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It was a great day! It was a day with steps, steps and more steps- hence the picture! My mother said we got our workout today!
First thing - It was slightly tricky to find Casa Loma, but we were very thankful we persevered! It is an amazing castle built in the early 1900s. It has 98 rooms and 180,000 square feet. There was a very informative audio tour offered, and we all really enjoyed that!
The castle was built by Sir Henry Pellat. Pellat idolized Napoleon, Hercules andThe Brittish monarchy. These obsessions were seen in many features throughout the castle. The initial budget for the castle was $250,000. That was greater than what was spent on most other mansions in Toronto at the time. The final cost on the castle was $3,500,000! The $250,000 was what he spent on the stables!
He was quite the industrialist; he first harnessed the hydroelectric power of Niagara Falls! That was a neat tie in to our last destination. After the power plant was built, the Canadian government decided that they should be in control and not private industry. This was obviously a financial set back for Pellat. In fact, there were many! Pellat ended his life penniless. The castle was called a "white elephant no one wanted to deal with!". Ultimately, the Kiwanis Club bought it and continued the restoration process! While we were there, both a wedding and birthday party were occurring in addition to all the tourists!
After crackers and fruit in the car, we headed to the CN Tower. We got in TONS of traffic! There was a Toronto Bluejays game and downtown was nuts!! The details of the Tower are with the photos. It was a great day; we ended with a treat for the kids at Marble Slab. I almost had to leave them (ha ha)! As I went to pay with my AMEX, the lady said they didn't take AMEX (the only card I have/use). So I broke out a $50. She went to the back and said they couldn't take American money! My kids were already chowing down!!! So, I ran to the car (my mom was resting her legs) and borrowed her Visa card! The adventures/mishaps of travel!!
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