July 3: Toronto

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Another breezy, cloudless, warm day of promise as we set out on our day of sightseeing.  We started out at Bloomer's Vegan Bakery, where Alexandra had a latte and a London Fog donut made with Earl Gray tea, vanilla and spices; and I had a cinnamon donut and a regular coffee.  Alexandra simply finds all these locations on her phone and we motor there under guidance, making it so much easier to find locations.  She truly has a refined sense of direction--far more well developed than mine, who works off sites and monuments, never directions north, south, east, or west.  It was truly wonderful not to have to worry about where we were going!  

Our first site of the day was Casa Loma, a house for which financier and multimillionaire Sir Henry Pellatt drew up plans in 1911.  Three years later it became the largest and grandest private residence in all of North America.  However, 10 years after moving in, Sir Henry was forced to abandon his dream home due to his dwindling finances.  Today, the castle is on display in all its glory, with decorated rooms, secret passages, and stunning architecture which reminded me of the Sintra palace of the Portuguese royals, outside Lisbon.  Besides the house, the grounds included the following structures, which we saw on tour: the stables, the carriage room and garage (with vintage autos), the Estate Gardens, the Secret Garden, and the potting shed.  From the Terrace Grill, a restaurant on the premises, there was a stunning view of the city skyline of Toronto.  Several films, such as The X Man series, "National Lampoon," and "Chicago" have been filmed here.  

I enjoyed the tour, which was by audioguide, but found the crush of people on the premises to be difficult to take, as I was trying to get a closer look at some of the house's grandest features and then photograph them.  Frustration came when people shoved their way in front of me, making photography and concentration very dicey!  However,  Alexandra and I still enjoyed the tour, and agreed that the conservatory with glass skylight was indeed the highlight room of the tour.

From there we went home, then walked right back out to have a Vietnamese lunch at Nam Sandwich.  It was my first experience with several new dishes: Bao, an open-faced, steamed bun with cucumber, pork belly and sauce; Banh Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich with pickled carrots, daikon radish, cilantro, and pulled pork; yam fries with curry mayonnaise, and mint lemonade--all absolutely delicious!  We then strolled to a nearby store called Cocktail Emporium, where Alexandra bought lime and pepper cocktail syrup and a Thai basil drinking vinegar.  

We walked back home and rested for about an hour before setting out for the Toronto Botanical Garden, a nearly 4-acre  park which features 17 themed "city-sized" gardens.  We strolled through woodlands, to a Peace Garden and the Edwards Garden; as we got to the Botanical Garden at about 7:00 pm and stayed until sunset, we missed seeing the Conservatory.  However, as we had visited the Buffalo Botanical Garden only a few days previously, we were content to see what we did, and reveled in the cooling breezes of the shank of the evening.  In all, we walked 7.5 miles, 17,407 steps or 22 floors (courtesy of the iPhone Health App) today. On the way home, we stopped at The North of Brooklyn Pizzeria and had them cook us a Margarita pizza,  which we ate while watching the new Emma Watson/Dan Stevens version of "Beauty and the Beast."  Tomorrow we leave!  What a grand trip it has been.  As ever, Sylvia