Friday, December 13, 2019

Casa Loma & Royal Ontario Museum


On our second day in Toronto, we headed to some of the landmarks we passed by on our city tour the day before that we wanted a little more time at. Mom headed to the Royal Ontario Museum while Dad and I headed to Casa Loma for a quick tour before joining her at the museum.

Casa Loma (Spanish for "Hill House") often referred to as Toronto's Castle, is a Gothic Revival style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a historic house museum and landmark. It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for financier Sir Henry Pellatt. The architect was E. J. Lennox.


When we first walked in, we walked passed BlueBlood Steakhouse, it has a one of a kind vibe that offers a modern and edgy feel with a juxtaposition of classic heritage architecture, unique heirloom antiques and modern art pieces by Warhol, Mr. Brainwash and Salvador Dali. I would have liked to have been able to walk through and look at all the art, but it wasn't open while we were visiting. 




Next, we wandered into the library, it was stunning and huge! I almost looked like a banquet hall, with lots of open space and the books lining the walls.







The library leads to the conservatory which was gorgeous, very light and bright!


 The floor marble is Italian but the side panels are Ontario marble. Steam pipes kept the flower beds warm in the winter during the 1900s.


The dining room


Then we came to the Great Hall, With a 60' high ceiling, this room is a focal point of Casa Loma.





Before heading up to the second floor, we took a little snack break out on the back patio. We got a couple of snacks for a light lunch from a cute little food cart in the gardens.


We had beautiful views of the gardens and the city while we snacked.


On the second floor, we started in the Windsor room. This was a guest room that Sir Henry Pellatt hoped to have the Royal Family stay in one day.



The Round Room. 
This room was designed to fit the space below the tower




Then we came to Sir Henry Pellatt's Suite, the image of pure, over-the-top opulence.




The view from his bedroom window.




Then came Lady Pellatt's Suite, which is painted in the most pleasing shade of Wedgewood Blue.





Her suite includes a gorgeous sitting area, decorated in the buttery-est of yellows.




The last room we saw was another amazing guest room, this one with an oriental flare




After our self guided tour through the amazing Casa Loma, Dad and I headed to Royal Ontario Museum to meet up with Mom.





We entered through the East Entrance which is famous for its magnificent and elaborate Art Deco, Byzantine inspired rotunda. The mosaic ceiling of the rotunda is covered predominantly in gold back-painted glass tiles.




We found Mom in the gemstone exhibit. No matter what museum we are visiting, we always make sure to throughly explore their gem stone collection.






This is a sheet of copper found in a mine in Michigan.



I'm always intrigued by Phosphorescent rocks, I just can't believe neon, glow-in-the-dark rocks exist in nature!




We briefly stopped at a few other exhibits, but Mom had covered most of what she wanted to see on her own.

The next day we flew home to Utah. This was such a fun and unique trip!


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