welcome fellow travelers today our adventures took a turn for the unexpected as some severe
weather conditions derailed our original plans so instead we're going to take a winter wander
through downtown victoria and explore some of the famous sites of british columbia's capital city
by the hudson's bay company victoria lies on the southernmost tip of vancouver island
on the pacific coast and usually it doesn't get this much snow but today we're getting an extra
helping victoria's inner harbor is the heart of the city and this is the location where fort
victoria once stood the harbor is surrounded by a number of historic buildings including
the fairmont empress hotel the royal bc museum and the bc parliament buildings
today the inner harbor is covered in snow as are the boats that are moored here and you can
actually see that the snow has been heavy enough to create a slushy layer on top of the salt water
heading just across the street let's take a look at the fairmont empress hotel
it was constructed in 1908 by the canadian pacific railway and consists of 477 rooms
the empress is a respectable upscale british property and has been host
to a number of famous people back in 1939 king george vi and queen
elizabeth attended a luncheon at the empress during their tour of canada
queen elizabeth ii is also one of the famous guests that have stayed at the hotel and even
shirley temple stayed here while she was on hiatus from her regular work schedule in california
the building was designated as a national historic site for canada in 1981 and has gone
through some significant restorations in 2015 and 2017 costing more than 60 million dollars
here's confederation fountain this was constructed in 1967 to commemorate the centennial of canada's
confederation canada's coat of arms sits behind this fountain and on either side are the shields
of canada's 13 provinces and territories beneath each one it shows the territory's name and the
year it joined canada also hidden away in this plaza is a time capsule buried in 1967
and won't be open again until january 1st 2067 as part of canada's bicentennial celebrations
another victoria's stunning buildings are the
bc parliament buildings which have been in use since 1898.
built just after confederation it was an impressive monument
to bc's dedication to the newly formed country
the bc parliament buildings are 500 feet long and consist of a central dome flanked by
two end pavilions sitting atop the central dome is a figure of george vancouver
the design of this structure was awarded to francis rattenbury
a young english immigrant who was only 25 years old
the success of this design led rattenbury to work
on the design of other famous buildings in british columbia
including the design of the empress hotel that we saw earlier the legislative library in victoria
as well as the courthouse in vancouver which is now the vancouver art gallery
next to the royal bc museum is thunderbird park the park is home to a number of first
nations totems the original totems were put here in 1940 as part of an effort to preserve some of
the region's deteriorating first nations art since then all of the original polls have been replaced
with newer recreations but some of the original polls are now preserved within the royal bc museum
a couple other buildings on the property are the saint anne schoolhouse built in 1844
and the helmkin house built in 1852 by dr john helmkin
sitting along the waterfront is a plaza dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the canadian navy
in addition to a memorial you'll find a bronze sculpture called the homecoming
by local artist nathan scott
which depicts a canadian sailor reuniting with his daughter after returning home from deployment
and just across the plaza you'll see another sculpture by nathan scott the veteran sailor
also overlooking the harbor is the building now in use by the victoria information center
this was originally built in 1931 as a service station for imperial oil
the tower features a 10 million candle sperry beacon
which was used as a navigational aid for float planes approaching the inner harbor
the beacon was so bright that it could be seen up to a hundred kilometers away
nearby is the old victoria customs house this was constructed in 1864
and is the oldest federal building of its kind still standing in western canada
during the klondike gold rush this served as the city's custom house and was the primary
port of british columbia before that role was taken over by the port of vancouver
next let's head over to victoria's chinatown or as the locals like to call it chinatown
victoria's chinatown is the oldest in canada and the second oldest in north america behind san
francisco the decorated gates of harmonious interest mark the entrance to chinatown on
fisgard street and all up and down the street you can see examples of asian inspired architecture
often in the colors of lucky red and gold
within chinatown is fantan alley
it's 240 feet long and is the narrowest street in canada
at its narrowest point it's only 35 inches wide
at one time the alley was a gambling district filled with restaurants shops and opium dens
since gambling wasn't legal in the 1910s and 1920s either end of the
alley was closed off with wooden doors and a watchman assigned to protect the gamblers
some of the nearby buildings even had secret escape routes to let out gamblers in case of raids
these gambling dens reached their height of popularity in the 1940s
but today you can find a unique blend of restaurants and shops tucked away within the alley
i also like the look of this historic sign on the front of the dawn me seafood restaurant
this restaurant has existed for over 80 years in victoria
serving dim sum to its patrons in the heart of victoria's chinatown
another curious alley is the dragon alley which connects fist guard and herald streets
possibly taking a playful cue from the harry potter films the address of dragon alley is
5/32 and a half like many of the alleys in victoria's chinatown it was created when the
original structures in the 1800s were replaced by concrete and brick buildings in the early 1900s
those new buildings maximize the space available on each plot of land
leaving only narrow walkways in between sets of buildings
hope you enjoyed our wintery tour of some of the sites in downtown victoria