I had a day at the ROM recently. I didn't go to see anything particularly special - just to wander wherever my feet took me. I let mom have the camera, and so we have one of her favorite subjects: Madonna and Child. There is a surprising variety of them at the ROM, in the European section, along with some really fabulous altar pieces and, for later eras, a lot of glass work and furniture that's worth staring at and pondering.
I also had occasion that week to have a sunset dinner at 360, the rotating restaurant at the top of CN Tower.
There was a throw-away line in an episode of Frasier once where it was insisted that one should never eat in a restaurant that floats or revolves. I really wouldn't go that far, but the price would've been extremely high if not for the view (tickets for the view, alone, would've otherwise cost half the price of the meal itself).
The service was OK, but tended to fawn on the men at the table and ignore the women -- while the men's glasses were always full, I and the other woman at the table had to seek out our own refills, they mixed up the two women's entrees as if we were interchangeable, and generally gave us service I would certainly not have tipped for while the guys had to practically shoo them away. That one has kinda stuck in my craw since then. I'm not bitter.
It was weird and off-putting to have to go through a metal detector on the way in, and to be forced into a pre-dinner photograph that none of our party wanted to do while on the way to the elevator. Yes, yes, terrorism and tourism, but there has to be a better way than seriously annoying your very-much-overpaying guests.
The food was fine. I had a seasonable vegetable medley in pasta shells which was good four bites out of five (it was weird, but every now and again I got something really foul tasting in it - the first couple times I thought something was up with me, but no, there was some unidentifiable veggie cubes in it that just tasted off - picking them out made the whole thing better). The others in my party enjoyed their food, ranging from prime rib to roasted duck. Desert was delicious. The wines were appropriate if not stellar. It was worth it as a one-off occasion, which is likely their bread and butter - I mean, who would dine at the top of CN Tower on the regular?
