Thursday, August 10, 2006
I went to pick up Annie and Vanessa from the last day of their camp at Harbourfont late this morning, and then on a lark took them for a ride on the top level of one of the double-decker tours.
They have been bugging me about going on one of these for well over a year now, and it seemed like it might be fun, so I forked over the necessary funds for a ride past some of the major tourist draws in the city on the yellow Shop-Dine-Tour Toronto Sightseeing Company's double-decker bus. We ended up getting on Front Street, just opposite SkyDome, and got off at the ROM about an hour or so later. Cost: pricey; the sort of thing you only do once.
The bus was a typical London double-decker type, painted yellow (another, rival tourist company keeps the traditional red colour) and has the top cut off. During the tour it became obvious that the reason for this was not just because of the open-air experience, but because there are some bridges and electrical lines the tour goes under that a full-sized bus would obviously run into (there were several occasions I ducked down in my seat, and at one point I found I could touch the top of the underside of a bridge). Low-lying branches around the Casa Loma area gently whacked everybody on the right side of the bus going there and back.
The kids were happy, and being on the top level of an open double-decker bus provides an interesting perspective for taking some interesting pictures of otherwise familiar Toronto sites. A selection is shown below:
On the Double-Decker Bus
Sun Newspaper Mural - Detail
Old Bank Façade
Extreme Close-Up of the Panasonic Theatre Sign
A Temporary Crane Over The R.O.M. Construction Site
We got off at the R.O.M. and spent the remainder of our day there, until closing time. Some new things/changes spotted there include new, small dino models of a Deinonychus antirrhopus and of a Pachycephalopod, in the Discovery Room area adjacent to the Maisaur exhibit, and that they are moving the live bug displays from the Insect Room into the Discovery Room as well.
 Deinonychus antirrhopus |  Pachycephalopod |
Labels: Deinonychus, double-decker bus, Maisaur, Pachycephalopod, Panasonic Theatre, Royal Ontario Museum, SkyDome, summer camp, Toronto Sun
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