Casa Loma and Royal Ontario Museum

On Monday is was back to Toronto to hit two of the major tourist spots the city has to offer. Casa Loma is pretty much a castle tucked into the middle of a residential area. The man who built the home in the early 1900's was party of the Queen's army as well as an entrepreneur. He wanted to echo some of the grand estates the well-to-do in America and Great Britain were building at the time (think along the lines of Hearst Castle, but smaller). He had the most innovative plumbing and lighting systems for the time and a magnificent garden and stables. Before he could finish it, the market took a turn for the worse and he went bankrupt. It has since been turned into a hotel, another private residence and is now a tourist attraction. It is beautiful inside and out! Jason, Kyler and I even climbed the stairs all the way up to the top of the tallest tower-what a hike, what a view! There were rooms for everyone-husband, wife, son, guests, guests, more guests, servants, servant, and more servants-and pretty much each had their own bathroom too. It was amazing!After some lunch it was a few blocks over to visit the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). This place is huge and had exhibits on just about anything and everything. We did not see everything (our legs, feet and temperaments could only take so much!) but we were amazed at everything we could take in. There was a whole floor dedicated to dinosaurs. Another wing full of stuffed version of just about every kind of animal, bird, and creeping creatures. They had a "kid zone" with tunnels to crawl through, costumes to try on, and puzzles to complete. We checked out the ancient Egyptian artifacts and coins, pottery and statues from ancient Greece. There was a wing full of all kinds of furniture from across the decades and another on the first people of Canada. One of my favorite sections was the gemstones, minerals and rocks. The beautiful colors and types of stones made me wish for some fancy jewelry.
We left feeling culturally fulfilled and dead tired from all the walking and standing. It was then a long drive back home and some repacking for our departure the following day. We of course squeezed in some dessert (for the 5th day in a row) to make a sweet ending.