Visiting Victoria

In my last post, you learned that we were taking a short trip to Victoria for Bruce's birthday. You also learned that to get to Vancouver Island you must take a ferry, and even more importantly, the correct one. Since we did not follow that advice, getting on the Duke Point ferry, rather than the more direct one to Swartz Bay, our drive to Victoria was longer than we anticipated, but not without sights, so all's well that ends well. Right? We think so. Taking Canada 1, we drove South, seeing amongst other things, beautiful yellow flowers growing everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.

Naturally I was going crazy wondering what they looked like up close; stopping for gas, at more than $6 a gallon I might add, I had the opportunity to do just that. A quick internet search has led to this informative article that tells me, and you, should you care to know more, that it is Scotch Bonnet, an invasive species which has spread throughout the island and beyond. Now we know.

After traveling through a beautiful forest, we came to Victoria, and more specifically the Doubletree, set behind the Fairmont Empress hotel. Wendy suggested the place, having taken her parents there last month. Furthermore, when booking the hotel she said to make sure to request a room on a higher floor so as to view the harbor from the balcony. Indeed, that is what happened.

Dropping off our bag, we immediately set to exploring, beginning with the lovely Fairmont Empress. We poked our head in and roamed around a bit, coming across this funny little, well, what do you call something like this anyway? For the corgi lovers in the audience perhaps?

A large solarium led to a conference center, the lobby filled with many impressive totem poles, a recurring them in Victoria.

The weather was perfect for strolling, seeing in person what before had only been on a computer screen.

The only bummer, as shown above, was that it is somewhat of a transitional time for flowers so instead of gorgeous beds of flowers, mostly they were bare dirt. Maybe I needed a break from flowers? Maybe not. 😁

One of the main attractions in Victoria is the Parliament House which was but two blocks from our hotel.

Queen Victoria graces the front lawn, apparently, although she was meant to be facing the grand entrance, a decision was made to have her face the street which so angered the sculpture that he refused to attend the ribbon cutting. Or, so we learned when we took the 5:00 tour. Before going in though, we checked out the grounds.

We learned all sorts of stuff, such as the architect was only 25 years old and designed the buildings to be very grand so that moving the capital of British Columbia to a more central location would probably not happen. I wondered why the capital was on an island and now I know. The rotunda was one of the best features,

however, and this was not part of the tour, it was not without controversy because it depicted what is now considered degrading images of Indigenous people. That's one thing that is a constant here, apologizing for past behavior. Plus, some people call them Aboriginal people whereas others use the term Indigenous. Furthermore, you are always reminded, whether it is at church, or a tour, that you are standing on the unceded territory of the Coast Salich people. The article I've linked to reminded me that there is yet a third term and that is First Nations. All of it is pretty fascinating stuff.

Here is the British Columbian coat of arms that also helped explain something I've observed.

There are no vanity car license plates here, rather they all say "Beautiful British Columbia" on them, both of the front and back of the vehicle. Turns out the above is where that term comes from and I just thought it was because people here are so proud of their home. Which they most certainly are as you hear it constantly. My observation anyway.

Here is a better view of the Empress. Note the flowers below the sidewalk that say Welcome to Victoria, or at least they did on our first day, on our second, they'd been removed!

Following the tour we made our way to our dinner destination, walking along some lovely streets with a decidedly British influence. Or make that United Kingdom.

Again, a Wendy recommendation, Il Terrazo turned out to not only be charming, but delicious as well.

And here's the birthday boy!

Should you be wondering about his shirt, James McMurtry is one of his favorite musical artists, the son of the famed novelist, Larry McMurtry, both of whom are excellent storytellers.

Speaking of which, on our walk home, we came across Munroe's Books, founded by one of my favorite Canadian authors, Alice Munro, although according to this, she's not had any connection to it for quite some time.

To tell you the truth, we did not see the Parliament building lit up in total darkness, because, well, it stays light for so long it was past our bedtime!

Up with the sun, I took a walk to the nearby Beacon Hill Park.

Part of it looks barren, if you don't count a random chair, while other parts are beautifully manicured.

As is my custom, I just roam around and see what I come across.

Not entirely true in this case however, because while I was roaming on the rocky hilltop, a man suggested I head towards a beautiful Japanese garden, advice that I followed.

That stone bridge has stood for quite some time my friends. Well, not so long for my English friends, but long for the West coast.

There was a noisy heron colony, and of course, some Canada geese.

We'd been given a handout the previous Sunday in Vancouver about an Egyptian artifact exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum, located across from the Parliament House, which is where we went after breakfast. More, very impressive totem poles on the lawn, as well as a longhouse.

Also on the grounds we came across this former residence and statue of Dr. Helmcken, a very accomplished Londoner who played a pivotal role in the history of this region. As is the case with many folks in these parts, he arrived here via the Hudson Bay Company. More to our point, we walk on Helmcken Street, here in downtown Vancouver, very frequently, so I was delighted to find out more about him.

The museum is huge, filled with the history of BC, both the natural and human experience. The Egyptian exhibit was very impressive, although with the rooms very dark, after a while I was getting very sleepy having gotten up so early. Everything was so well done!

The natural history part--whoa...very cool.

I loved seeing everything and oftentimes I find it hard to skim over stuff in a museum, just ask Matthew about the time we visited the Museum of London and he will heartily agree. Anyway, this poster was fun as I've told you in the past how this event put Vancouver on the public radar.

Speaking to one of the docents, she told us about a few places to eat lunch, one of which was on the water adjacent to the "airport." Watching the seaplanes come and go was fun while we were enjoying our lunch.

A bit of a research mission actually as we will be taking one of these in the next couple of weeks when we go on a fishing trip set on the west coast of Vancouver Island. A little nervous perhaps, but I'm sure it will make for some spectacular photographs. Or so I hope.

The rest of our day was pretty low key, spent walking the streets and popping into inviting shops. Then again, window shopping was also part of our experience.

In front of our hotel, there was this, a one person electric car made mostly in Victoria. Amazing right?

Perhaps we'll be seeing something like this in the future? It certainly looks futuristic doesn't it?

The next morning we left Victoria, heading north to the Butchart Gardens where the entryway was cloaked in what I've now learned are Golden Chain trees.

My goodness, the gardens were stunning with something to delight the senses at every turn. I'll tell you more in my next post as I suspect this has gone on long enough!

yours truly,

Gail