Toronto was about 0 C with a -6 windchill. Brrrrrr. It was overcast as well, with a biting wind. I had 3 layers on, which didn't seem like enough while outside, but was nice and warm inside.
I parked by the Rogers Centre, which is where the Toronto Blue Jays play. That would make it easy to remember where to find my car later on. Unlike most places in the US, parking lots in Toronto are underground, so the 3rd floor is actually 3 floors under ground. It felt odd going up the stairs from the 3rd floor.
Even surrounded by tall skyscrapers, it wasn't hard to find the CN Tower, which was my next stop! This made the other buildings I've gone up seem small in comparison. The Edge Walk is an attraction where you are on the edge of the tower strapped to a harness, walking around the edge of the tower without holding on to anything with nothing but the harness and your balance keeping you from tumbling hundreds of meters to the ground. It looked like a blast, but was not open. You guessed it! Out of season. :(
There are 3 floors of observation decks on the CN Tower. The top is called the Sky Pod and is 1465 feet, over a 1/4 of a mile in the air. :) Visibility is over 100 miles on a clear day, so far that you can actually see Niagara Falls.
33 floors below that is the Look Out deck. Still a great view! This is also where one of the restaurants is. Since I have been living in FL, the lightning capital of the world, I thought this was interesting... The CN Tower gets hit by lightning 60-80 times each year. :) There are copper strips that the lightening follows down the building, so those inside don't have to worry about getting shocked.
The glass floor was next, which was one floor below the Look Out deck. This had (as you can imagine) a glass floor, similar to the Willis Tower, where you can look straight down and see the ground many, many feet below. :)
Steam Whistle Brewing is the horseshoe shaped building seen from the tower. I saw the word "Brewing" and walked over to have a look. It was not open (as usual), but was still on the way to the waterfront, and had enough to look at outside, along with some of the old photos of the railroads. Union Station is a bit different now. :)
Harbourfront on the waterfront in Toronto is full of art and music. A short walk down by the water and you see lots of boats, including one very small one that is taking those of us brave enough to bear the cold to the Island of Toronto.
The boat was going to leave for the first island tour in about 45 minutes, so I took a walk toward the Redpath Sugar plant where they have a museum to kill time. They asked if I had an appointment, and when I said no and turned to leave, they asked me to wait inside with a few other tourists and buzzed me in. Now I was sitting in a room with 2 Asian tourists who had been waiting there for about 30 minutes hoping for a tour of the plant. We couldn't get out without being buzzed out. After 10 minutes I got antsy and banged on the door to get out. The other tourists followed suit.
Instead, I relaxed by "The Second Cup" and had a cup of coffee and some goodies. In Toronto, you have to pay for bags, but it was only $0.05. LOL The boat was starting to board (all 5 of us), so I took my camera and coffee and boarded the boat in the back, near 3 young British tourists. The other 2 tourists were a husband and wife from the Philippines. Our captain was about 20 years old and our tour guide looked like the secret service guy from the movie "Chasing Liberty". He was a hoot! He was so good at his job in fact, that I forgot about the cold and the fact that I had to go to the bathroom really bad!!!
The island was seen from the CN tower, and was full of plant and animal life; a nice escape from the city. On one end is Toronto's airport, with small jets whizzing by. In fact, the water in front of the airport is part of the runway because the jets are so low coming over it. The jets were so close and beautiful! Best I can recall, the only island I ever flew into was Washington Island, where friends and I decided to skydive in 40 mph winds, and our 172 Cessna had a bird's nest by the engine from lack of use that smoked when we started it up. Fond memories. :)
The black and white ducks looked like penguins, and unlike other birds, they actually migrate when the weather gets warm since they like the cold!!!!! (Crazy birds!) Speaking of the cold, no boats were in the water as it's still ice cold. They look like someone shrink-wrapped them at the little marina. :)
We then drove the boat through the many channels on the island - a piece of land lucky enough to be secluded from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Finally, our tiny boat popped out the other side to look at the city one last time from the island. It reminded me of being on the ferry in New York and seeing the city from the Statue of Liberty's view point.
In the Air Canada Centre and Union Station, you could enter the train station and walk up and down the streets under the protection of windows and walls. It was a welcome break from the cold, and apparently everyone else thought so to as it was much more crowded in there than the streets outside!
This indoor path led me directly to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Even though I'm from a cold state, I never got into hockey much. I do know that Wayne Gretzky is probably the best hockey player ever and won 4 Stanley Cups, though everyone knows that! Nevertheless, being in Canada where hockey is a much more popular sport, I thought it would be fun to check it out. There was a section in the middle for kids to put on hockey gear and either play goalie or forward, playing against a professional on the screen. It was fun to watch! :)
The St. Lawrence Market in Old Town Toronto is the next stop and only a few blocks from the Hockey Hall of Fame. This is a 2 story VERY large indoor market with wine, cheese, bakeries, butcher shops, fresh fruit, and much, much more! The buildings in Old Town Toronto weren't too bad to look at either...
It was about 2 PM, and a little bit far to walk up to the museum and then back down to the car, so I went back to my car and drove up toward the museum. Near the hospitals while looking for a place to park, I saw enough thick black smoke to the right that I could hardly find the road, so I decided to go left. Funny thing... While walking all day I saw parking signs everywhere. Now, I found none!
Finally, I found a spot on the road and parallel parked. It only let me pay through 3:30 PM (would have helped if I read the sign), so I jogged up Queen's Park to spend an hour at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). I had no idea the museum was 6 floors, and without my phone (aka "clock") working in Canada, I had to guess at the time. Needless to say, by the time I returned back to my car (about 4 PM) there was a bright yellow parking ticket for $60 on my windshield. :( According to locals I should be happy my car wasn't towed!!!
At ROM, I saw the Maya, Secrets of the Ancient World exhibit, but got yelled at when I tried to take a picture. It was actually the best part, next to the mummies and the big sparkly 900 caret gem. :) Here are some pictures from the museum. You can see everything from the Roman empire to the early Canadians to the mammals, birds, and dinosaur exhibits.
This is a statue of Timothy Eaton. Eaton's department store made this statue for the Eaton family. World War I just ended and the family promised the soldiers their jobs would be waiting for them when they came back home. Shoppers for decades rubbed the left toe of the statue for good luck, so I thought I'd do the same...
Here is the exhibit of the Canadian first people. "We need these traditions, not only to know who we are, but to know who we can become."
The Catholic Church was the cornerstone of early French Canadian society.
Next were the Chinese exhibits... I enjoy Asian architecture and art. Colorful and decorative.
And then there were the bats, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals. :) I haven't seen dinosaurs since I was a kid. :)
Earth's Treasures (otherwise known as soon-to-be expensive jewelry or husband points). Note the HUGE gem sparkling as a diamond. It is the largest gem cut of cerussite in the world at 896 carats, and its dispersion (all the rainbow colors you see as you move around the stone making it sparkle so much) is actually more intense than that of a diamond. I'm not into jewelry, but this was mesmerizing to look at!!!
Romans and Egyptians were next... I think the last time I saw a mummy was in the 6th grade on a field trip to the Milwaukee County Museum.
And what would a museum be without armor? Jewish and Catholic influence can be seen as well.
I wasn't paying attention to the time and after the museum, I walked through Yorkville on Bloor St to look at all the fancy stores and pretty dresses. I didn't try anything on since I cannot afford it. Imagine trying on a $6,000 dress and ripping it!?! This is the 5th Avenue in Manhattan, Michigan Ave in Chicago, and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I almost sound like a girl there!! :) By the way, even though I am not so great when it comes to shopping and doing the girly thing, I would really enjoy getting dolled up and looking like a princess every once in awhile if I had a man to look pretty for. It's like cooking - not much fun to do just for yourself...
So, I ran back to my car, put the ticket away somewhere I wouldn't have to see it anymore, and found yet another place to park... I walked around a little bit more. It was about 5 PM and I forgot to go to the castle today. :( I guess I'm driving home late tomorrow! Definitely wanted to see the castle before leaving! So while I waited until it was late enough to eat dinner, I walked through Trinity Square Park and saw the labyrinth. It would have been more fun doing it with the kids, so I just pretended they were here. I can also see this being in a fountain for kids to run through and have water squirt up out of the ground. :)
I then walked back to my car going by the bottom part of Queen's Park. I passed the Firefighter's Memorial, which recognized all people who died in the line of duty.
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario building and surrounding area was the next place I passed. There are plaques and monuments positioned all around the building. From there, I turned left and walked around the University of Toronto. The buildings were castle-like, old, and beautiful!
The taxis were mostly orange with teal hoods and trunks. This reminded me of the gulf livery color scheme on the Heritage GTs, only instead of the soft orange and powder blue it was an ugly combination.
I walked over to the Ritz to warm up and sat down with a glass of red wine on the couch by the fireplace and relaxed. My feet were hurting and thanked me for the break. :) I met a girl and guy by the other couch and we spent some time talking. He is from 16 hours NORTH of Toronto and had a very strong Canadian accent. These freezing temps must seem warm to him! LOL
The girl couldn't stay for dinner, but the guy and I went out to a bar and grill and then came back for creme brulee and coffee. There was another nice group of girls and guys who we gave the couches to before dinner. They were fun, and if I was staying at the Ritz, I would have stuck around longer and hung out with them. It was 11:30 PM by the time I left, so I said goodbye to everyone, found my car, and drove off in search of a less expensive hotel... Downtown was all lit up, but my camera didn't capture the lights very well. The only that turned out was the light on the CN tower.
I was going to head back to WI first thing in the morning, but decided to stop by the castle first. Casa Loma was built by Sir Henry Pellatt and Lady Mary Pellatt. While most other homes cost around $2,000, they were building one that would cost $250,000. However (as with all construction projects) the actual cost ended up being much higher - in this case over $3,500,000 - and the Pellatt's had to move out into smaller homes as they were broke.
The European style castle had elegantly decorated rooms, large fancy ballrooms, stables, a potting room, secret passageways, a tower, and beautiful gardens outside.
The dragon tree legend: "...In an enchanted forge Sir Henry fashioned the iron tree dragons. When a pure heart plays the magic bells, the dragons awake to fly in 6 directions. The dragon of the nether region will fell from despair and bring hope. The dragon of heaven will arrive with the gift of true love. And from the 4 corners of the Earth will come peace, health, wisdom, and happiness."
The last thing I'll point out from Toronto is that their buses were on rails and cables like bumper cars when we were kids. There were times we could drive in front or behind them, but it seemed strange, as though I was driving in front of a train.
On the way back through Canada to the US border, I saw signs for the cities of "Petrolia", "Oil City", and "Oil Springs". I bet you can guess what happened here! This is where Canada first started producing oil. :) Of course the big oil museum was closed for the season, but I stopped in Petrolia at a small diner called Munchies for some lunch.
There was an hour long wait at the border as I said goodbye to Canada.
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