What I Did On My Trip To Victoria

I went to Victoria for a few days this week.

Well, yes, the construction noise spoiled the hotel room experience. Otherwise it was good. Some of the highlights:

Went on a (free!!) tour of the BC Parliament Buildings where I saw the dining room's lunch menu, marble floors, the controversial murals, stained glass windows, the architectural drawings by Francis Rattenbury, the Legislative Chambers and the Mace (fortunately no longer needed by the Sergeant-at-Arms to defend the Speaker), plus narration by an actor playing the role of Matthew Begbie, the Hanging Judge.

People go on and on about the front view of the buildings in their Romanesque Revival glory. Personally, I like the fountain at the back.

 

Spent several hours at the Royal BC Museum which had a Titanic exhibit. I wasn't too impressed with the Titanic exhibit. It was ok but seemed light on artifacts and heavy on words written on the walls. The person named on my randomly selected boarding pass, Miss Jane Carr, was not among the listed survivors.

Upstairs in the museum, The First Peoples Gallery is truly amazing and I also visited the Woolly Mammoth. It was fun waiting for the thunder storm and then watching any kids in the room react to the thunder and lightning effects with the enormous Woolly Mammoth looming over them!

Hung around the Inner Harbour where an enormous sailboat, the Destination, was moored near the Pacific Swift, a replica 1778 fishing schooner. Watched whale watchers getting ready to go whale watching. Watched tourists trying to take pictures of a raccoon rooting around for goodies under the docks.

Ate out in several restaurants. My favourite was Pagliacci's. Insanely crowded, noisy and great fun! They had live music, a jazz trio, at 8:30.

Went to Munro's Books which claims to be "Canada's Most Magnificent Bookstore!" Went to Russell Books which is even better.

Shopping. Bought a new shoulder bag! It's made of bison leather and has lots of big pockets and zippers. There is room for my iPod, camera, wallet, $2.87 in loose change, tourism map of Victoria, eyeglasses, a couple of Canadian Business magazines, a paperback book (Darwin's Children), pen, lip gloss, a packet of toothpicks, eyeglasses wipes, 3 bandaids, a packet of Amosan, a bar of Purdy's dark chocolate, keys, receipts, and a bunch of papers with stuff written on them. How did my new handbag manage to accumulate so much stuff in less than 24 hours? Good thing it has a comfortable wide shoulder strap.

Broke in, really broke in my new orthotics. Results included one blister, a sore toe, aching lower back and a new pain I had never experienced before, shin splints. I didn't know that they were called that until I described it to my sister who's training for a half-marathon and has more familiarity with sports injuries than I. It seems unfair to have a sports-related pain and not be able to claim that it was caused by a sport. Tourism and shopping should be declared sports. Fortunately the shin splints were gone the next day. My chiropractor told me, as he yanked my ankle and foot bones back into their correct positions, that I'm "adjusting" to the orthotics. I'm so glad...