after all.