78 ROM

Canada
Québec & New Brunswick
Nova Scotia & Newfoundland
Québec & Ontario
Manitoba to the Pacific

60 Ferry to Québec
61 Back in Québec
62 Drive to Tadoussac
63 Tadoussac
64 On to Québec
65 Québec
66 Québec
67 On to Ottawa
68 Ottawa
69 Ottawa
70 Ottawa
71 On to Niagara
72 The falls
73 Canadian wine
74 Behind the falls
75 Morty goes home
76 On to Toronto
77 CN Tower
78 ROM
79 Stocks, tower and dance
80 Toronto Saturday
81 Off to Florida
82 Coping with Wilma
83 SeaWorld
84 Back to Canada
85 Casa Loma and shoes
86 Killarney
87 To Sault Ste. Marie
88 Goulais River
89 To Thunder Bay
90 Thunder Bay

Canada: Ontario

Thursday 20 October 2005

Toronto subway

Hidden building by the museum

Today’s first mission was a desperately needed haircut for me. We headed into the Eaton centre, one of several across Canada. Their cornerstones used to be the Eaton department stores. A family run company, it seems to have come to an end when one family member tried to oust another. While I was getting my “scarecut” I got chatting to the chap doing it who said there was another big hurricane heading towards the south of America and Florida in particular. This was a bit of a concern as that is where we are heading in a day or two to meet up with my sister and her family.

I went to find Stef who was camped out in the Starbucks café in the Indigo bookstore. We checked the web and sure enough bad weather is heading Florida bound. We mailed Caz and Andy to check their flights had not been changed or cancelled and worked on the basis that if they could get there we would be OK too.

Leaving the Eaton Centre we walked past the old and new city halls. The best views of the old one are now partly hidden by the concrete walkways and fountains that form part of the new one. In the middle of the new building is a saucer shaped part that has earned the building a “flying saucer” nickname. On a warm summer’s day the courtyard in front of the town hall must be buzzing with people. Today it was a bit empty and desolate until we turned the corner. Here there was a small gathering of Chinese people having a rally in support of the five million Chinese people who have renounced the Communist Party. A small proportion of the total population but all big things come from small beginnings.

From here we worked our way up to the Royal Ontario Museum. As with the art gallery, the museum is undergoing an extensive programme of renovations and extension. At both sites there are displays explaining what changes are being made but here at the museum you could also see some of the work in progress. Like the Louvre in Paris, the additions they are making here will be very modern glass structures, designed to resemble crystals, which will be morphed onto the old building. I am yet to be convinced that it is a good thing. Joanne at the B&B told us that some of the museums key donors and sponsors are so outraged at the plans that they have withdrawn their support. No doubt the new benefactor, a Chinese businessman who has made his fortune since he moved to Canada, will be able to add to the $30million he donated for the extension to make up any shortfall.

The main museum entrance is currently closed due to the building work but you can still see its domed ceiling, which is stunning. It is covered in mosaic tiles, most of which are gold so it glitters and sparkles in the light. One of the tour guides started to explain the ceiling to us. The design is four panels which join as a cross at the apex of the dome. Each “arm” represents a different continent or phase in history but she kind of lost the plot here so I left not really sure of what it did tell us! It was built in the early 1930’s by 300 men and the museum tried to ensure that it created as many jobs as possible to help people out in this era after the 1929 Great Depression.

In the main gallery we worked our way through the reptile collection. Here they had all sorts of weird and wonderful lizards and snakes that had been collected from all over the world. They had a display about bats and a not very convincing (to me anyway) recreation of a bat cave from somewhere in South America. The collection of stuffed birds, displayed to simulate a flock in flight interested Stef. While he perused through those I had a look at the stuffed lions, leopards and chimpanzees and then found a perch at the other end of the bird display. I was drawn by the sound of David Attenborough. They had one of his BBC programmes about migrating birds playing.

Upstairs there was a small exhibition about Islam and the Islamic way of life. When you boil this religion back down to basics it has the same underlying principles and beliefs as most others, it is just executed in a different way. As part of the exhibition they had made a typical room in an Islamic house. It was full of dark wood furniture and carved screens for the windows but for me the jewel was the games compendium. This was a large wooden box on the floor opened to reveal a backgammon game board. It looked like different compartments would open up to reveal other game boards and pieces. I would have loved to be able to get a closer look.

For the rest of the museum we split up. Stef went to look at an exhibit called The Evolution of style. This traced the changes in furnishings and room décor through the ages and has some stunning recreated rooms. I went in search of the Lalique glass display, until I re-read the museum leaflet and saw it did not start until December! Instead I saw some beautiful art deco furniture and made a mental note to add them to the designs for my ideal home which I am building up along the way. They also had a display comparing the protective clothing that Ice Hockey players wear to old suits of armour – believe me there is not much difference except the materials and Nike logos all over the place.

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