Victoria - Day 1
Gray Line Tours

I don't know if Lidia understood why I was smirking. The double decker bus emblazoned with the Union Jack parked right outside the Empress Hotel made me think someone in marketing had decided “Let’s make Victoria even more British than Great Britain.” As a tourist, I guess a part of me kind of wanted / expected this (again, I'm very suggestible).

Our driver, Bob, was a gentlemanly looking fellow with white hair and uniform. I fully expected him to have an British accent. He didn't, but his knowledge of things such as trees fully made up for it.

Lidia and I went to the top level and grabbed the front seats (we were 2 of 3 passengers). The crazy perspective meant that at each left turn it felt as though we were going across the lines into the opposing traffic lane.

I was trying to take notes and pictures at the same time, but soon gave up since Bob peppered the tour with interesting ancedotes.

Random facts / jumbled notes from the tour:

- Both the Empress and the Legisature were designed by Rattenbury.

- The depression in the late 1800s led to a flood of antiques (and a whole section of town called Antique Row).

- Craigdarroch Castle was raffled off at $1 a ticket when the Dunsmuir daughters had inherited and found they couldn't sell it. The winner while very happy at first ended up moving out because it was impossible to keep the whole place heated (without being a coal baron - as the original Dunsmuir was). The city ended up claiming it for backtaxes.

- The trees! The strange trees with knarled branches were Garry Oak. When we reached Oak Bay, Bob revealed that these were "heritage trees" - homeowners were not allowed to cut or trim them. The trees also possibly dated back to the ice-age since the only other places they are found now would have been connected together in the supercontinent. (Must do more research on this)

- More on flora: Victoria continues to export holly and these bushes could can be found all around; there are over 3,000 palm trees in the city

- Oak Bay - the area was considered "behind the tartan curtain" because so many people from the British Isles would retire in this area.

From his interpretation, I fully believe that downtown Victoria has one the highest density of Starbucks per capita (imagine our Whyte Ave coffee corner / intersection with all just Starbucks). For our break he took us to a pier where people were feeding wild seals (though first you had to get past all the seagulls).

Boat people sure have a sense of humour (Left: Do think this one's owner is an accountant?).

Bob brought us back to the Empress, and I was glad we took the trip. Everything was so beautiful and idyllic - there were even people flying kites in the park. If it was summer though, I would have wanted to take the bus tour where one can get on and off at different stations to explore. No, I don't meant transit - but that would be an interesting trip too...