Oct 1, 2018
S01 Episode #20
Fun Things To Do in Victoria, British
Columbia
Welcome
to the Travel Gluten Free Podcast, where you, my friend, listen in
on how to lead a gluten-free lifestyle with more fun and
ease!
Why
Victoria?
Do you love small towns that are walkable and easy to get around
with a charming Main
Street with more stories and tales than you can listen to in
a week? Do you love boating, being near the water and harbors? How
about museums which celebrate native culture, a town with inspiring
stories from amazing people and the best "running of the goats"?
All of this and more can be found in Victoria, British
Columbia.
How to Get to
Victoria
Have you been to SEA-TAC - the Seattle airport? Let me be the first
to tell you its a zoo. Planning to fly into SEA TAC give yourself a
good 2 hours between getting off the plane, renting your car and
getting anywhere in Seattle. If you are within driving distance, I
would suggest doing the drive. Beautiful scenery, great places
to stop along the way - I've got to tell you I took the most
stunning rest stop photos on this trip during a rainstorm - and
then take your car on the ferry across from the US to Victoria.
Ferry rides are so relaxing and fun. Families putting together
puzzles, people playing games or just sitting back with food from
the concession on the ferry or the lunch they've brought, and
enjoying the scenery. My favorite activity to do on the ferry -
sleep! I'm like a baby in a car when it comes to
ferries.
And if you've never ridden a ferry, check out my Instagram pictures
and here's a tip - make sure that as soon as you park and you are
able to move, grab a seat by the window! This is prime real estate
on a ferry and if you don't move fast, you will be resolved to sit
in a seat away from a window without a table. While still a good
view (and you can always go out on the deck during the ride, which
is a real treat and gives you amazing photo ops) its
definitely harder to sleep in a single seat than in a booth next to
a window.
Victoria, the town with a history of
history
Have you seen the movie Inception - the movie with Leonardo Di
Caprio plays
Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art
of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the
subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most
vulnerable. One last job could give him his life back but
only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the
perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off
the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one.
If they succeed, it could be a perfect crime. But no amount of
careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the
dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy
that only Cobb could have seen coming.
This is Victoria, except take out
stealing out secrets and insert history. Starting over 4000 years
ago with the nations of the First People, Canadians Native
Americans, the Royal BC Museum contains an exquisite language
exhibit featuring native speakers welcoming you to the museum in
over 2 dozen languages!
Being an anthropology major and having a keen interest in Native
American culture, this exhibit alone held my attention for a good 2
hours. Walking in, there are posts with the native language scribed
on the pole, then you push the button to learn how to say welcome
in their language. Just in British Columbia's native peoples alone,
you can say welcome so many different ways, from Hello
and Good Morning to How are you and your family? The language
symbols used by native peoples of Canada are extraordinary - I've
not seen these in other cultures. Most of these languages have only
been spoken - writing them down is a recent
phenomenon. Although many First Peoples do not speak their
native language, the First Peoples' Cultural Council now provides
community-based immersion programs for the next generation to learn
to speak their native language - which was, for many years, illegal
to speak. In addition to language, the cultural council also
supports aboriginal artists. Look for the link to this great
organization in the show notes below!
As you continue to walk through the Royal BC Museum, the local
history unfolds of the white settlers taking over the
region, the industrial era and the types of issues the white
settlers brought onto the natives of the area. To this day, only
one Native tribe in British Columbia has the right to own
the right to their land. Walk through totems of more recent
eras, with the large, bold carved faces and bodies of the local
natives standing tall and prominent on the main
floor.
The Natural History Gallery gives you a feel for walking back into
pre-history with a selfie-spot in front of the megafauna
wooly mammoth, hallways of
local and current flora and fauna and the diverse deltas and
forests which are a part of BC's coast and
interior.
The Royal BC Museum
is a must-see on your stop to Victoria!
Walking Tour anyone?
Speaking of history, the walking tour is amazing! So many different
little cultural hubs in Victoria including a China Town, where of
course, you can purchase bubble tea! Fan Tan Alley, part of
China Town, with Canton Cafe, calling the bubble tea lover with
their picture sign, a woman happily walks out of the restaurant
with her cup full of bubble tea, being sipped down until it
eventually is transformed into the look of bliss on her face. The
China Town Arch, which by the old tradition, should only be walked
around and not directly under, because it is bad luck (or so our
tour guide tells us ). Walking along the Main Street of Fan
Tan, there's a vendor selling fresh produce, including fresh lychee
fruit - a real delight when sweetened well. I find out that the
Chinese immigrants who first came to this town were not treated
well and were not allowed in the public school system, so the
immigrants created their own Chinese school. Towards the middle of
china town, Victoria decided to build an office complex in the
1960's AKA bomb shelter - which is a stark cultural black hole in
the middle of rows of beautiful antique buildings
with Chinese art influences.
There's also Bastion Square where you can find buildings made with
beams from the
Union Iron Works in San Francisco California circa 1861, modern art
in the square and many historical buildings which now house
offices, stores and apartments - each of them with their own unique
story to tell.
Market Square in Victoria holds true to its name with a local
outdoor market, an alleyway with history and unique feel when you
walk between the red brick buildings, where you can almost hear the
history if you can imagine the stories the brick and painted
doorways tell when you walk by them. Their secrets are hidden under
many layers of paint and story.
Downtown Victoria
Trounce Alley - one of the main alleyways
of downtown
Victoria, is an interesting mix
of modern and antique architecture, however, unlike the central
bomb shelter of office buildings built in the '60s, these are
tastefully created to blend in with the historical facades
surrounding Victoria.
Many upscale, gluten-free
and
fun eateries and shops abound in the downtown area. The
Tobacconist, an original shop from the mid 1800s that has only
known purveying of tobacco products since its inception, lies in
the middle of Main Street in Downtown with a half-dome of
hand-blown glass and metal welcoming you to the entrance to the
store. There's Munro
Books, where I picked up the Gluten is My by April Pevetaux,
conversed with some locals, then moved on to Roger's Chocolates,
established in 1885 and teeming with gluten-free truffles (of which
I ate a FEW) chocolates and other delectable delights.
Speaking of delightful, you must check out Chocolats Favoris,
where the celiac-friendly ice cream shop will take your ice
cream and dip it in one of three dips of your choice in the back
separate from the gluten-infested dips in the front of the
store! I must say this is NOT the choice of those who are
faint-hearted when it comes to eating chocolate! My cup was
SO full of delicious dark chocolate ice cream shell I
wasn't able to finish the delectable fountain of goodness lying
there, begging me to eat it - even when I saved the
remainder in the hotel fridge overnight.
Jump out of Downtown into nature!
A
short and beautiful drive from downtown, visit the Butchart Gardens. Started in
the late 1800s by the wife of a prominent mining company, when the
home they built was adjacent to the land they mined. Being that the
land wasn't, let's say, easy on the eyes, the Jennie Buchart
decided enough was enough and pulled workers from the mines to
start to move dirt, plant and cultivate the area. The result is a
magnificent garden, with over 100 years in bloom which include
waterfalls, themed areas including a Japanese garden with a small
creek meandering through the many plant residents and a rose
garden. During holidays, the gardens put on holiday displays in
different areas. One of my favorites in the garden was the cafe,
with all of the gf choices labeled, including an incredible
dessert, which I will talk about on the next episode: Gluten-Free
Victoria with Ellen from the
Celiac Scene. The gardens host a carousel, which, for $2
admission, you can be a kid again (I didn't bring any kids with me,
I just love carousels, then stroll through the gardens and visit
the dragon water fountain!
After
the gardens, I headed over to Victoria Butterfly Gardens
"a vibrant jungle experience" reads on their brochure. While I've
been to a real jungle AKA rainforest, I can say that this is a
sample of a jungle experience, but, an amazing butterfly experience
to be had by all! There are a dozen species of butterflies,
tropical birds and an insectarium where you can see bugs from the
rainforest like the golden scarab beetle. They also have a small
herbarium to check out poison dart frogs and the like.
Empress Hotel and the Running of the
Goats
Among the many historical buildings, the Empress Hotel is one of the
most impressive. Recently having a multi-million
dollar renovation, this hotel stands tall and proud facing the
waterfront and beaming in the rays of the sun setting on the
horizon. There is a history behind this building - a mix
of marriage, divorce, an affair with an 18-year-old chauffeur
and a battle for inheritance. Typical typhoon story of the late
1800s. The Empress is still up and running today, if you are
looking for a luxury stay in Victoria, this is the place you want
to be.
speaking of the waterfront, I took strolls down here almost every
night, the weather in Victoria picking up the Japanese current, is
very mild. Only freezes twice a year and the high temp runs around
75-80. There are 1500 palm trees in Victoria, I didn't see
any, but they are apparently there somewhere. The harbor is always
teaming with artists, tours, activities and just as you start the
climb to Main Street, you can visit the tourism center to book
tours, get local information and maps to guide you through
Victoria.
The location on the southern end of the Saanich Peninsula gives Victoria such an abundance
of outdoor activities. One of my favorites was the walking
path called the Harbour Walkway. From here, you can walk several
miles around the harbor and take in the views, sit on a park bench
and watch wildlife and the cruise ships docking in the harbor. For
nature lovers and those who love to walk and enjoy the outdoors,
Beacon
Hill Park is the perfect spot to ride a bike, walk and
especially enjoy the goats at the petting zoo.
Yes, petting zoo. I will totally own being the only person in the
petting zoo sans small children. I can't help myself - I am a baby goat
addict. When I found out there were baby goats nearby our hotel I
was there. This is what I wanted to do for my birthday! Of course,
being a baby goat addict, I had to be there as soon as the petting
zoo opened. Then, I found everyone asking if we were in line. In
what line? I watched as the sea of people who walked in after
giving their donation parted like Moses himself had walked down the
middle of the crowd. Then, they announced: The running of the goats
was here!
Looking for a beautiful place to go, that's gluten-friendly and fun
for all ages and interests, I would highly recommend Victoria.
There's so much to see and do. After 7 days, I wasn't ready to
leave for home and would have loved to spend another 2 weeks
exploring the streets by foot.
Listener Shout-Out!
Gluten-free blogger who navigates gluten-free travel like a boss!
She has recently been in Thailand and tagged Travel Gluten Free in
several of her photos! Carrie @forglutensake, thanks for tagging Travel Gluten Free on
Instagram, this shout-out is for you!