Carpe Diem! Semper Liber! Seize the day folks! We are indeed Forever Free as we zoom into our second destination on this provincial venture, whose motto so accurately reflects. And my what a free and expansive journey of a city Victoria, BC is! Located at the southernmost tip of the Island, it makes for a very diverse capital. The placement of our capital so close to the American border is no coincidence, I assure you; the first British Colombians were smart enough to ensure Vancouver Island stayed in Canadian hands by making their capital as far south as possible. In fact, Olden-Day Victoria was very similar to today's, although had much less of a heterogeneous draw, so therefore a smaller, less diverse population. As I am sure you will see from my accounts, the major industry in this area is tourism, and my what an industry there is! Fittingly, this has always been the draw to the Victoria area, starting at the city's origins; people flocking to the city was what made it so popular. It would seem this huge selection of tourist attraction hasn't changed much over the years, besides from growing exponentially. I only wish we had time to do it all...
Our Suite at the Empress
On this beautiful Tuesday morning we stepped out of our still-rumbling Lamborghini at precisely 8:00 in the morning, having driven all night. Our first stop: the stunning sights of our hotel, The Fairmont Empress. Lavishing in the multi-million lobby, enjoying the prized art pieces and regal aura, we took in all the sites. After a fantastic meal with Tea at the Empress to give us a relaxing start, we set off into the city. With most of the people in Victoria concentrated in the city (urban), and a population of 358,000 people spread out at a density of approximately 4,196.9 people/km2 according to Statistics Canada, we sure had a lot of people to meet! The only downside: 10% of them are retirees (boooring!). Guess we'll have to watch out for those other 90%, of which the majority are English and under the age of 35. Guess they really are all "newly wed or nearly dead"!
Parliment Buildings
Noticing the blazing weather, we decided to take the tour on foot. Walking through the downtown, we pass by the breakwater and sniffed the scrumptious smells of Noodle Box, which we picked up (just in case we got hungry). Munching my chicken-teriyaki-in-a-box, we walked over the our second stop. Basking the the grandeur of the British Colombian Parliament Buildings, we embarked on the well-traveled tour path. After listening to our rather elderly tour guide drone on for what seemed like an eternity (the tour was nowhere near as exciting as our Socials teacher had alluded to), we burst out into the fresh air of a busy noon-time Victoria.
Mayor Dean Fortin
Ironically enough, just as we finished discussing Victoria's roots as a colony set up by a cautious Crown, developed out of a mining boom, and named after its venerable namesake, we ran into a major player in the town's role: Mayor Dean Fortin; the gracious mayor agreed to take us all around his "City of Gardens". Together, we roamed with him for a while, then decided to see a show at the IMAX theatre of the Royal British Columbian Museum. After two hours of Batman on the biggest screen I've ever encountered, my IMAX days were heavily limited; following a short poke around the museum, we slunk out into the glowing midday sun. Sadly, we got distracted and spent the next hour watching a street magician astound a small crowd, and our host ended up leaving us.
Our next stop was to head on over to the Royal Theatre, where we had the time of our lives. It is almost indescribable how beautifully the sound of the Victoria Symphony filled our ears. For me, it was a personal highlight of the entire trip. The entire area emanated with rich and passionate music and culture, something that is very rare these days. It is so very unfortunate that the mayor could not accompany us, as I'm sure this experience would have blown him away. As we passed the Belfry Theatre, we were almost tempted to go see a run of Canadian playwrights Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt's Two Pianos Four Hands (an excellent piece for any audience), but we just did not have the time.
Our last major point of interest was Beacon Hill Park, where we brought our picnic dinner and took in some of nature at its finest. After taking in as much of the 75 hectares as we could, we reluctantly headed back so as to catch the ferry on time, something we had experience rushing for all to well.
Another brief walk through some of the city's luxurious gardens and totem poles concluded our day, only wishing we had more time to explore. As the last rays of sun set over the horizon, we marvelled at our luck at catching such splendid weather (not common for this area). We nipped back to the hotel to pick up the car (freshly washed!), and cruised over to the ferry terminal to catch the latest ferry over to Vancouver, our next stop. Dodging and swerving traffic, we finally made it the terminal in the nick of time; I now realize why Amanda has never driven in the past! Speaking of which, traffic and congestion have become a huge problem for Victoria. With long, winding streets and narrow alleyways, the city just isn't meant to support such a large number of people. This causes big problems with getting around, and reaching ferries on time! As the ferry pulled out at exactly 11:05, my eyes began to drift, and the twinkling of the parliament buildings was my last site of Victoria, BC: The city that's Forever Free.
where's amanda's?
ReplyDeleteLoveed reading this thanks
ReplyDelete