Vancouver Island: Victoria

On Saturday, June 26th, after staying the night with Mel in Parksville, Delle and I headed back down to the bottom of Vancouver Island to explore the capital of British Columbia: Victoria. This was my first time to Victoria (Ben still hasn't been), and it was just gorgeous!

We parked at the harbour and spent the day exploring the nearby streets and inner harbour area on foot.





Another way to explore the city...





The famous Fairmont Empress Hotel faces the harbour - you can see it on the left in the first photo below. Having high tea at the Empress is one of the most popular activities for tourists in Victoria!





In a courtyard at the Empress...



Views of the harbour and the Parliament building from the Empress...





Fabulous vines... the main reason I loved Victoria so much was that it is so similar to England!





Inside the Empress...







The high tea room...







The restaurant next to the high tea room - we ordered lunch here and ate it on the verandah outside the high tea room...









Back outside the Empress...





Heading towards Parliament...

The British Columbia flag...

Looking back at the Empress...





We happened to arrive outside Parliament just as a free tour of the inside was about to start, so we joined the tour and ended up learning a lot of interesting things! Here's our excellent tour guide beside the BC coat of arms...



The underside of a First Nations (i.e. indigenous) canoe - carved by a Parliamentarian I think!



Various photos of the inside of Parliament...









Where the big decisions get made...



A window designed for the Queen's Golden Jubilee...





A window for Queen Victoria, and two amusing anecdotes about it:

1) It was put in Parliament's basement at some point when renovations were being done, and everyone forgot about it. They found it over 60 years later... and popped it in here even though it doesn't fit quite right!

2) Compare this old version of the coat of arms with the one in the photo above. In the old one, the BC sun is above the Union Jack. Since "the sun will never set on the British Empire", the English didn't like that very much, so BC changed it. That's Canadians for you - always so accommodating!



Back outside - Parliament's front lawn and horse-drawn carriages in the adjacent streets...







Various harbour sights...











At this point my camera battery ran out. The rest of the day was pleasantly whiled away with the help of a bookshop, gelato, and a mall. Then we drove up to Swartz Bay and took the 9pm ferry home. What a beautiful city Victoria is - I'm completely smitten!