Seventh Week of A Journal of a Girl in Toronto: Once upon upon, lived a man called Henry Pellat, or Sir Henry Pellat, a successful business man and unabashed lover. Henry Pellat got engaged to his school sweetheart, Mary and had a one dream: To build a castle, like no other where they would enjoy their love in their own empire. Casa Loma, a spanish name meaning Hill House was built in 1911, by E.J. Lennox. Henry dreamt, and, Lennox was there to bring Henrys dream into reality. The château was built on a hill as the name implies aiming to view as much as could from Toronto and now, being one of the most important touristic icons in town. I will not take you into the historical details of the castle but I will tell you about my 6 hour trip spent there in the castle. Usually I spend a lot of time when it comes to museums, art and shopping. Waking up on Saturday 5th of April with a stupid, migraine did not stop me to pin another trip in Toronto. After quite a search the night before I had a couple of places yet to visit and on Saturday, Casa Loma was pinned on my portable map that I consider a best friend through my stay. Got on the 10:20 bus and luckily enough the bus stop was right across my houses doorsteps. And my friend bus driver would make fun of me when I used to sometimes run trying to catch the bus Ah now I know why you run because, you stay warm at home until the bus comes and then jump in. :D Then, the best part of me not driving was taking the subway. I just loved the subway. I got off at my stop, and looking at the map I was nearly there. I stood watching the castle from where I stand that looked like those from a fairy tale movie and was startled when I found a couple of early morning people that were on for a good run. I started looking around wandering how exactly I should walk. I found a huge number of steps that had a name carved in them; Baldwin Steps. A glimpse about Baldwin Steps, 110 steps made of stone and concrete located near Casa Loma and other sites in the city built in the 19th century. The steps looked very ancient and people did not use it only as a touristic site but for exercise. The staircase took a zig-zag shape between dense greenery up to the cliff. The route to Casa Loma was either to take Baldwin Steps or just walk around until you get there. Taking Baldwin Steps was something I wanted to remember. A lot of romantic couples were sitting on the small seats they had on the staircase that were divided in intervals. Some people had even photo-shooting sessions and others were burning some calories ;) After taking Baldwin Steps, I came closer to the castle. I was amazed. It was one of the most beautiful things my eyes had seen. There was a park around with more people relaxing, enjoying the sun with their dogs. It was quite those few days, where the sun decided to visit the skies of Toronto. :) I booked a ticket and got into Casa Loma. At first, I thought it was smaller but the more I walked staring at all the stunning details about it, the more I fell in love with Henry ! It took me a couple of minutes to decide from where to start off. I decided I will start from the right where the dining room was located. But my eyes fell first for a historical piano and an organ located right across the hall. I had an audio and I listened to most of it along with the supplementary parts that werent so important to mention. My trip to Casa Loma, might be that only once and I had to make the best out of it. I went from the dining rooms, to living rooms, to visitors rooms... And by mentioning rooms not room, was because the castle was made up of 98 rooms, so a couple of rooms for the same reason were there. On the ground floor, the main floor, was the dining room, library, garden terrace, great hall, the oak room, billiard room, smoking room, Sir Pellats study and the conservatory. The rooms were made of very fine wood and furnished modernly that sometimes I forget that it was in the early 19th century. The smoking room was part of the billiard room, both rooms were set for Henry to chill out with the guys ;) The oak room was made obviously from oak trees. The two rooms that caught my attention most were Sir Pellats study and the library. When you get to his study, youd think its a normal room with a desk and a fireplace but then he secretly had a door where the stairs led to the wine cellar and a secret exit out of the castle. Henry wasnt an easy man ! >:) The Library room was so big accommodating more than 10,000 books. It was all in glass. But Henry had to do unusual things. The library parquet floor had a magic trick, when you look at the same part on your left side youd find it one colour and the very same part on your right side was another colour. I stood there for a while thinking of the optical delusion he did ! The day I visited the castle, they had fancy tables set in the library room for an afternoon dinner. A lot of events took place in the castle like dinners, weddings and other media events. I asked if someone can get married in the castle, she was like Yes. Surprisingly, we have a wedding reservation and a reception tonight. Thats why were closing 5 not 6. And when you get married, youd walk down that aisle. And she pointed out to the Garden Terrace. It was a beautiful, closed terrace with a wide diversity of flowers. I wanna get married there
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:36:59 +0000
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