Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Victoria on the Victoria Day Long Weekend!?

So this lovely weekend I went to that mild climated town on the coast we call "Victoria". It definitely lived up to my expectations of being funky, sweet, old, nostalgic and mild. I adore being by the ocean, the smell and the waves and the sand. Naturally, Victoria is a great place for me to be on the Victoria Day Long Weekend. We went to Victoria partly because my Dad spent 6 years of high school there, and attended UVic (Political Science). Also because it's a lovely time. We spent a lot of time seeing my dads old friends, shopping downtown in the markets and stores and eating at excellent restaurants and cafes.

Victoria has a wonderful downtown. Old brick buildings with funky shops, and some really old buildings that pre-dated the brick. We walked around quite a bit, usually down Government street, or on the Harbour. There's some lovely markets down Government near the Harbour. Just walking around the old buildings and funky shops in front of the ocean was great. The Empress Hotel is a wonderful building. My dad had worked thier as a bus boy and waiter, serving tea.. etc. It has vines growing and crawling all over the building, parts of it are reminiscent of a giant, detailed tree sculpture. The parliament buildings are magnificent. They are regal and ancient, elaborate and wide.

A couple days in, we decided to drive up to Point-no-Point, a little teahouse and resortish thing north of Sooke. We had some lovely tea, over-looking the green, bold hills that dipped into the ocean. We went for a walk down to the beach. It was raining and grey, and I managed to get some good pictures. There were black rocks along the sea, and you could see hills in the distance. It was absolutly beautiful. Complete magic.

It was a wonderful trip, overall. I fully recommend Victoria as a great Canadian travel destination.

Here are some pictures from the trip:


A lovely bench, I captured and photoshopped.

Black rocks on the point-no-point beach.

Victoria Parliament buildings.

My brother on the breakwater.


Some silly bagpipers in full costume, after the rainy "Victoria Day Parade"

Trees and ferns at point-no-point.

The Empress Hotel.


8 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

The Empress Hotel is very impressive. I'll have to make it there someday, but so far haven't made it over to the island.

hilary m. said...

It is! I tried to persuade my dad to take us to tea there, but he muttered something about prices. once he told me he dropped a whole tray of spanish coffees on the floor there. Maybe that's why he's nervous about coming back..

Vancouver Island is gorgeous. Although Vancouver's great too. I was there a couple months ago and had a great time.

Barbara said...

I sooo want to go to B.C. Nice pictures Hilary I love the bench.

hilary m. said...

it's really lovely. us albertans tend to go there a lot, most vacation property is owned by us. we have a condo on a ski-hill in BC, and we spend a lot of time there.

and thankyou! I was really lucky to get that shot.

Allison said...

Your bench picture is amazing, so pretty. You've made me want to go to Victoria, I'll have to make the trip this summer!

hilary m. said...

thank you!

I put it up on my desktop background, so I can remind myself that I'm sitting hunched over on a computer in a room in a city, instead of frolicking amidst the cedars and the ocean..

it's really lovely isn't it? I hope you get a chance this summer!

Anonymous said...

You're an excellent photographer!! The bench photo is absolutely phenomenal....really love it.

hilary m. said...

thank you very much!
I can't describe to you how much I adore taking pictures in different cities.