Hot air balloons in London, ON

Brief about Hot air balloons
Hot air balloon is one of the oldest technology to carry humans in air dating back to 1783. It consists of a bag that holds the heated air, and a basket and heating sources are carried along with passengers/pilot. They can also come in a variety of shapes and sizes.


Balloon festival was going on in London On August 4 2007, Saturday. It was 1 hour drive for us from Stratford.


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It takes place in Harris Park at the forks of the Thames River during Simcoe Day(first Monday in August) weekend.
After having some food and roaming around the groud that had some amusement games, slowly the crowd started gathering and a few balloons started inflating.


First ones were a maple leaf and Canadian Flag hot air balloons. Crowd cheered with pride. There were other participating balloonist from USA. More than 20 balloons were launched from this location one after the other.



Then there was a diano which was inflated but never took off. It finally bent over the crowd and fell down. It was just an attraction for kids.

How and where do they land?
Each hot air balloon will have its vehicle on the ground that chases these balloons. they will have GPS


Official site :http://www.londonballoonfestival.com

Sumo wrestling in stratford

Although sumo wrestling is played by professionals in Japan and other eastern countries, We dont need to be professionals to try out with special outfits for fun.
This one was organized in Stratford and found it when we were out for an evening walk.

Facts

Sumo wrestling is Japan's national game.

Rules -(1) The wrestler who either first touches the floor with something else than his sole (2) leaves the ring before his opponent, loses.

The fights usually last only a few seconds and in rare cases up to one minute or longer.

More details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo



This is a video footage of my wrestling with one of the participant.

CN Tower - Toronto

History of CN Tower
The CN Tower, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and tourist tower standing 553.33m (1,815 ft 5 in) tall. Since its completion in 1976, it has been the world's tallest free-standing structure on land; however, its status as the world's tallest building is contentious. It is considered the signature icon of the city, attracting more than two million international visitors annually.



CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company's privatization in 1995, the CN Tower was transferred to the Canada Lands Company (CLC), a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development.



Comparing the heights of other tall structures with CN tower.

KVLY-TV mast is the tallest structure on earth with 628 meters located on Traill County, North Dakota, USA. This structure is supported by cables.

Petornius platform standing on water is taller than CN tower at 610 meters located in New orleans, USA.

Sears tower is the tallest sky scraper with antenna at 527 meters located in Chicago, USA.

Eiffel tower is merely 324 meters, but truely a master piece located in Paris, France.
If these facts interst you, read more about worlds tallest buildings and structures

Road to CN tower
It was a 150 Kms 2 hours drive for us. take a look at the satellite image of the CN Tower.

Glass floor
You can look down 342 m(1,122 ft) right below your feet. Many people experience acrophobia when they walk on this glass floor. It also has a cafe in this floor.
At 1150 feet height 360 restaurant takes a full rotation once every 72 minutes. You can take a look at the whole city in about an hours time sipping your coffe.



Skypod
Skypod at 447 m (1465 ft) is the highest observation deck in the world. On a clear day you can see up to 120 Kms, including outline of lake Ontario and mist rising from Niagara falls.
Skypod gives a spectacular view of the high rises of the city.
Visitors love to spend most of their time here.



Facts

CN Tower is world's tallest free-standing structure on land. Made a detailed study on this claim and CN tower isnt the tallest free structure on earth (as i was told) its Petornius platform standing on water.

CN Tower is alomost twice as tall as Eiffel tower is.

this building is used in various games like Simcity 3000, Ace combat 5

CN Tower experiences lightning strikes 40 to 50 times a year

CN Tower is listed in Guinnes world records as tallest free standing structure.

This is one of the most important tourist place in Canada.