Hi Adventurers!
Today we took the train to the Olympic Park. It is still nippy out there -4F/-20C right now at 6pm. Luckily there are a few indoor choices at the Olympic Park so we decided on the Biodome and Planterium. It only took us 3-4 hours to do both plus a 50 minute train ride each way from Snowden, that ended up being the majority of our day. Since Caitlin went bouldering on her own, food was not a high priority today for Shaun and I. The line was very long today at the Biodome but it moved fairly quickly. We walked through the tropical forest section which is pretty much the same as any other indoor tropical forest. They did have some parrots and monkeys as well as a few reptiles. The Maple Forest ecosystem was fascinating as I have never been anywhere that talked about that particular ecosystem. They had a number of interesting species as well as river life. Our favorite was the river otter. They are always fun to watch. The sub-artic ecosystem is always fun too with the puffins but nothing unusal that we haven’t seen elsewhere. Not a great variety as I might expect with the proximity to Artic. Overall, I would rate this indoor “zoo” as a B. I always like it when there is a focus on local wildlife.
The Planterium had a exhibit with some hands on opportunities and a nice indepth display regarding the use of Canadian satellites to aid in global farming. They showed how the could determine soil health, parasites, etc. Fun. But the best part was the two shows they had. The first was called “Into the Darkness”. This show showed a lot of footage from recent space discoveries including the recent coverage of Pluto. Great shots! The second show was a display of the stars in the Montreal sky. They walked us through the different constellations in the Canadian sky. The second half of this show was about Waves. I want to say sound waves but maybe it is light and sound. It had a beautiful soundtrack and light show to various different scenries. It is very hard to describe but Shaun (10 year old boy) and I (grandma) both enjoyed it. Overall it was a interesting and relaxing day.
Salut
Peggy Stockwell