Doors Open 2016 - Visiting The Future & The Past

This weekend we took part in the annual Doors Open weekend.  This is where many buildings that aren't normally open to the public are open.  This year we visited two very different locations up in North Toronto.  The first was the brand new Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence.  This building is located at York University and is one of the newest buildings on campus. 

The gentleman above built a model of The Bergeron Centre totally out of Lego.  It really was something interesting to see.

The building above that looks like a bus shelter is actually a classroom/lab space.  The professor here will test aquatic robots.  Just beyond the lab is the pond where he will test out the robots.

Above is the 3D printer where we created this tiny little memento of our visit.  The 3D printer made that out of heated plastic and it was created on the computer.  It was really cool watching the process from start to finish.

So from the futuristic we travel back in time to the Pioneer era.  Technology vanishes and we see a much simpler life at Black Creek Pioneer Village.  This was another Doors Open venue just across the parking lot from York University.

Here I'm demonstrating how folks in the olden days carried water from the well to their homes.  Let me tell you that this contraption was heavy and it was empty.  I can well imagine how heavy it would be filled with water.  I think this was also used as a form of punishment.

Here is a picture of the shoe and boot making shop.  Hanging from the wall are the different patterns that they use to start making the shoes.

Here is the one room school house that kids would have been learning in from grade one up to high school.  The little kids would have been up front and the older kids in the back.  One teacher would have taught all of the grades at the same time.

We also got to see the doctor's office and his house.  His tools were really ancient.  Outside of his house would have been his herb garden where he would grow medicines to give to his patients.  We also saw the old Mill, tin smith shop, printing office, someone's house and she was baking cookies.  It's a great place to visit even when it's not Doors Open.

Later on at night my in-laws took Neal and I out for dinner at the Pickle Barrel to celebrate our 9th anniversary.  We had these awesome mini treats.  I had the triple chocolate and Neal had rocky road.  And yes, they were are good as they looked.