In the Land of Tea

Then we took the sea voyage to another country, the next country north, the one visible across the Strait from my windows. Victoria, here we come! Arriving at the Victoria's Inner Harbour offered the usual pleasures: sea planes, houseboats, water taxis. For some reason EBD did not think living on a houseboat and having the groceries delivered by a little yellow or green water taxi was the most yummy idea ever...

Pulling away from the dock in Port Angeles on the Coho, August 30, 2012 (Click for larger image.)

Victoria Harbor: Water Taxi With Houseboats, My Fantasy Life (Click for larger image.)

Harbour Air (Click for larger image.)

First stop, the Parliament Building. We had just missed a tour (they're free) so started trotting around on our own, ran into the tour outside the Legislative Chamber. An actor strode into the group in full historical costume, and took over for a while. The best thing was the The Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Window, which was put away for safekeeping during a remodel in 1912, and forgotten entirely for 63 years. Found in the basement and put back on display in 1975.

Outside the Legislative Chamber (Click for larger image.)

Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Window (Click for larger image.)

Then we trotted on to the Royal BC Museum, and did a quick runaround most of the galleries, and also the Thunderbird Park.

Thunderbird Park, Royal BC Museum, August 30, 2012 (Click for larger image.)

Museums, the Empress Hotel, statuary, historical posing, and horse-drawn carriages full of tourists notwithstanding, Victoria is also the seat of government. We were very entertained by miscellaneous workmanlike buildings and their signage on the streets behind the Parliament Building as we were walking to the Tea Room.

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Lunch at James Bay Tea Room and Restaurant. Thanks to PB for the suggestion. It is SO not the Empress Hotel. For those patrons who were in fact having High Tea, it cost them 1/3 as much as it does at the Empress, and did not arrive on a silver three-tiered serving stand. (We had pot pies.) The walls are covered with photos of the royal family. The teapots all had crocheted cozies on them.

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Then back to the museum for whatever we had missed on the first pass, and some lurking by the harbor. EBD watched a flame juggler work the crowd. I watched boats. We walked past the Emily Carr statue. WC came and picked us up for a bit of driving around, and then supper with him and PW in their sunporch, and then they brought us back to the ferry for the ride home. The days are so short now. It was already sunset.

Harbor Watching (Click for larger image.)

Emily Carr (Click for larger image.)

Leaving Victoria (Click for larger image.)