It's funny how the port-of-call which I was initially least interested in ended up being my top favorite, and I'm talking about Victoria, British Columbia. Just like Ketchikan, it was a city perfect for walking around. It was also peaceful; but unlike the other, the place exuded a certain elegance.
We have finally reached our last stop for the Alaskan cruise (also my last post for this series), but it's not in Alaska. Rather, it is in a different country altogether-- Canada, that is. Our final port of call was Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia.
We didn't sign up for any excursion, but we did avail of a shuttle which took us to and from Downtown Victoria. From the drop-off point, we set on foot to explore the length of Government Street, up until their own Chinatown which happens to be the oldest of its kind in Canada.
Besides admiring the beauty of BC's architecture, we also busied ourselves with buying more souvenirs and pasalubong's. I personally found additional delight with some food, from a hotdog in a bun from a place called Dog-Gone-It (each variety on the menu was named after a dog breed; I got the Canadian Husky which basically had Canadian bacon bits and cheese) to a local chocolate-coated ice cream on a stick (even though the breeze was pretty biting).
The only part that I didn't love about our stop in Victoria was it being too late in the day. While the stores in Downtown remained open to accommodate the influx of ship-borne visitors, I'm not sure their art museum did. It's a shame because I would have loved to immerse myself in some art appreciation in Victoria. I am also still butthurt over not being able to get a pressed coin souvenir to add to my collection simply because their visitor centre closed early
Awkward onshore times aside, Victoria was enchanting. I didn't need to visit the famous Butchart Gardens to know for myself, being in the heart of the city was enough. Heck, if I wasn't such a metropolitan kid, I just might live there! I've always known that Canada was a wonderful place, even before we first set foot there in 2008 (Toronto side). I would really love to go back and explore the rest of the country-- like maybe Vancouver to do some TV set stalking haha!
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