That’s Kristin’s vegetarian breakfast skillet, which she said was great. We went to a breakfast restaurant and somehow avoided eating too much since the food was plentiful and delicious. As it turned out we’d need the energy!
The subway here is artistic and retro-futurist and reminds me of Paris or Berlin, which I’m happy to say since it makes me sound cosmopolitan. We took a train to the old 1976 Olympic stadium to visit the Biodome, which is an indoor zoo occupying the old Olympic velodrome.
In four large biomes animals can be viewed in convincing approximations of their native habitats. Some of these – like the tropical rainforest seen above – are so cleverly engineered it’s not at all obvious how the animals are kept in their enclosures since there’s no visible fences (and indeed some, like a sloth, are free to wander where they like in the vast space).
We saw lots of birds (including penguins in a very cold Antarctic biome), fish and many different mammals. It’s a wonderful attraction, probably the best of its kind I’ve ever visited, and definitely worth a visit if you’re ever here.
In the afternoon we explored the ‘underground city’, which is an expansive network of shopping centers and tunnels running under much of the downtown area. Apparently there’s a total of 32 km of tunnels, and although we didn’t explore them all we managed to travel about 2.5 miles underground as we made our way to the Old Port area on the St Lawrence river. This is a tourist destination full of restaurants and souvenir shops and – right on the river’s edge – this:
I’ve never seen a Ferris wheel I haven’t ridden, so naturally I had to ride this one as well! Kristins not a fan and waited down below as I threw them my $31.50 and hopped into my own private car (which normally seats 8).
The wheel was very tall, very smooth, and very comfortable. The weather was wonderful and I got lovely views of the city and the river. The ticket included three rotations and although I’ll admit it was on the pricey side I’ll say for me it was worth it. Recommended if you like Ferris wheels 🙂
Shortly afterwards the skies became threatening and we ducked back into the underground city for our return walk to the hotel. Our timing was fortuitous since a heavy rainstorm soon fell, but since we’d found the underground pathways we stayed nice and dry.
It was a long and tiring day. Will we have the energy for tomorrow’s plans? Wait and see…