Probably one of the most recognizable city skylines in the world is Toronto’s if it includes the CN Tower landmark. It was one of our objectives during the Toronto trip and to me was the second tall building I’ve been into, after the Taipei 101 (story to follow soon). The 553.33 metres (1,815.4 ft) tall building dominates tourist’s pictures and by browsing today through our photo-journal I’ve seen that we haven’t deviated much from the norm.
Completed on 1976, the CN Tower (name stands for Canadian National Tower), a communications and observation tower, was the tallest free standing structure in the world and simultaneously the tallest tower for 34 years. This is an impressive record, so you now understand why this building is so important for Torontonians. I was very eager to walk on the Glass Floor, a part of the structure which is literally made from glass, making you to feel like you were floating in the air at 324 m (1,122 feet) above the ground.
CN Tower: Official site – get background information, attractions listing and rates
Stepping on the Glass Floor requires a little bit of courage and the feeling you’re getting is unique, to say the least. To me it was probably the best thing about the CN Tower, this and the external elevators with huge glass panels that allow you to see the downtown area as you ascend/descend from the tower.
There are a total of 4 places you need to get to: the Glass Floor at 342 m (1,122 feet), the Look Out Level at 346 m (1,136 feet), the Sky Pod, the tallest observation level, at 447 m (1,465 feet) and the 360 Restaurant at 351 m (1,151 feet). At the restaurant you can fine dine for a pretty affordable sum of cash ranging from $48 to 68 for a full course menu. Oh, and the restaurant revolves around the tower once every 72 minutes, so if you get a window table you can see the entire city 360 degrees while you eat. Gives a new meaning to “location is everything”, right?
Here are a few facts about the CN Tower you might like to know:
- Height: 553,33 meters (1,1815 feet, 5 inches)
- Cost to built: $63 million
- Annual visitors: more than 2 million
- Staff: 400 members (550 in peak season)
- 360 Restaurant capacity: 400 persons
- More than 500 special events (meetings, receptions, dinners, themed events, product and press launches) take place every year
- Communications use: UHF, VHF television, FM Radio, microwave transmissions, fixed mobile systems
At night, the CN Tower lights ups during a spectacular show of lights, which we’ve managed to capture on film our digital camera: