Toronto

Then there was Toronto. A ghastly place! Over built and over crowded. It's about 50 times worse than downtown Chicago! Yuck. They have narrow streets, cable cars, tons of bicyclist (bot no bike lanes) and pedestrian that go wherever they want whenever they want! You wouldn't believe how much building is going on there! In this picture alone, you can see 3 cranes!

We started out looking for the Distillery Historic District. And then maybe catch a subway and go to the subterranean mall. Parking is difficult at best and we bailed after a 1/2 an hour or so. Instead, we went to Casa Loma - which we had thought about doing anyway.

Here's a brief history of the place;
Built for Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, high atop a hill, with 98 rooms, 30 bathrooms, 25 fireplaces, 3 bowling alleys, a 50-metre (160-foot) shooting gallery, a temperature-controlled wine cellar capable of holding 1,700 bottles of bubbly, an incomplete 18-metre (60-foot) long indoor swimming pool, and a 243-metre (800-foot) tunnel constructed 6 metres (20 feet) underground which connects Casa Loma to the stables across the street.
No expense was spared. The stables, constructed from locally-quarried Credit Valley stone with Spanish tile, herringbone-pattern floors, cost him $250,000 to build. The stalls were made of the finest-quality mahogany and each horse's name was spelled out in 18-karat gold letters.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pellatt took residence in 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I.  Unfortunately, they were to enjoy their 'fairy-tale' paradise for only 10 years. The war had serious and permanent effects on Henry's businesses and they began to fail. Nevertheless, the time spent in Casa Loma was a joy to both himself and his wife, Mary, thanks to 40 servants who changed 5,000 electric light bulbs, cleaned the castle with a central vacuum system, tended the first electric elevator in a private residence in the city of Toronto, and polished the 52 telephones.

The public rooms were designed and decorated to suit royalty. When entering Casa Loma, visitors were greeted with a massive Great Hall. There was an Oak Room, with hand-carved, solid oak panels and beams which had taken three years to create. The huge library contained 10,000 books and the dining room could seat 100 people with elbow room to spare. The Palm Room was paved with imported marble, and the Long Hallway was modeled after Peacock Alley in Windsor Castle. Above, on the second floor, was Henry's private, all-marble, gold-fixtured bathroom. A custom-designed shower allowed him to direct water to any part of his body. Henry could wash his face, rinse his hair, and scrub behind his ears without even turning his head.

Sir Henry died in 1939, broken, destitute, and living with a former chauffeur in a small house in Toronto's suburbia. His cash assets amounted to $185.08 and his debts totalled $6,000. Nonetheless, Sir Henry Mill Pellatt was given the biggest funeral Toronto had ever seen.

This is just a side picture;

See the tower on the right? Bill and I went allllll the way up!

We had to climb, starting on the 3rd floor, 2 and a 1/2 of these;

and 2 and a 1/2 of these;

But the view from the tower was spectacular!

Here is a picture of the above mentioned shower;



and the tunnel to the stables, garage and potting room;

In the hallway on the 2nd floor, in all the archways there are different little characters on each side. This little guy was my favorite :-)

See all of these designs;

They were all hand painted!

pretty cool.

We didn't get to go further than the garages...

...in the tunnels though. They film a TV series called Nakita there and they were filming that day so we missed the stables. Turns out, they film A LOT of things in Casa Loma;

The Conservatory was beautiful;

And we didn't even do the gardens!



It was a fun day - excluding downtown Toronto.



Next up, Cave of the Winds

Here are the stairs, smack next to the falls, that we climbed;

But first, you have to be properly attired. So you get these fun sandals and a plastic bag to put your real shoes in, plus a bright yellow ponch to keep you dry - HA!

Here we go!

 We're 1/2 way there...

They really have a good sense of humor!

 At the top of the stairs;

  

After we were done, and soaked from the knees down, we chatted with the elevator operator on the way back up. Turned out, he is part of the crew that tears down and builds those stairs - every year! He said it takes all of November to tear them down. Then, every April they build them again, on the site. He said it's brutal! The water is only 40 degrees or so and they're out there all day. Brrrrr. Oh sure, they probably have wet suits on but still. 

More!

From the Canadian side,

It was a once in a lifetime experience! I took a lot of pictures;

You know, in case you're dumb...

Oh look...there's one of the boats!

We were curious about that short little wall - how did they do that?

The whole park was so diverse!

Niagara Falls

That was AMAZING! Really. I've seen pictures of Niagara Falls all my life. And I have to say, they really do look like the pictures, BUT...it's definitely something you have to experience. First, there's the shear size of the falls. Then there's the sound of all that water. We started with the Maids of the Mist boat tour. They take somewhere around 200 people per trip;

First up, the American and Bridal Veil Falls;

Can you see those stairs on the bottom right? We'll be taking those up later on!

That's the face of a happy woman there!

Next up, Horse Shoe Falls. The boat takes you up close and personal. There's so much mist you can barely see the falls from the boat;

That was incredible!

So much for the shower this morning!

this is an old plant that produced electricity;

See that huge tower on the left? That's where these pictures come from;

This last one is Rainbow Bridge. It connects the US with Canada.

Where have you been?!?!

This is the bridge from Canada to Detroit. Back in the good ol USA!