janisj

Last week I spent the best part of 4 days in Victoria. Day 1 was in Seattle before catching the afternoon Clipper ferry across to Victoria. I'm posting the trip report over on the Canada forum since more time was north of the border, but several Wash. fodorites helped me w/ planning so here is a link to the TR.

http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...n-victoria.cfm

I had a GREAT time, had a mini GTG w/ suze, and got to sit in the co-pilot's seat on the float plane back to Lake Union!! -- That was an E ticket for sure (folks of a certain age will know what that means )

SOCALOC

I know what an E-ticket is and that sounds like a Z ticket!

suze

Hurray! Thanks for lunch and thanks for the trip report, janisj!!

Dayenu

Thanks for the link, Victoria is on my "to go" list - maybe the end of next year when the Terracota soldiers are there.

janisj

It was great meeting you suze -- and Cutters is definitely a keeper

Dayenu: - Oh, yes, you'd love Victoria - especially if you get lucky w/ the weather like I did . . .

Dayenu

They are not going to Victoria

http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/About..._Releases.aspx

janisj

Oh - that is too bad

But you'd still enjoy Victoria . . . .

If you go at a warmer time of year, the gardens will help make up for the missing soldiers.

MichelleY

bookmarking

travelme

What a wonderful sounding trip to Victoria. It sounds like such a perfect place. I have been hoping to go there for some time and I now have enough miles left over to do fabulous trip myself to Vancouver next summer. Naturally, I would include a side trip for a few days to Victoria. You must have absolutely adored the city since you are the quintessential anglophile. How lovely for you. Your recommendations at restaurants and museums are exquisite. But is Victoria really as Brit as its reputation for being a little London. I have my reservations about that but I am sure its a charming city. Your brilliant post has me so excited about my trip for next year. Kudos to you!

Bobmrg

Super report...really enjoyed it. I hope that some December you will be able to visit Butchart Gardens at night; we will be going up on the 3rd and then onward to Chamainus for their dinner theater. The Gardens has the Twelve Days of Christmas, which is delightful. It changes every year, but I recall "Four Calling Birds" as being four cartoonish birds holding cell phones, old-fashioned phones, etc. "Eight Maids a-Milking," with cow, were made of fiberglass panels and lighted internally.

When I was flying charters, everyone who wanted to take a turn in the right front seat was welcome to do so if they could clamber up there over/between the other seats.

Daniel_Williams

Hi travelme,

Victoria, despite what some guidebooks and brochures say about its English-ness, strikes me ultimately as very "Canadian" in feel. I don't see Victoria as being especially more British than other North American cities and I don't see Victoria remotely as being a little London.

Victoria I do think is a delightful city though with its draw for me being the stunning beauty of the Pacific Northwest scenery that surrounds. I think Butchart Gardens is a visual stunner of colour and with an awe-inspiring collection of flowers. The presence of this world-famous "garden" might lead an outside observer to think it must lend to the "English-ness" of the place. However, in my opinion, being sculpted out of a quarry with sunken gardens, redwoods and arbutus in a setting of beautiful tall conifers with views of Brentwood Bay peeking out, the setting is too Canadian to lead you to think Butchart Gardens is English in feel.

Enjoy your trip! Daniel

janisj

Victoria really didn't feel all that "English" except for the afternoon tea and little things like that. It felt like what it is - beautiful Canadian city named after a British Monarch . . . .

I have seen lots of gardens in the UK set in abandoned quarries and such, but only certain parts of Butchart have an English feel IMO. The Rose garden for sure and a few other areas.

Victoria's architecture is not very 'olde English' either - more like the 19th century towns in California and other parts of the western US.

Dayenu

I've never been to London, so to me Victoria looked very British Maybe it's like North Beach in San Francisco to those who'd never been to Italy?

janisj

Dayenu: The bldgs we call Victorian' (like the painted ladies) are not like anything you'd find in the UK. Totally different styles/materials.

Carmel has more of a "English Village-y" feel than Victoria does.

MichelleY

Woooo Hooooo!! It sounds like you had a great time and got to eat ... and drink .... alot!!

travelme

Thank you Daniel and Janisj. That is what I suspected about the "British" thing. Bermuda is another example of a place that is supposed to be so British but it isn't really. Although they do drive on the other side of the road and you tend to hear a lot of English accents. Now Quebec City does remind me of Brittany or some parts of Normandy. I think it reminds me especially of St Malo.
What I may do is instead is to fly to Seattle and spend a few days there and then take the ferry to Victoria. I could do this with fewer miles. I checked out the Marketa and it looks very nice and reasonably priced. I had to laugh about the woman complaining about the sugar in the soy milk at breakfast. How on earth did you have the restraint not to tell her to shut up? I am impressed, Janis. I guess this is part of staying at a B&B where you meet mostly friendly people but on occasion the "particular" ones as well.