An activity as grand and as rich in history as this, we had no choice but to leave Casa Loma towards the end of the stay in Toronto. Designed by E.J. Lennox, Casa Loma was built for Sir Henry Pellatt for a small fee of $3.5 million dollars back in 1911 before losing it all during the poor turn of economy that struck during World War 1. The property was eventually turned over to the city of Toronto and remains one of the top tourist attractions to date.
A classic summer event for Torontonians, the “jazz fest” offers ten days of jazz-related entertainment in the streets of Toronto. With over 350 performances and 1,500 musicians, more than 500,000 patrons are in attendance for this not-to-miss event. Students, you’d better get those jazz hands ready for this!!
More than just a museum, The Royal Ontario Museum offers educational fun for people of all cultures and ages. Behind its beautiful new crystal exterior you can find not only an impressive collection of dinosaurs but also an extensive collection of worldly artifacts from natural history ranging thousands of years. The ROM strives to unite nature and humanity and as a result the students had a great time interacting with the exhibits.
This past weekend students embarked on the twelve hour bus ride over the boarder to visit our neighbours in the Big city, New York New York. They saw everything from the Statue of Liberty to Times Square- including such attractions as Manhattan, Broadway, Chinatown, Soho, and Central Park (just like in the movies!)- with no shortage of time for shopping of course.
But alas, exhausted after the overwhelmingly jam-packed weekend of excitement, students were happy to return back to their home-away-from-home in Toronto, safe and sound back in the classroom. See more pictures of the trip in the gallery.
Another group of students spends the day at the much-anticipated amusement park Paramount Canada’s Wonderland. Just outside of Toronto, the CN Tower is seen from atop the 92 metre tall Drop Zone, a ride that drops you to the ground faster than you can say “AHHH-“. A long day of play, screams, treats, sun and line-ups, students confirm this activity as their absolute favourite for getting the adrenaline going. Check out the gallery for more pictures.
Everybody now! Being in Toronto in the summertime means you have to go to at least one Toronto Blue Jays baseball game. As we know, you can never win ’em all, but we like to support our team anyway. Students had great fun cheering the guys on in a match against the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. Despite the nasty loss, we still managed to leave the game with a few new fans with the gear to prove it.
Perfect weather for spending an afternoon in the sand and water. Students hit up the beach and olympic-sized pool at Ashbridges Bay for an afternoon of fun under the sun!
Room 301 takes a field trip to Toronto’s Allan Gardens in preparation for their “Art in the Gardens Gallery Walk”. Students used the gardens as inspiration for their artwork to be displayed between David and Sharmila’s classes the next day. Students were able to open up conversations in English about each other’s artworks at this time and enjoy their artistic masterpieces as an overall collective. It was a great afternoon exposing new creative, expressive ways to use the English language in conjunction with the language of art!
Last night students exercised their curfews by dancing the night away at Toronto’s newest and hottest spot to have a disco party, Our House. We can safely report everyone in attendance for class today, not to worry. Tonight we take it easy with a trip to the beach- stay tuned!
Students come together to strike out at the local bowling alley downtown Toronto after classes today. Unfortunately no chickens to report on, but plenty of spares to go around!
