Victoria, British Columbia
It wasn't until about noon two days after leaving Skagway that we finally made it to Victoria, British Columbia. All morning, we could hardly see anything as we were surrounded by fog. As we came closer to Victoria, the Olympian Mts began to peak through until finally all fog cleared and we were shown nothing but clear blue skies. My immediate first impression as we came into port was that Victoria looked like an English colonial city set in California, as the vegetation was the same dry, yellow grasses and green trees.
Victoria as we approached the dock
Craigdarroch Castle, Erich's future home!
To start the day off, we took a bus tour of the city. Our first stop was at Craigdarroch Castle, sitting atop one of the many hills in Victoria. The house had beautiful, antique interiors and gave an amazing view of Victoria from the top tower. Our tour guide then took us through many of the different neighborhoods of Victoria, telling us the history. We made an extra stop at Mt. Tomi where we were treated with a 360 degree view of the city. After the tour, we were dropped off in the main downtown where we saw many of the municiple buildings and the Grand Empress Hotel.
The entrance to Victoria's Chinatown
Scott across from the Empress Hotel
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We meandered through the blocks of store and shops and made our way to Chinatown. Everything in Victoria seemed very reminescent of any US city. The main exception to this was that most things were written in both English and French. Even McDonald's was in French. I loved it even though, admittingly, I had some trouble with an ATM machine when I selected it in French. Apparently, I didn't know what "out of money" means in French. But, the buildings were all beautiful, and made us feel like we were in California and London at the same time. |
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A view of Mt. Baker from Victoria
The Provincial Capital of British Columbia
