If you have read my previous article, you may recall I was in Toronto, Canada’s main city, where I joined PATH, an historical, mostly underground, pedestrian path that winds for over 30 kilometres around Toronto and which takes you to the main attractions in the city.
PATH also comprises a tunnel, the largest underground shopping centre in the world. It was initially created to allow Toronto inhabitants to escape the harsh Canadian winter and enjoy the city, but it has become also Toronto’s most important tourist path.
Toronto is a city that never sleeps, a sort of ‘Canadian New York’ and has a lot to offer to those who love nightlife: restaurants, pubs, clubs where you can enjoy great food and dance to the rhythm of music, but, if you prefer physical activity or cultural events, it has something for everyone.
Many museums in the city offer visitors events and activities even after closing time. Every Friday evening at the Royal Museum of Ontario, one can gather to listen to good music and taste good food, exploring the museum's halls in their evening gown. On the other hand, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the dates to be marked on the calendar coincide with the first Thursday of every month, when, after closing time, new and interesting events are held. If you want to listen to good music, instead, you must attend one of the Casa Loma Music Nights, to listen to some jazz.
- Casa Loma, which translates from Spanish “the House on the Hill,” is a beautiful building typical of Victorian architecture (Victorian Gothic) which was built at the beginning of the 20th century by the finance magnate Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a great lover of European architecture.
Today Casa Loma is one of the symbols of the city of Toronto. It is an important museum, which also hosts numerous private events and walking through the three floors of the mansion, you can admire the rooms, restored to their original appearance, and the inside of the towers. Outside, you can decide to stroll through the beautiful gardens or visit the buildings of the stables and the coach house.
- The ROM (as locals call it) is the Royal Ontario Museum, one of the major museums in the world dedicated to natural history and to the different cultures of our planet. All its exhibitions and collections revolve around the integration between man and nature. In addition to the entrance hall, the Rotunda, with its mosaic-decorated ceiling, the ROM has several rooms, where the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions are housed. It’s a symbol of Canada’s continuous effort to find harmony between urban and nature and to welcome all cultures.
- The above-mentioned Art Gallery of Ontario, with its collection of over 70,000 pieces, is one of the most distinguished museums in North America. Among its most interesting collections are those of African and Pacific art, that of Canadian art and that of European art which can easily compete with large art museums in London or New York city.
Last, but not least,
- the Rogers Centre, inaugurated in 1989 under the name of Sky Dome, is Toronto's largest stadium and home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. It is a modern and versatile facility which can accommodate from a few thousand up to 55,000 people. It hosts many sports event and concerts year-round.
It’s also important to remember that Toronto is on Lake Ontario and a relaxing walk admiring the placid waters of Lake Ontario is a great way to admire the city skyline. From the waterfront boats depart for the Toronto Islands, small islands that can be seen during the day.
Casa Loma
