August 22 2025

Friday, August 22, 2025

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This morning I got up early as usual and decided to take a walk. I walked down Yonge Street. I was headed towards the Good Earth Coffee House at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley, a quarter mile from the hotel. Unfortunately, they weren’t open at 06:30.

I did pass a Tim Horton’s on Yonge just before I got to Wellesley, so I decided to head back there are check it out. The guide on the bus yesterday had a lot of good things to say about about it. Basically, it is totally Canadian! Well, I didn’t have the heart to tell him it merged with Burger King in 2014 and is now part of Restaurant Brands International. The also own Popeyes and Fire House Subs. More American than Canadian. Although, RBI is headquartered in Toronto.

Tim Horton’s is a Canadian version of McDonalds to me. Things are more cooked on the spot and thus perhaps fresher. They also added the Dunkin Donuts option of having fresh donuts. I ordered the medium cappuccino and their version of the egg, sausage, and cheese on an English muffin. The egg was cooked to order and wasn’t scrambled; basically, over easy. The sausage came out of the steamer. The English muffin was toasted on the spot and buttered before adding the egg, sausage and cheese. The downside is the cheese didn’t have time to melt.

I sat and people watched for a little while. Early morning always has a number of characters. A couple police officers, a few lower echelon business types getting to the office early to kiss up, and a few street people who didn’t give a boo about much of any thing. Most of them came in picked up their order and were out the door as soon as possible.

The Cappuccino was surprisingly satisfying. The flavor and temperature were correct. I can honestly say that I was completely shocked to find a good cappuccino outside of Italy, and to make it even more astonishing was that it was at a place like this. Equally amazing was the taste of the egg “McMuffin”. It was very good, although it could have been totally amazing if the cheese wasn’t cold.

I finished up my cappuccino and headed back to the hotel. The bistro downstairs should be open now that it is after 07:00. Before heading out I thought I should share some of this with Mary, so I got her a blueberry muffin. It looked quite good in the display case. On the way back to the room I picked up a coffee at the bistro in the hotel, but they wouldn’t let me pay for it. I still don’t know why, but I didn’t push the point.

Mary finished up her coffee and muffin and we headed out for the day. It started just as a general walk but somewhere along the way we decided to head up to Casa Loma. It didn’t seem that far away on the bus. We thought it was maybe 3 or 4 kilometres.

It was a nice walk though Queen’s Park, The University of Toronto’s Trinity College and philosopher’s walk. There were a number of elementary age children, probably attending some sort of summer camp, enjoying the park’s shade. We walked down Bloor Street past the Bata Shoe Museum and then walked down Bedford Road though a very nice neighborhood. We hung a left on Davenport Road under the train tracks, all the way to Walmer Road. At the corner of Walmer and Davenport we realized that it was now up hill all the way to Casa Loma. Ugh.

We did finally make it to the entrance of Casa Loma. Now, it is often as not called Toronto’s castle. That is a problem for me. Castle is a term used for a fortified military stronghold primarily built for defense. It would be better to call Casa Loma either a manor or better yet a villa. A manor house suggests some sort of historically significant, self-sufficient agricultural estate, probably from the feudal era (9th – 15th centuries).

The manor is characterized by a large property and land, multiple buildings and specifically a residence for the lord of the manor. The latter may more appropriately be described as a villa. Villas are often luxurious private residences built simply for comfort and leisure. While a villa will have some grounds, they are probably don’t have an agricultural function. The grounds that a villa does have are designed for intimacy and connection with outdoor spaces.

Casa Loma more aptly fits the description of a villa than a castle, however the architecture of the building leans heavily on feudal ear design. Turrets, stone walls, and heavy or sturdy construction. However, it has large windows and no defensive capabilities. Its soaring battlements and secret passageways pat homage to castles and knights of days gone by.

Casa Loma was built in Sir Henry Pellatt a Canadian visionary at the turn of the 20th century. He made is fortune in railroads and supplying electricity to Toronto. It was just prior to World War I that construction began. It took three years and $3,500,000 to build, and it surpassed any private home in North America at the time.

Side Henry Pellantt’s numerous business and military connections demanded entertaining on a large scale and Cassa Loma was there to provide that. Sir Henry filled Casa Loma with artwork from Canada and around the world. The villa was built with some of the most advanced necessities of the time. In door plumbing, and not only for the master of the house, but the staff, located on the third floor, had bathrooms near their bedrooms. This would have been extremely rare at the time.

IN addition of hosting grand social events at Casea Loma the Pellatt’s ere involved in a number of hilanthropic projects. Sir Henry was a trustee and benefactor fo Trinity College and a strong supporter of Grace Hospital. St. John’s Ambulance Brigade in Canada was organized largely to Sir Henry’s efforts. Lady Pellatt, who was in ill health, and despite that played an active role in the promotion on Girl Guides of Canada. She was appointed the first Commissioner of the Girl Guides and in 1919 was honored with their highest award, the Silver Fish.

Unfortunately, Sir Henry Pellatt’s fortunes could not sustain Casa Loma. Pellatt and Pellatt, his investment house, went further and further into debt in an effort to expand. The one sure source of income from the monopoly of electrical power vanished when political decisions allowed for public ownership of electricity. In a futile attempt to restore his wealth, Sir Henry Pellatt turned to land speculation. He was convinced that well-to-do Torontonians would rush to build homes around Casa Loma. However, in this case his entrepreneurial sense did not take into account the effects of World War I. During the war, Canadians put their money into war bonds, not homes.

After the war the economy slumped and Pellatt and Pellatt fell into bankruptcy. The company owed the Home Bank of Canada $1,700,000 – or roughly in today’s terms $20,000,000. His stock was worthless and his business debts out of control. Sir Henry Pellatt had no choce butTo auction of this prized possession for fraction of their worth and abandon his dream of a noble castle.

Like many wealthy people rather than blame himself on overextending himself, he always claimed the problem was the City’s immovable tax assessors. The Pellatts moved to their farm in King township in 1924. Lady Pellatt passed away later that year at the age of sixty-seven. Though he lost a great fortune, Sir Henry Pellatt never lost his spirit of philanthropy, a character trait for which he was honored late in life. His service of fifty years with the Queen’s Own Rifles was celebrated on June 27, 1926, with a march of 500 men complete with the circling overhead of three military planes. When Sir Henry Pellatt died on March 8, 1939, thousands lined Toronto streets to witness his funeral procession. He was buried with full military honors befitting a soldier who had given so much to his country.

Sir Henry Pellatt left Casa Loma in 1924. In 1925, architect William Sparling, who designed Casa Loma,  put forward a proposal to convert the Casa Loma into a Toronto luxury hotel. The Casa Loma Hotel which was open from 1926 – 1929. William Sparling was granted a long-term lease and began the process of completing the Great Hall and the Billiard Room, areas that Sir Henry Pellatt had never finished. He also had plans to add two large wings to the east and west sections of the main building that would each contain ninety-six full suites and fifty-six rooms. These wings were never built. A New York syndicate offered to purchase Casa Loma in 1928 but the deal was never completed and the hotel failed in 1929.

During the late 1920’s, Casa Loma was also a popular nightspot. The Orange Blossoms, later known as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, were booked to play for eight months at Casa Loma in 1927 and 1928. Shortly thereafter, they went on tour of North America with their big band sound. With the onset of the Depression, Casa Loma once again remained vacant. In 1933, the City of Toronto took ownership of the property for $27,303.45 owed in back taxes. Suggestions for possible uses of the building included a high school, museum or art gallery for visitors to Toronto, a war veteran’s convalescence home and a permanent residence for the Dionne quintuplets. None of the projects proved feasible and the City of Toronto considered demolishing North America’s Castle.Thus, it remained vacant from 1933 – 1937 while proposals were considered by the City of Toronto for the future use. In 1937 The Kiwanis Club of West Toronto began operating Casa Loma as a tourist attraction. This agreement continued until 2011. In August 2011, the new Casa Loma Corporation was formed. The City of Toronto remains the sole owner of the property.

Today this historical landmark and one of North America’s largest homes, offers a one of a kind backdrop for events. The great hall with its impressive 60th high oak beamed ceiling and 40 foot bay window are just part of the magnificent interior. There is also an impressive outdoor terrace which sits just above the five-acre gardens below which has a spectacular view of the city skyline beyond. The villa is also home to the Blueblood Steakhouse which offered refined dinning just off the great hall.

Sir Henry also built and underground passageway which leads to the stables across Austin Road and a little further down Walmar Road. Apparently, Sir Henry didn’t want to mix with the locals or be out in the weather which going to the stables. Of course in keeping with the there of modernization the stables eventually become a garage for cars. There are a few antique cars here to see and again the architecture matches the villa, so well worth seeing and it is included in the price of the ticket to Casa Loma.

After walking trough, the passage back to main house, we exited out the front door and called Uber to pick us up. It was lunch time; we were somewhat walked out and definitely hungry. We decided to go to the St. Lawrence Market down by the lake for lunch.

In 1803 Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter saw the need for a public market and proclaimed a weekly market day and designated an area. The original market was known as Market Square and people gathered there on Saturdays. It was located on the corner of King Street and Jarvis Street (then known as New Street) and ran from Church Street in the west of and south along Front Street, with a creek running through the center from King south to the bay.

The market square was the center of the city’s social life where auctions took place and public punishments were carried out. Auctions included the sale of black slaves in the earliest days. Butter, eggs, fish, meat, poultry and vegetables could only be sold between the hours of 6 am and 4 on in the market on Saturdays.

In the first half of the nineteenth century Toronto had three public markets. St. Lawrence Market, founded in 1803. St. Patrick’s Market on Queen Street West in 1836. St. Patrick’s still exists today as an organic food court in a building built in 1912. The last market established was built in 1850 and was called St. Andrew’s. Today it is a park.

 The first St. Lawrence market building, a temporary shelter, 24 feet (7.3 m) by 36 feet (11 m) was built in 1814. The first permanent structure was built in 1820. In 1823, the town's first public well was dug on the property. In 1831, the wooden market building was torn down and a quadrangular brick building with arched entrances at the sides was built. The building's office space served as a temporary home to City Council until 1845. This building was used until the 1849 Toronto Great Fire destroyed the northern side of the building and it was torn down.

After the fire, St. Lawrence Hall was built, along with a new market building between it and Front, the first to be known as St. Lawrence Market. It was an arcade in a north–south orientation. To finance the new construction, the City of Toronto sold lots on the market block. In the 1850s, the railways arrived in Toronto, and rail lines were extended along Front Street to the market. These lines were relocated to the new Esplanade south of Front Street and a passenger station was erected.

The present St. Lawrence Market South building was built in 1845 as Toronto City Hall and was rebuilt in 1850. In 1899, Toronto City Hall moved to a new building at Queen and Bay Street. Part of the old City Hall was incorporated into a new building in 1904. At the same time, the 1851 north market building was torn down and replaced with a new building similar to the new south building. A canopy was built between the north and south buildings and this was torn down in the 1950s. The north market building was replaced with a simple single floor building in 1968, and the south building was renovated in 1972. The north building was demolished again in 2015.  In the spring of 2025 the new North Market Building opened with underground parking, a court house, the traditional Saturday Farmers' Market and other events such as the regular Sunday 'antique'market. The courthouse opened in March 2025 and the Farmer's Market in April.

The current Central Market (Mercato Centrale) in Firenze (Florence), by comparison, was built between 1870 and 1874.  The iron and glass structure designed by Giuseppe Mengoni, opening in May 1874 for an International Agricultural Exhibition. The market building was also erected using modern materials for its time, such as iron and glass, and was built as Firenze was the capital of Italy at that time. I still like the Firenze version of a central market better.

Even with all that background I have to say that the St. Lawrence Market is impressive. I got BBQed ribs from a meat stall and veal cutlet sandwich. They were both very good. We considered walking back to the hotel after lunch, but changed out mind and walk a couple blocks to get away from the hub bub of the market and ordered an Uber.

We had noticed a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on the way to the market. I made reservations for dinner. When we got back to the hotel we checked in the Tyler the Cosmos tour director. He said we may want to get flip flops for the boat ride at Niagara Falls tomorrow and perhaps again for the rafting ride in Jasper. So we walked down to the Winners Department store on Yonge Street and did a little shopping. After which we returned to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We took an Uber to dinner, even though it was 1.8 km from the hotel. We had more than enough steps for the day.

Sad to say but the meal was very disappointing. The ambience was clearly Ruth’s Chris and the steaks did sizzle on the plate, but there was so little flavor. We had potato’s au gratin as a side dish. Unfortunately it was soon cheezy that you had trouble finding the potatoes. The exception for the evening was the brussel sprouts with maple syrup and bacon. Those were really good.

We were tired and took and Uber back to the hotel. We need to be downstairs at 08:00 for a bus ride to Niagara Falls. So it was a night.

Buonanotte e Ciao

Enrico e Maria.