Casa Loma

I'm in love with castles.  I've wanted to travel to Ireland just to visit the castles.  So I was pleasantly surprised to learn there are castles in Canada.  There's actually a castle in the middle of Toronto.  I had never heard of it before recieving the cultural access pass.  My only prior visit to Toronto was for a conference and we stayed on the outskirts of Toronto and I found the city pretty boring.  I decided to go to Toronto because I looked up Casa Loma and I knew this was something that I wanted see.

I stayed downtown on this trip and now I see the point of living or visiting Toronto.

The castle was spectacular.  It was built by a man named Sir Henry Pallatt.  I particularly enjoyed the gardens and the tower. The only disappointment to the house is everything inside is not original to the house.  The city of Toronto bought everything to redecorate it.  Pallatt sold everything inside before selling the castle itself.  It was a smart business decision but a disappointment for people interested in historical artifacts.

The gardens are very well maintained.  The history of the museum is interesting, including its role in the cold war.  The museum is well worth the entry price even if you do not have a cultural access pass.  It is also directly across the street from another museum called the Spadina Museum which I will post about shortly.