Day Trip - Victoria, B.C.
____________________
VIEWING OPTIONS: To enlarge images, click on either the featured image below or one of the thumbnail images . For full-screen images, view in slideshow mode.
This passage is known as Sansum Narrows at the south end of the Gulf Islands.
Parliament Buildings of British Columbia
Located in Victoria, British Columbia, home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The Neo-baroque buildings face north on Belleville street facing the Inner Harbour and diagonally across from The Empress Hotel. Atop the central dome is a gold-covered statue of Captain George Vancouver.
The hotel is well known for its classic Victorian afternoon tea service. During the summer months, the hotel serves tea (along with tea sandwiches, fresh scones, preserves and clotted cream known as Empress cream) in its 'Tea Room' to more than 800 guests and tourists daily. This room was the original lobby when the hotel was first opened.
This small harbour holds a special place in my heart as a young couple with two small daughters, we often sailed into this basin and stayed dockside as long as permitted. In an earlier part in my life I would walk down to this location to wait for my father disembarking from one of the steamships from Vancouver.
Parliament Buildings of British Columbia
This place reflects some of my earliest memories. I was born in Victoria and the first home I lived in was immediately behind these buildings on Menzies Street, now a parking lot. I lived there until the age of five, but my family returned frequently to visit relatives. My maternal grandfather was on the custodial staff of the B.C. Legislature Buildings. I often used to walk over to visit him there at lunch time. If the grass looks over-saturated, it isn't. This stunning green is a true reflection of the colour of grass in this gardener's paradise.
Built between 1904 and 1908, the Edwardian, château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific's steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away.
Despite many problems, including exceeding budget—the original budget was $500,000; the final amount was $923,000—the British Columbia Parliament Buildings began operation officially during 1898.