I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post more about my Canada trip...I've been so busy! My teacher this year really, really likes homework. :( Boo! But's that's another post for another day. Now, finally, back to Canada!
I was super excited when we drove across the bridge into Canada and saw the French welcome signs at customs, but by the time we finally got to the hotel it was one in the morning and despite my best efforts, I was drifting off in the backseat on top of all the pillows. I was so tired!
We stayed in the city of Toronto in Ontario, at the Isabella Hotel. The hotel is a historical landmark built in 1891. It was neat, but everything was teeny-tiny - Katie, Matt, and I could barely fit in the elevator together! Here I am by the lobby door. A lady saw me getting my picture taken and exclaimed over how cute I was, and said she wanted a little doll just like me. I was afraid she might try to buy me right then and there, but I guess I shouldn't have worried because I know Katie would never have sold me even if she did.
On our first day we went to see historic old Fort York. It's a bunch of buildings from the War of 1812 era
that are still standing right in the middle of Toronto and are fixed up to look as they would have back then. I was super excited because Fort York is from the time of Caroline Abbott, the newest American Girl doll! And we were right near Lake Ontario where Caroline lived, except of course we were on the Canadian side of it. I couldn't wait to see Fort York!
Here I am walking through a park just outside the fort called Garrison Commons.
There was a big stack of very old wooden beams just outside the fort that I had to explore.
And here I am in the guard's station at the front gate!
I gazed out the window of the officers' dining room and pretended I was Caroline. I wish I'd brought a fancy 1800's dress to wear so I could REALLY have felt like I was a girl from long ago...
Down in the basement of the fort was the original officers' kitchen. It's the oldest kitchen in Toronto and it was all blocked off because it's considered an archaeological dig site. They've found all kinds of broken dishes and other old things buried there. The fireplace was huge! It was dark and spooky down there, and it was very easy to imagine that old kitchen was haunted.
Also down in the basement was the storage vault where the officers kept their valuables. It was lit by an old lantern and was even spookier than the kitchen!! I was afraid a ghost might slam the door behind us and lock us into that damp, cold little room. I felt some cool breezes that might have been ghosts floating by, but they didn't lock us up anywhere. Phew. Maybe they were peaceful ghosts who were glad to have visitors.
It was less spooky up in the barracks where the junior officers used to sleep. It looked like a camp cabin all full of bunk beds!
Except modern camp cabins don't usually have these huge, awesome fireplaces on the back wall! I bet Caroline's mother cooked her family's meals in a big brick fireplace like this.
When it was time to leave Fort York, we could see our next destination rising up out of the trees in front of us - the CN Tower!! The tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, and we were going to go all the way up into that round part to eat dinner!
We took an elevator up to the top, and there were glass panels in the elevator floor and walls so you could see how high you were as you traveled up. It was a little scary, but cool! We ate our dinner in a restaurant with glass walls that looked out over the city. It was awesome!
What a view to eat your dinner by!!
It was a long day, but it was still exciting when we drove underneath this cool archway on our way back to the hotel. I wish we had something like this back home in my city to drive under.
So this has been Part One of my Canadian adventure...I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) to write about Part Two, with Niagara Falls and Casa Loma!!
