Picture Day goes north to Canada
For the long July Fourth weekend in 1998, Krys and I did the most patriotic thing we could think of: visited Victoria, the capital of British Columbia in Canada! Well of course we did - all liberals, after all, hate America!
Victoria is a beautiful city. It's located on Vancouver Island and is south of quite a bit of mainland Washington state (see the map). For some reason the Canadians thought it would be a good idea to put the capital of the province on an island far away from everything else in the province. Oh, those wacky Canadians!
Victoria is also very proud of its Britishness. It cultivates it for the tourists, naturally, but the people are still very proud of it. It means that unlike Vancouver, which is much more cosmopolitan and therefore the presence of Asians doesn't seem that weird, the mix of British and Chinese cultures in Victoria is a bit strange. But it works.
We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast called the Humboldt House in the Oriental Room. Political correctness be damned - it was a cool room! It wasn't very big, but it was very classy:
In the room was a book where you could write about your experiences at the b-and-b and in Victoria. Most of the entries were kind of dull, but one guy wrote, and I kid you not, that when he saw his wife in a new nightgown, he felt "an uneasy stirring in his trousers." That may be one of the funniest things we have ever read, and we still mention it from time to time. Of course, many of the subsequent entries were commenting on this guy. Krys and I did not write anything in the book, but if you visit Victoria and stay in the Oriental Room, the book might still be there!
Here is Krys on the front porch of the Humboldt House. Our room was on the second floor. The back two windows were our room.
One of the landmarks in Victoria is the Empress Hotel, where we had high tea. That was Krys' idea - I'm not much for tea. But the Empress is a beautiful old hotel, and very British.
This is the Parliament building. It's the capital, remember. The inner harbour (note the English spelling!) of Victoria is a very picturesque place.
We took a bus tour around Victoria and cruised through Chinatown. This is the Gate of Harmonious Interest. Oh, those wacky Chinese!
In Chinatown you can find the narrowest street in North America! It's Fan Tan Alley! It's an actual street, too - you can't see it too well in this picture because of the shadows, but it's filled with shops and is very neat.
We also went up to the Butchart Gardens, which are very, well, flowery. It was actually a nice trip. You may question my masculinity, but I like gardens. Here's Krys with a bunch of roses.
Finally, we were hanging out at a restaurant the night before we left and the waitress took our picture. We're a tired but happy couple!
Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. Victoria is a relatively small city, and you can get a lot of places by walking. We only went this one time, but it's a place we would go back to if we had the chance.
Next week: good question. I'm not sure yet!
Victoria is a beautiful city. It's located on Vancouver Island and is south of quite a bit of mainland Washington state (see the map). For some reason the Canadians thought it would be a good idea to put the capital of the province on an island far away from everything else in the province. Oh, those wacky Canadians!
Victoria is also very proud of its Britishness. It cultivates it for the tourists, naturally, but the people are still very proud of it. It means that unlike Vancouver, which is much more cosmopolitan and therefore the presence of Asians doesn't seem that weird, the mix of British and Chinese cultures in Victoria is a bit strange. But it works.
We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast called the Humboldt House in the Oriental Room. Political correctness be damned - it was a cool room! It wasn't very big, but it was very classy:
In the room was a book where you could write about your experiences at the b-and-b and in Victoria. Most of the entries were kind of dull, but one guy wrote, and I kid you not, that when he saw his wife in a new nightgown, he felt "an uneasy stirring in his trousers." That may be one of the funniest things we have ever read, and we still mention it from time to time. Of course, many of the subsequent entries were commenting on this guy. Krys and I did not write anything in the book, but if you visit Victoria and stay in the Oriental Room, the book might still be there!
Here is Krys on the front porch of the Humboldt House. Our room was on the second floor. The back two windows were our room.
One of the landmarks in Victoria is the Empress Hotel, where we had high tea. That was Krys' idea - I'm not much for tea. But the Empress is a beautiful old hotel, and very British.
This is the Parliament building. It's the capital, remember. The inner harbour (note the English spelling!) of Victoria is a very picturesque place.
We took a bus tour around Victoria and cruised through Chinatown. This is the Gate of Harmonious Interest. Oh, those wacky Chinese!
In Chinatown you can find the narrowest street in North America! It's Fan Tan Alley! It's an actual street, too - you can't see it too well in this picture because of the shadows, but it's filled with shops and is very neat.
We also went up to the Butchart Gardens, which are very, well, flowery. It was actually a nice trip. You may question my masculinity, but I like gardens. Here's Krys with a bunch of roses.
Finally, we were hanging out at a restaurant the night before we left and the waitress took our picture. We're a tired but happy couple!
Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. Victoria is a relatively small city, and you can get a lot of places by walking. We only went this one time, but it's a place we would go back to if we had the chance.
Next week: good question. I'm not sure yet!
Labels: Canada, My life, Picture day, Vacations, Victoria
posted by Greg | 7:44 PM
1 Comments:
Awww - those Canadians rock!
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