It took us 12 hours, door-to-door, to get to Victoria, which is the most western major city in Canada, and as Nick pointed out, it involved riding on 2 buses, 2 trains and 2 planes.
After arriving at our hotel we freshened up a bit and then went out for a walk around. I have been there once before but that was in the wintertime and although it wasn’t cold then (their weather is much more mild than is Toronto weather) it was dark and rainy. On this visit it wasn’t all warm and crystal skies but at least we didn’t need an umbrella. West Coast weather tends to be very wet and we heard that we were lucky and arrived just as it had gotten nicer out. In fact, having checked the weather forecast for the week before leaving we were expecting rain all week long and were happy to not have seen a drop the entire time we were there.
Anyway, we set out from the hotel in search of refreshment, which we found in the form of a ‘beer tower’, which was a container of ale brewed specifically for the establishment, called Yates Street Tap House, which had a spout so we could serve ourselves right at our own table. We sat out in a nice glass enclosure on the street so we could people watch to our hearts’ desires.
And while we did seen lots of interesting people what we saw that turned our heads to a greater degree was the large number of really nice older cars and pick-up trucks. Vehicles that would have been considered car-show-worthy back home were being driven around freely here. That’s because due to the warmer and less icy winters they don’t have to salt the roads like we do, therefore the old cars are not corroded by the salt so last a lot longer. (Have I ever mentioned that our car, (more like Nick’s), Mustang lives in the garage during the winter?)
I would have loved to have run out of the restaurant to get some shots of the neat cars, each in perfect condition and looking to be straight from the 60s and 70s, that I saw from my chair. I did get a picture of this one later. I’ve never seen one before … It’s a Cobra, which is a British sports car that was made with an American engine.
After our beer and delicious bar-food (calamari and crab cakes) we headed back to the hotel even though it was still early-ish there but 3 hours later for us, so we were tired.
↑↑ The view from our room↑↑
Waking early from a really comfy sleep, we headed out to find breakfast and explore.
Victoria is such a pretty city. It is located on the waterfront and is a mixture of Native Canadian and British decor. I found it interesting to see so many totem poles around. The ones I took pictures of are original ones that would have been carved by the indigenous peoples of this part of Canada sometime around 1900. These below were set up at a place called Thunderbird Park and the top photo was taken at the airport.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Totem Poles and their meaning, there’s a good wiki page about them here.
We walked for hours and felt like we had seen most of the downtown area of the city, before having to repack our suitcases and head to the ferry-docks, to get a ferry over to the island where we would be seeing Nick’s parents. So as opposed to the 2 buses, 2 trains, and 2 planes we traveled on yesterday, on this day we traveled on another bus plus a ferry.
Thank you for taking a look,
xo loulou
