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Small Observation Shelter along Westsong Walkway
Terry Fox: Monument near Milepost 0
Boats at Anchor off Banfield Park
Old Mansion on Left, Modern Gallery on RightWho needs air-conditioning?
Victoria is a perfect town for a stroll. It's compact and every street is full of architectural marvels. Down by the Inner Harbor is particularly scenic and The Empress Hotel never fails to bring visitors back to another time. Victoria is my kind of town, enough culture to keep you from being bored but not too much to get in the way of enjoying strolling its streets lined with turn-of-the-century architectural marvels, grabbing something different and interesting to eat for every meal, and of course, doing a bit of beer hunting. Victoria also has a lovely island waterfront setting and being the capitol of British Colombia is very much a British affair. In fact, it could very well be the most English town outside of the United Kingdom. So, along with there always being a good Indian just up the road, their pubs are purveyors of hand-drawn cask-conditioned ales. Add to all this that it is in Canada, the land of the happy-go-lucky Canuck; and you would imagine I would be bursting at the seams with happiness, right? But I wasn't entirely so.
Don't get me wrong, I was enjoying myself and especially in showing my wife who had never been a town I knew she would love. Something just wasn't quite right and I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was all this sun. A town like Victoria should be shrouded in fog, all misty and a bit nippy. You should be tucking in for a cuppa tea at every chance. But it was unusually hot for an island-bound town in the northern Pacific. Damn, it was just too nice to spend the day enjoying all the great session beers the local brewpubs produce and I found myself outside nearly the whole time, walking and actually sweating. In Victoria, sweating. Locals told us it was highly unusual, it would only last a few days but we were only there for a few days. Where was the fog? Where was the atmosphere?
We had even managed to find an inexpensive room, right in the city center. We parked the car and would not need it again until we left. It was in an old building with old plumbing and of course with no air-conditioning. Who needs air-conditioning in Victoria? Well, we sure could have used it and we're from Florida! (concluded below in Fondest Memory)
