Victoria has thus far presented herself as the graceful fair lady I expected her to be.
Of all the major Canadian cities, only Victoria ever stood out as a possible forever home city for me, if only for its climate. I have wanted to walk her streets for a long, long time. I have now visited the capital city of all the provinces and territories I have visited and only have Yellowknife, St. John’s, and Iqaluit left.
Mrs. H and I pulled into town mid-afternoon and she directed me to her favourite hotel, a Traveler’s Inn located in a convenient location. I quickly left her to take a nap while I set off on foot to scope out downtown, about fifteen minutes away.
I was surprised by how many people were out and about and I found the crushing crowds a bit shocking. I haven’t been surrounded by so many people since the last time I was in downtown Vancouver, almost a year ago! It was exhilarating, with all these different types of people from all social classes hurrying about and the most amazing smells spilling out of the restaurants. I was a tad overwhelmed, but it was pleasant because Victoria isn’t that big. I wouldn’t have done so well in a truly populous metropolis!
I bought an ice cream cone and enjoyed it as I scoped out the major landmarks I hope to visit in the next few days. I will be doing a lot of exploring on my own, but Mrs. H will also be showing me ‘her’ Victoria.
Some parts of downtown felt very old, like what I imagine streets in the 17th and 18th century might have been like. Other parts felt very modern. The city has a nice skyline where the diverse architectural styles complement each other. I look forward to exploring!
a palm tree outside our hotel 🙂
This brewery has tours; so this picture is a note to myself to try to book one. 🙂
entrance to Chinatown
I love the expression on this lion’s face
a street in Chinatown
dragon statue in Chinatown
a street near downtown Victoria
a street near downtown Victoria
downtown Victoria
downtown Victoria
downtown Victoria
Empress Hotel
Empress Hotel
downtown Victoria
visitors’ centre
downtown Victoria
downtown Victoria
Empress Hotel
plaque about the James Cook statue
statue of James Cook
Netherlands carillon
Netherlands carillon
the carillon ringer has to climb this staircase and then climb a ladder to ring the bells
Royal BC Museum
dinosaur footprints (moved from the Peace River Valley)
Thunderbird Park
all the electrical boxes in town are covered in pictures to prevent grafitti
Thunderbird Park
behind the Empress Hotel
cool bike rack
this condo complex is called The Waterfall
another electrical box
cherry tree
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Hi again!
Be sure to go down to the harbour at night. It’s magical with all it’s twinkling lights.
Enjoy!
Victoria and Old Quebec city are my two favourite Canadian cities.
Elaine in Saltair ( Ladysmith)
Oh, I can’t wait to move there next summer. Great photos and description so far. Look forward to hearing more!
Elaine, we should meet for a quick coffee on Friday when I head home!
1001 Petals: have you been to Victoria? If not, brave you for moving to a city you’ve never been to! Based on what I know about you, I think that Victoria is going to suit you very well.
We’ve never been but we’ve done so much research and figured that really is the best one for us. We’ve watched videos, looked at hundreds of photos including streetview on google maps 🙂 and read a lot.
We are going to go for a week about a month and a half before we want to move to look for a place and for final confirmation.
The plan is to rent in Victoria for 2-3 yrs while getting to know the island, and then buying property out in some rural area once we know which area suits us best. It’s probably going to be the craziest thing I ever do!
Nostalgia, gall, I can point to 5 offices I worked in, in your legislature shot, and about 4 others that are in behind. LOL
There are many positives to my old stomping grounds.
When you think of cruise ships docking for a day, you think of exotics like Mexico, but there are may that also have the same experience in Victoria, which is an Alaskan cruise port of call.
1001 Petals: sounds like a good plan! Sooke (45 minutes from Victoria) currently has some of the cheapest houses in BC if not all of Canada.
Donna: when I think of *Alaskan* cruise ships, I think of Victoria as a port of call. 🙂 Do you miss this place? It sure is pretty!
Hi Rae,
Great pictures. Would you be able to tell me where the bike rack was located (what building)? We might be interested in something similiar with our Market here in Milwaukee, WI, and I’d like to see where it was made/purchased from.
Thanks!
Paul, I can’t remember where I saw the bike rack, sorry. Best I can do is that it’s in a building behind the Empress hotel close to the waterfall building….
Thank you! 🙂