I Love You Victoria

I've always said that I find Victoria to be one of the beautiful places that I've visited. I've gone here once, and I wanted to go back. Last time I was here was 2008. But after two years, finally, I've come back! And the pictures below will just tell you how beautiful this place really is.

Not the best qualities as I only used my iPod Touch, but it's still beautiful. These three spots: Parliament, Empress Hotel and Inner Harbor are all located within the same harbor area. You look at one side, it's the harbor. On the other side it's the Parliament and the Empress Hotel.

Think of the Parliament as our Senate House or probably Sandigan Bayan. Amazing right? They have the Parliament in Victoria because this is the capital of the province of British Columbia. The other Parliament building that I got to visit two years back was the one in Ottawa. That time, I was lucky enough to get into their free tours. This time however, the tours were only open on weekdays.

The Parliament sits directly in front of what they call the inner harbor area. This is a nice place to just hang out and walk around. From the picture I took, you can just see the walk area just by the bottom right of the picture.

Now just perpendicular to the Parliament, and still facing the harbor is the very pricey, old and beautiful Empress Hotel. Apparently it's one of the oldest hotels in British Columbia. The picture doesn't pay enough homage to this beautiful hotel.

But that's not all there is to Victoria.

We also visited Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.

Butchart Gardens is one of the premiere tourist spots in Victoria. Unfortunately, the flowers were not yet on full bloom since it was still officially winter when we went there. But if you come around summer time, you will be even more mesmerized by the beauty of the flowers, roses, trees, etc.

The picture below is just a part of the garden. This is what they call the Sunken Garden. If I remember correctly, this used to be an abandoned quarry which Jennie Burchart slowly developed into this beautiful garden. Unfortunately, the picture below doesn't do justice to the beauty and color it would have during the spring and summer season.

Craigdarroch Castle was a castle built by James Dunsmiur to for his wife during the late 1800s. At that time, Dunsmiur was considered the richest man in British Columbia. Unfortunately, he died before the castle was completed. The parked car below killed the picture.

The castle is breathtakingly beautiful. It's wood all over. I'm a sucker for woodsy yet elegant houses. It's a self guided tour, you can go through all floors and rooms of the castle. It's so interesting that just around the castle, you see a regular homey neighborhood. Haha how I wish we'd have one near our place.

There's a lot more reason why I love Victoria. Hopefully, at least for whoever will read this blog, will remember that when they get the chance to visit Canada, they really have to stop by Victoria.