We had known that the Duke and Duchess of York would be following us to The Yukon and to Victoria, BC. Their visit has been in the tabloids that entertain us as we wait in the supermarket cashier lines. But we didn't realize that we would be visiting Victoria on the same day. The weather forecast for today was cloudy with a chance of rain and we thought it would be a good day to go into Victoria, take a City bus tour, and visit the Royal BC Museum.
When we arrived in town and walked to the front of the Empress Hotel along Victoria's Horseshoe Bay, there was a crowd gathered at the harbor and people standing along the walkway that follows the harbor. We went over to see what they were looking at and a woman with binoculars told us it was William and Kate. Using the telephoto lens, I was able to get some pictures of her greeting the crowds; William was off talking to the reporters.
View from in front of the Empress Hotel.
There she is, right about the center of the picture. Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it.
I took the clearest picture and cropped it, which enlarged it for you. You can make it bigger by clicking on the picture.
As we have, William and Kate have already visited Carcross (see blog for July 23, 2016) and Whitehorse. Now you know, we travel to places and then let them know which ones to visit, they always check with us first.
After glimpsing the future King and Queen of England, we went into the Empress Hotel to observe the folks enjoying afternoon tea.
We also used the washroom before we left on the GrayLine tour of the City.
Our double-decker bus. There's a small plaque on it telling us that it's the oldest bus serving the City. Russ (it rhymes with bus) was our driver and told us the bus was manufactured in England in 1959.
While we were waiting for the tour to begin, I went over and took this picture of the bagpipe player in front of the Parliament Building. He saw me taking his picture and asked me where I was from. When I said Rhode Island he looked puzzled for a moment then asked me if I had a numbered bank account. "Isn't Rhode Island where banking is very favorable to business?" I suggested that he might be thinking of Delaware, the second smallest state - Rhode Island is the smallest.
On the tour we drove past Mile 0, the start of Canada's Highway No. 1, which stretches through all 10 provinces of Canada between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. It is one of the longest national highways, spanning 8,030 kms (4990 miles).
Behind this marker to Highway #1 is the monument to Terry Fox, the young man who lost his right leg to cancer and decided to run the Trans-Canada Highway, #1, to raise money for cancer research. He died a few hundred kilometers short of his goal, which would have been this spot.
Back at the Horseshoe Harbor after the tour, we took pictures of the Parliament Building, Victoria is the Provincial Capital of British Columbia.
That's Queen Victoria in front and...
to one side is a totem pole.
While we were walking along the street this self-propelled bar-bus passed us. See the riders peddling while sitting at a bar enjoying a drink? Victoria is a fun city with lots of young people.
We next went to the Royal BC Museum. We didn't have a lot of time so we settled on viewing their First Nations exhibit and one other. Here we are in a room with authentic totem poles.
In addition to the totem poles there was a large diorama of a village showing how totem poles were displayed.
More detail and...
a picture of the whole diorama.
There were also many exhibits with explanation of the importance of masks in their culture. This is a replica of a cave where one First Nations people kept their masks.
In addition to the First Nations exhibit we also visited their major traveling exhibit - Mammoths, Giants of the Ice Age. The exhibition was created by The Field Museum in Chicago.
Mammoth and friend (Frederick is there for scale).
An extinct Giant Short-faced bear and friend.
North American lion.
A skinny mammoth.
The large Columbia, smaller African, mammoth and, in the front, the Pygmy Mammoth from the Catalina Islands off the coast of California.
The Woolly Mammoth from the Arctic regions.
Frederick in front of the Empress Hotel and...
the ivy covered Hotel entrance.
Topiary Orcas on the street corner. Notice the "wave" made of blue fescue grass.
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