March 6, 2023
Day 5: Montreal to Porto
We had planned to visit the Biodome and/or Insectarium, Planetarium, Botanical Garden, all of which are part of the Espace pour la vie (Space for life) complex at the Oylmpic park. But the whole thing is closed on Mondays. Undaunted, we walked out there anyway, taking advantage of the huge park that is there, with closeup views of the Olympic buildings.
After walking around the tower that supports the stadium roof and the other parts of the installation, I am quite prepared to credit this with being as dramatic (more dramatic) and iconic as the Eiffel Tower. And just as one might say that 136 years later the Eiffel Tower still holds up as being "contemporary", the Olympic tower also holds up 47 years later in the same way, also adding "space age-y" to its credits.
Sabrina points out that the Big "O" (also known as the Big Owe - for its 1.5 billion dollar cost) has another claim to modernity - its mortgage was only finally paid off in 2006.
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The largest attendance at the Olympic Stadium, by the way, was not at its 1976 Olympics, but the next year, for Pink Floyd. Other trivia (or not so trivial in dollar terms) the inner, fabric roof, built in 1987, was meant to be retractable, but it never worked. It was replaced twice, the last time in 1999. In that year it then collapsed due to snow load. $250 million was allocated in 2017 for a third try, but Covid got in the way.
The Olympic Park was the big attraction for us in the end. It is large, with some hills, and carefully groomed walking and cross country skiing trails, There is also a very large oval skating rink of natural ice, and no doubt lots of bike paths in summer.
Next step, jumping across the globe!
Tune in tomorrow, when we should be there!
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