On the second day of the 'Doors Open' Toronto weekend I targeted some different areas of the city but would have to use public transit today as parking would be an issue for some locations.

I took the Queen streetcar downtown but it took more than an hour. There is construction going on the Queen streetcar track downtown and two parades on University Ave had closed streets causing a lot of congestion.

First I visited 1 King St W in the financial district. This is a former bank that has been converted to a high rise apartment skyscraper but preserving its historical past.

From the main banking level the vaults below have been converted to private dining rooms. There is also a large banquet hall above the banquet level.

Next I walked over to Bond St on the NE corner of Queen/Yonge. The first place I visited was Mackenzie House.

Mackenzie was the first Mayor of Toronto and ran a printing press on Front St. It was a narrow Victorian home with period furnishings.

Further along Bond St just east of Dundas Square was a Greek Orthodox Church. This I was excited to visit having visited many Orthodox churches in my trip thru the Balkans last Oct.

Similar to the Balkan Orthodox churches the interior architecture had many arches and a central dome all decorated with illustrated artwork around the interior.

There was an upper level circular terrace from where you can see the upper levels more close up and a panorama of the entire church.

I'd wanted to visit more religious places but there seems to be a lot less this year and mostly of British Victorian origin.

At Yonge/Dundas square was the OMNI tv studios, also part of the 'Doors Open' event, but the lines to get in meant I'd have to give up on visiting anything else today.

After lunch I took the subway to Dupont station, the ugliest station in Toronto, to visit Spadina House next to Casa Loma. The famous castle like Casa Loma was built by an eccentric millionaire who went bankrupt but was not part of today's event.

Nearby was Spadina House, another large mansion, and part of today's event. The tour starts at the converted attic which was the servants quarters and leads down each level to the ground floor.

It was very crowded with visitors and the interior had a 1920s feel. Some of the original family still live in the city.

Next I took the Dupont bus back across to Annette to visit the Tibetan Temple that was closed yesterday. I enjoyed visiting so many temples across asia and was making a special trip back today after it was closed yesterday.

It was worth the effort and very authentic to Asian temples. The main hall had giant Buddhas at the far wall with smaller ones to either side. Unfortunately they did not allow any photography inside.

There were two robed monks, spinning wheels by the outer entrance, and a crafts store. Again its a shame there were not more religious venues this year.

Finally I headed back to Colborne Lodge which I wasn't able to find yesterday and almost got a parking ticket. Returning on foot I eventually found it but there were guided tours every 20 mins. The last tour was 4.20 which I was able to join.

The owner, whose name I forget, was an architect who designed prominent public buildings from Kingston to Toronto in the 19th century. Colborne was his patron so he named the home after him. Originally Lake Ontario came up to the Queensway so the house was built at the lakes edge and was his country home.

The owner was a man of great learning and knowledge and installed one of the first indoor flush toilets in North America. During this time cholera outbreaks were frequent so this innovation had to be kept secret as people would not visit a home where people had an indoor toilet. The closet is hidden by a wallpapered door with no handle.

The home was also home to his wife who was a painter, but suffered from breast cancer and dementia in old age. Her grave was outside the home to protect it from grave robbers. There have been ghost sightings of an older lady and patrol dogs will refuse to go to the upper floor.

The basement was the kitchen and servants quarters. After the owner died the servants stayed on for 20 more years as caretakers. After they left in the 1920s the house was neglected so the Womens Society lobbied to take over control. They managed the property until the 1960s when the city finally took it over.

The lodge and land was left to the city on the owners death on the condition it would be kept as parkland. The city bought up the adjacent land and Grenadier Pond to make up what is now High Park.

The 'Doors Open' weekend was a good opportunity to visit many cultural and historical properties you wouldn't normally get to see and wouldn't even know about. The same locations are not used every year so it will be interesting to see what choices are available next year.