Victoria is the Capital of British Colombia. She is located on Vancouver Island and is a very 'civilised' city, in the sense that one has the feeling that you are still in 50s Britain (in the nicest sense, with a much more cosmopolitan nature!).
Vancouver Island has many many great features but as I am concentrating on just Victoria, I will attempt to limit myself. Built on a harbour (known as the Inner Harbour), which forms the centrepiece of the city, is as good a place to start as any. There is a very good tourist information office just next to the actual harbour where the staff are excessively patient with people who ask really dumb questions! (I know this from personal experience!).
The Empress Hotel sits adjacent to the Harbour. I never went in it, I felt a little too shabby for fancy hotels, but the building itself (even from the outside) emits a sufficiently Victorian grandeur to be an emblem for the city itself. I was told it's popular to go there for tea, as one would go to the Ritz for tea in London, but I didn't try this out so I'm not sure if the prices would be similar (though I doubt it, because the Canadian Dollar is good value!).
Next to the hotel is the British Colombia Parliament Building, and in turn, next to the Parliament Buildings is the Royal British Colombia Museum.
Now, this was the highlight of my visit to Victoria without any doubt. I did lots of museumsin Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, via Toronto and Ottawa, and this was my favourite by quite a way. I'm not really sure why, either, there wasn't anything particularly stunning about it, but I'd recommend a visit anyhow. The thing that really fascinated me, was, a little un-PC this, and please excuse me, vegetarians, the dead birds. They have stuffed animals like a lot of natural history type museums, but in this museum, they kept them in drawers and you open up the drawers and see loads of dead stuffed birds. Maybe it is not a healthy feature of my mentality that this fascinated me as much as it did and perhaps I shouldn't admit to it! Oh well..
Moving on from the Museum, there is a little park called Thunderbird Park which has a large collection of Totem Poles there, and is really interesting to explore.
Onto the Gardens, well, the most famous are a bit further out, and are called Butchart Gardens. There is also a Butterfly Garden close by. This is really worth a visit if you are there at the right time of year. It is a beautiful landscaped garden, and is a great way to pass a few hours. I can't remember how much it cost to get in, but it wasn't too much.. if that's any help..
Victoria wasn't exactly a buzzing city. There are things to see, it is quite compact and quite staid. You go to Vancouver to party.. but Victoria has enough pleasant diversions if you aren't too bothered about a wild night life. It is a bit more expensive that some other Canadian cities, and it left me a little with the impression of being a Bournemouth-type place for Canadians (somewhere people go to to retire) without the beach..
But if you are in Vancouver, it is worth making the trip over.. I just can't imagine going on holiday just to Victoria...
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May 28th, 2001
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