Craigdarroch Castle and the Parliament Building

I’ve noticed that the more my dad stands around talking to people, the more I take photos.

We took the bus to Craigdarroch Castle, a breathtaking stone Romanesque mansion built for a railroad baron (Dunsmuir) and his family in the eighteen-eighties. We wandered all over—all the way up to the lookout tower with its views of the city and harbor. The mansion put me in the mood for embroidery, costuming, and a doll house based on the castle. On average, visitors get through the mansion in forty-five minutes. It took my dad and me at least three hours. Some visitors miss parts of the house, but we wandered down the back staircase and saw more and more rooms after visiting the lookout tower.

We had lunch at a little Greek/Italian place—spaghetti—downtown after getting off the bus—followed by a hurried walk to the Emily Carr House because at lunch (a late lunch)  I double checked the Emily Carr House hours and discovered that it closes at 4 pm. It was already a quarter till three when I noticed this.

The Emily Carr House is a few doors down from our inn and on the other side of the street—the two-story yellow 1864 house that Emily Carr grew up in.  Only the first floor is open for tours; the caretakers live upstairs. Flowers in the yard, complimentary coffee and tea on the porch, wonderful homey antique furnishings, a small gift shop (the kitchen), and a sign saying you might come across one or two cats (but we didn’t). Emily Carr loved cats. There was also a biographical documentary showing in one bedroom.

Inside the Emily Carr House

Surprisingly, a couple of tourists were from Portland, and I saw them walk to the inn’s restaurant, so we’re convinced they’re also staying at the James Bay Inn. My dad talked with them on the lawn of Emily Carr’s house after we left, and I wandered around the yard taking pictures of flowers.

Emily Carr House

We briefly stopped by at the room, and I discovered that when my dad meant to hang up the “Please make up room” sign facing out, he had actually hung up “Do not disturb,” so we didn’t have fresh towels and the beds weren’t made. After a bathroom break, we headed back out.

We wandered around downtown—mainly along Government Street, for hours—looking around, taking pictures, shopping, etc. We wandered to Chinatown and down the narrowest alley in Canada, which is located in the oldest Chinatown in Canada.

Dinner around 8 pm at Green Cuisine, a wonderful (though not cheap—they charge by the gram, and I bought heavy samosas) vegan restaurant.

More wandering, back toward the hotel and stopping at shops. A cop was confronting some drunk young guys on the street—the cop car was pulled over and the cop stood with the guys on the sidewalk, talking to them. Meanwhile, three noisy drunk young women in dresses and high heels and tattoos came out of the Irish pub, talking and laughing, and approached the guys and the cop. They thought the situation was hilarious, and after the cop got back into his car and started to drive off, one of the women ran up to his car and said something jokingly. Nobody got arrested. Toto, we’re not in the United States anymore. A block further down, we met a guy who said it’s a full moon tonight, in addition to a Saturday night in Victoria, so the street could get even rowdier.

Parliament Building

We walked to the lit-up Parliament Building and the glowing lit-up fountain in front of it. We passed two Clydesdales pulling open carriages for tourists; we saw a lot of that in Victoria.