Victoria 13 June 2023

Away pretty early and to Courtenay for breakfast, at a great steam punk accented place named Rhodos where we shared a delicious Comox Benny (Avo and Bacon) – superb Hollandaise.

Then onward up the hill and thence along the Inner Ocean Highway. Forty-five (45) stoplights later – I guess I exaggerated when I said 73 – 28 of which impeded our progress or stopped us altogether.

When they get in their vehicles – especially their huge pickups – British Columbians lose their charm and become speedy aggressors. Speed signs are apparently taken to be merely advisory, perhaps suggesting the slowest acceptable speed? A 110kph sign (~68 mph) is  in practice 126kph or so (79mph). Being in no hurry today, I pretty much kept to the signs, and the pickups whizzed by!

A bit before Victoria, the four lane thruway devolves into a narrow two lane and runs through a lovely stretch of forest . . . or at least I assume it's lovely. The expected tree walls close in on the roadway.

In sore need of what we politely call a washroom here in BC, I struck out toward what a sign said would be a park. No park evidencing itself, we found a Canada Superstore and used their lua. Then onward to the westside, thence downtown and, miraculously, right to our hotel, Abigail's. Another miracle: just before 2pm, and our lovely room is ready for us.

Shed our car around the corner at National: an Elantra, served our purpose, but not a pleasant car. 

Good lunch (Fish & Chips, Vegetable Salad, righteous Root Beer), cheery server, who said that the large green and white battleship identified above as the AnhoserBush Atrocity belongs to the owner of that piss-water maker, a Brazilian gazillionaire. I think such wealth should be taxed into nonexistence.

Rochelle insisted on needing ice cream from the little shack above the quay, and then we sat in the garden at the Royal Museum of British Columbia and admired the ducks and sculpture. Look closely: there are more lovebirds than just the ducks.

After, we went into the Museum and viewed the obligatory gallery about the First Nations – overuse of video (cheap) and interviews. Upstairs to the Angkor Wat exhibition . . .

Hanuman, front and back

and then a nice little treatment of recent dinosaur finds in BC, featuring Buster, a Ferrisaurus sustetensus, BC's first original dinosaur.

Photobombing by Rochelle.

Then a fascinating short but ever-so-beautiful IMAX about Angkor Wat, and how it came to be the largest religious establishment on the planet, and then was abandoned to a prolonged drought. Civilizations, they come and go . . .

Like Vancouver, Victoria is dominated by huge crackerbox high rises with neither soul nor architectural merit (except, I guess, they don't fall down in earthquakes, no mean accomplishment). But the House of parliament, and the First Nations council house stand on either side of the Museum. A perfect commentary: pretentious pseudo Georgian vs. wholly appropriate vernacular.

I got turned around and we had to go into another hotel and grab a map of downtown to find our way back to our wonderful hotel: a pretty rare occurrence for me, but I have been turned around several places on this trip . . . even thought I calculate this is my sixth visit to Victoria. 

We did find Abigail's. Took a couple of hours off, then back to Ithaka, a busy, noisy, superb Greek restaurant.

our server, Demetrius, took exquisite care of us

Avgholemeno, Loukaniko, Horiatiki