Stained Glass

I think I may have been a magpie in a past life. Everything shiny and bright and colourful is completely mesmerizing to me. I found an old kaleidoscope recently and was just like "wooaahhhh" walking around my house staring at different things for like half an hour.

Saturday morning, I had a walking tour downtown with my stained glass course. I borrowed Claire's fancy camera so I could work on my photography skills. It took a bit of fooling around but I think I actually captured some nice images.

We visited The Church of the Holy Trinity first, which, if you didn't know, is in the courtyard off the Eaton's Centre. When they built the mall they wanted to bulldoze this building. Luckily, there were enough people with eyes who were like, "Umm, how about not flattening this beautiful structure?" and now it happily is still standing so we can all enjoy it!  The stained glass inside is really cool, so the next time you're shopping down there its worth taking a break from the crowds and gaggles of teenagers to pop into the church and take a look. http://www.holytrinitytoronto.org/wp/   

 

After Trinity, we went to Old Toronto City Hall, which is now the city courthouse. Unfortunately, because of security reasons, we weren't allowed to take photos of the massive stained glass window at the top of the (former) main entrance way. It was pretty funny all of us staring at this window while Dr. Brown lectured and a literal gang of criminals walked by and stared at us. So anyways, if you want to see this window head down to the courthouse, or if you happen to be at the courthouse for other reasons...... check it out!

Our last stop was at St. James Anglican Cathedral down on King Street. This place is of course much more grand than Trinity. We saw some different styles of glass including the Tiffany-style glass. I think at this point in the day I'd figured out how to work the camera somewhat so the photos seem pretty good to me! http://www.stjamescathedral.on.ca/HistorybrArchitecture/tabid/63/Default.aspx

If you are in Toronto and you go down to look at St. James, you might as well plan it around lunch time and go down to St. Lawrence Market for a back bacon on a bun! om nom nom nom! and no- this is not health food by any means. http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/shopping/vendors/carousel.html and if you want to see more stained glass http://www.flickr.com/photos/barroomphilosophy/sets/72157627680612087/ or Dr. Brown's website http://www.yorku.ca/rsgc/