The story of the Casa Loma is a rags to riches to rags story. Henry Pellatt built this 98 room castle on a hill overlooking Toronto. It took three years to build from 1911 to 1914. Pellatt was a financier and things were going smoothly until WW1 started. Work stopped on the build due to labor shortages during the war. Then the economic downturn after the war wiped him out financially. Toronto did not help much by raising the taxes from $600 per year to $12,000 per year. henry tried to keep the place afloat but he was overextended. The city eventually foreclosed due to an overdue tax bill. It was vacant for many years and was slated for demolition. Long story short it was saved and many of the contents have been repurchased and returned to the castle. We went to see the castle and also to listen to a Big Band concert. The information online was spotty so we got there super early. We walked around the neighborhood and found what must be the swankiest neighborhood in Toronto. Nice digs everywhere and even another castle down the road. Then we toured the castle. We had to return the audio guides at 5PM. That put us in the right place to get into the concert area early. Its is a good thing we did, as tables ran out quickly. Then folks started filling in the glass pavilion. It was drizzling on and off and the crew handed out ponchos. We had an umbrella that did most of the work but we still used the ponchos and even the table cloth to keep dry. The Glass Pavilion filled up with 45 minutes to go before the concert. Many folks in fancy dress were not too happy to hear that they needed to find a place to stand for the concert. We asked our server about this and she said that in the past it was understood that these concerts were a free for all, jam packed, schmooze fest with 1500 people jam packed into the same space we were in. The table goes to those who are super early, as in us!
Add subway to our list of public transportation
Over 100 stairs to the top
Yes, the same number going down
Our first peek of the spires
The turret reveals itself
A fancy Rolls Royce
Was it her car, is it authentic?
Out in the neighborhood
A fountain outside in the gardens
The castle had all the latest tech
and some old tech too
Careful moving this ceramic
Hail to the Queen
Very much like a Scottish hunting lodge
Commonwealth flags
Indoor plumbing was still new to a massive overdesign was par for the course
Huge bronze fixtures
And a chandelier in the shower
Very cool details everywhere
Site of the outdoor concert
Wind vane
One of 5 full suites for guests
Hooligans! They removed the sword from the display and were waving it around. They also knocked the cap off the soldier. The parents were watching and laughing.
A grand location for the organ
The wine cellar
The main turret
We have our dinner table
Right next to the flowers and the bees
Cheers!
Cheers to the bees too!
The band is in the larger pavilion but the people are jam packed inside
Lined up in a drizzle
Then it was full and many people had to find standing room anywhere they could
Lots of standing room in the back
More seating for dinner and the stage way in the back
Lots of horns in the band
Drum and stand up bass
and even more horns!
Getting dark and thicker clouds rolling in
Lights in the shape of trees
The stage
It has been 58 days since we began our Migration.
