O Canada Pt II - The Castle and the Highest Tower

Unsurprisingly, much of my time in Canada was spent site-seeing.  My uncle and aunt were determined to show my mother and me as much of Toronto as possible without the use of a Time Turner, taking the train more times than I can recall.

And also proving that I cannot escape this place, even when I am on vacation

As a blogger, I am immensely grateful for this, but as a person, I must admit that it left me pooped.  At heart, I am quite a homebody, so multiple days of touring around such a big city was a little tiring -- but well worth it.

Our first stop was Casa Loma, or "House on the Hill", a Gothic Revival house commissioned in the early 1900s by businessman Sir Henry Pellatt, a man with ambitions greater than his fortunes.  A mixture of debt and the coming of World War I eventually forced Sir Pellatt to auction off the manor to become first a hotel, and eventually a museum.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go inside, but just walking the grounds was plenty spectacular.

I'm not much one for history, but I appreciate the old world feel of Gothic architecture.   Very Cathédrale Notre-Dame.  Something very imposing and powerful, yet elegant, I suppose.

And because I am a creeper, I stole a few shots of this lovely couple taking wedding photos out in front:

We didn't spend too much time at Casa Loma - after all, there's only so much of one's front lawn you can really care about, castle or no.  Our next stop was downtown Toronto - specifically the SkyWalk and CN Tower. 

This marks the second time I've been to a "current" World's Tallest Tower (the first being Taipei 101 whilst in undergrad), and let me tell you - the awe does not fade. 

Of course, per Murphy's law, it rained all afternoon, so all the pictures I took during the glass elevator ride were pretty obscured by fog, so what I'm sharing is unfortunately the best of it:

Still - I sat in the 360 restaurant with my mother, sharing a delicious luncheon in the rotating dining hall (the entire restaurant rotates around the axis of the tower, giving you a 360 view of the city), I couldn't help but keep staring out the window, despite the terrible weather.

What makes a person look up and think, "I will touch the sky"?  Such a feat of engineering, it makes a girl want to sigh.

Much of Toronto gave me that feeling, especially viewing it from both the highest point in the city, as well as from a ferry that captured much of the horizon:

Toronto was described to me, on multiple occasions, as being a "Cleaner New York City."  Given that NYC spans twice the area of Toronto and has a population of 8.2 million to Toronto's 2.6, I *don't* quite think that's a fair comparison, but I can appreciate the statement.  Toronto was quite the metropolis, but I think what impressed me more was how multifaceted the city was.  For example:

This is a trick of perspective, obviously, but it lends itself well to what I'm talking about.  Nature meets with modern society, somewhat abruptly, but not awkwardly.  The city was much the same.  People of all backgrounds.  Restaurants of any cuisine (ah - but no "fusion" places.)  Everywhere, people were speaking countless languages.  French was spoken nearly as frequently as English (though, I never worked up the courage to test that).  And most importantly -

COSPLAYERS.

COSPLAYERS EVERYWHERE.

AND NOBODY BLINKING AN EYE.

(Actually, I'm fairly certain there was a convention nearby, and they all agreed to meet up for a social after the event.  BUT STILL.)

To be honest, it was a little strange at times.  When I was in grade school, America was described to us as "the melting pot."  Canada was "the cultural mosaic."  Everything in one place, and yet… nothing was forced into a mish-mash of confused culture.  Not purposely segregated, but just in a calmly coexisting manner.  And while that was somewhat... refreshing, it seemed… unusual, a point I will expound upon in the pulse-pounding conclusion to my trip.

Until the next.