this was my number one tourist destination on this trip. if i got to do nothing else, this is what i wanted to do. bess and donna made sure it happened. it was the best day, very relaxing and enjoyable, but sadly our last day before it was time to head home.
i can not take credit for the first two pics, i snagged them off the internet, this house is so big, i couldn’t fit it all in one shot.
the gardens were just gorgeous
(both of those pics and all that follow, are mine)
casa loma was the home of sir henry and lady pellatt (mary dodgson). it took 3 years and 300 men to build at a cost of 3.5 million dollars (in 1911). many of the rooms were never completed including an indoor swimming pool, bowling alley and fitness room. the estate contains a total of 98 rooms. sir henry made his money through investments in turbo powered electricity, and railroad speculations, however he lost his fortune after wwI, owing the bank of canada 1.7 million (20 million in today’s money) honestly, this amount of money is beyond my comprehension, so is this lifestyle. a glimpse of a few of the rooms,
on the first floor, the library (sir henry in the library with a butter knife, sorry)
the dinning room (off the library)
the conservatory (also off the library)
the roof of the conservatory was just gorgeous.
the drawing room
on the second floor, lady pellatt’s bedroom.
she actually had an entire suite, with a closet the size of a small bedroom, a private bath the size of my living room, and a sitting room for receiving guest.
a suite reseved for royal visitors
a guest suite
the third floor had several museum displays, mainly about his military career. from what i understand many of the third floor rooms were never finished. we did climb up into the tower, just not to the very top level, it was quite high, and the steps very scary, especially on these knees.
one last thought about my trip, i had to go across a total of four bridges (round trip) that went up at a steep incline, and traveled over large bodies of water. again this photo is not mine, and was snagged from the internet, in fact my understanding is it’s a bridge in florida, but i need to demonstrate what i was referring to, and unable to locate an actual picture of these bridges….
honestly this experience scared the crap out of me. if i could’ve crossed the bridge with my eyes close i would’ve. (but since i was traveling alone, and driving, really not an option). i have been afraid of heights for a very long time, and ever since i saw the movie the mothman prophecies, the scene were the bridge collapses and they show the car submerged with the headlights shinning in the water, bridges that cross water totally creep me out. i get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. my family loved to tease about it until august 1st 2007, when a bridge in minnesota collapsed into the mississippi river during rush hour traffic, 13 people lost their lives.
