Toronto Day 2: Royal Ontario Museum and Eaton Centre
Today’s itinerary is more relaxed than Day 1. I had initially planned for a busy day, but we decided to take it easy. As usual, we ordered Jollibee for breakfast and headed straight to the first on our list — the Royal Ontario Museum. It is easy to commute here since the museum is just right as you exit the University Line – Museum Station. To get to the subway, we took a bus. It was raining and extra cold – but nothing could stop us!
The Royal Ontario Museum is so huge. I can’t remember the last time I went to a museum, so I am amazed by their art collection. Apart from Canadian pieces, they also have European, Asian, Asia-Pacific, Middle Eastern, and African collections, among many others. They also have prehistoric collections.
My fiancรฉ asked me an intriguing question: Are the bones of dinosaurs that we see in museums real or just replicas? I honestly have no idea, but my guess is that they probably have some original pieces on display in enclosed cases, while the rest are just replicas made to resemble what the dinosaurs would have looked like back in the day.
The highlight of our museum tour is the actual mummies they have on display. I can’t believe it. It is much more surreal when you actually see in your own eyes a corpse of pharaoh that has been mummified for hundreds of years. The process of mummification awes me. The Royal Ontario Museum has a total of nine human mummies that cover the entire span of Egyptian empire.
The museum is an amazing place to visit but can easily take up your entire day. I took numerous photos of each collection, but I would rather you see it in person when you visit than in here. It’s definitely worth the trip! After walking through the four stories including a basement (see map here), we were completely exhausted.
On our way back, we stopped by Eaton Centre on Dundas Street. I like to call it the Shibuya Crossing or Times Square of Toronto. It has an urban vibe, with plenty of traffic, people, and lights. We didn’t do any shopping today, but I was able to buy my fiancรฉ his 40th birthday gift, and I’m thrilled that he loved it!
For more information about The Royal Ontario Museum, visit: https://www.rom.on.ca/en
