I was always aware that the shoe company Bata was vaguely east European. There was a branch in our high street when I was a kid, and they were famed for their sturdy leather sandals. I confess I thought they were Polish, but they're actually Czech, and now Canadian, and huge. I've seen branches in almost every country I've been to.I spent this afternoon in the wonderful Bata Shoe Museum here in Toronto. Totally fascinating, with footwear dating back 5,000 years. And there were links to a lot of my trip so far; for instance, sandals excavated from the pre-Inca ruins I visited at Chan Chan near Trujillo in Peru. They run a design competition every year, and this year the winner was a young lady from De Montfort University in Leicester.

Yesterday I ascended the CN Tower, which is the tallest building in the world (over 1,800 feet - more than half the height of Snowdon (or should that be a multiple of Nelson's Columns?)). The lower observation platform (over 1,100 feet) has a glass floor section - not advised for those affected by vertigo. The highest observation platform is at nearly 1,500 feet, and was swaying a bit yesterday; not a patch on 60 feet up a mast in a climbing harness, though.

Anyway, I'm off to Montréal tomorrow, where I gather it's a hell of a sight easier to buy une bouteille de vin (must be the French influence).