Post by carp on Aug 16, 2005 22:12:57 GMT -5
Hope you don't hold it against me. I live in Seattle, Washington, actually, and have spent a fair amount of time in Victoria and Vancouver.
What is most striking to me about Victoria is how very whimsical it is. Here's a sampling of wacky things that caught my attention the last time I was there:
Some time in the 1940s a mayor decided he wanted a nice pond to sail his model boats in. He tricked the city in to paying for the construction of the pond. When the Victorians found out, they were so enraged, that they swore never to use the pond. For 50 years no one used it, kids weren't allowed to play in it. Finally, in the 90s, they gave up their grudge and now it's used for sailing model boats.
Victoria has a Mcdonald's downtown with an Austrian crystal chandelier.
When city hall got run down they wanted to tear it down and build a new one. The locals wouldn't let that happen though, and they rebuilt the original city hall. Only, it's really too small. So now their city hall is spread out in six different locations in the city because they can't do everything in that one building.
They have a weekly publication called the "Monday Magazine" that comes out every Wednesday.
They have a sign declaring that mile zero of the Trans Canada Highway starts in their city. Apparently, on the other side of Canada in St. John's, there is an identical sign. They fight about who actually has mile zero.
A popular pub has a volleyball net on the roof. Every summer, they have a volleyball league. The players are encouraged to drink heavily.
The best part is the magical story of how Victoria saved Christmas for the rest of us in North America. There's this hill called Christmas hill and the story goes that during World War II, one of Santa Claus's reindeers was hit by a stray bullet while he was in Europe. The deer managed to make it over to North America and finish most of Canada, but then it couldn't hold out anymore and crash-landed on this hill. Fortunately for Santa, there were some farmers in the area who raised elk that once lived on that island. Since the elk were pretty magical creatures, they were able to give one to Santa and he could then finish delivering presents in America.
The city is very pretty, and kind of tiny from my point of view. At least the interesting parts fit into a few blocks.
Outside of the city in the more rural areas, a lot of people have hobby farms. They're small farms that they grow vegetables and stuff on for themselves, but they can't really make enough to make a living so they have real jobs too. This was all started because of all the hippies they got back in the 60's. People wanted to control urban sprawl. Often, people will have extra stuff they want to sell but because they have to work, they don't have time to go to farmer's markets. So they set up a table in their driveway with a sign saying how much everything is, and just leave a box for people to leave money in. And nobody steals their fruit or money. That's the most amazing part.
Of course, there's also Butchard garden which is freaking beautiful. I got some pictures of one of my most recent trips there: photobucket.com/albums/y237/VictoriaVacation/?action=view&slideshow=true (also a picture of the parliment building, the original town hall, and a couple of a cruise ship. Ignore the cruise ship)
They've also got some delightful ghost stories. I can't recall them all, but I remember that there's this one pub that has a sign on the men's room door asking patrons not to be disturbed if they see a woman dressed in period clothing in the bathroom, because it's just the ghost of some lady..who's name I've forgotten. Dammit. (Pub used to be a hospital that she died in.)
The only things I can really say about Vancouver is that Stanly park is awesome, the Gaslight district is boring but a good place to buy crappy souveniers, and it has really good gay bars. And one time I went there to see the Barenaked Ladies, and that was fabulous.
I used to really like Vancouver when I drank, but now that I've stopped, it just doesn't have the same draw. It's like a more boring version of my own city. More boring, and with more people speaking French.
What is most striking to me about Victoria is how very whimsical it is. Here's a sampling of wacky things that caught my attention the last time I was there:
Some time in the 1940s a mayor decided he wanted a nice pond to sail his model boats in. He tricked the city in to paying for the construction of the pond. When the Victorians found out, they were so enraged, that they swore never to use the pond. For 50 years no one used it, kids weren't allowed to play in it. Finally, in the 90s, they gave up their grudge and now it's used for sailing model boats.
Victoria has a Mcdonald's downtown with an Austrian crystal chandelier.
When city hall got run down they wanted to tear it down and build a new one. The locals wouldn't let that happen though, and they rebuilt the original city hall. Only, it's really too small. So now their city hall is spread out in six different locations in the city because they can't do everything in that one building.
They have a weekly publication called the "Monday Magazine" that comes out every Wednesday.
They have a sign declaring that mile zero of the Trans Canada Highway starts in their city. Apparently, on the other side of Canada in St. John's, there is an identical sign. They fight about who actually has mile zero.
A popular pub has a volleyball net on the roof. Every summer, they have a volleyball league. The players are encouraged to drink heavily.
The best part is the magical story of how Victoria saved Christmas for the rest of us in North America. There's this hill called Christmas hill and the story goes that during World War II, one of Santa Claus's reindeers was hit by a stray bullet while he was in Europe. The deer managed to make it over to North America and finish most of Canada, but then it couldn't hold out anymore and crash-landed on this hill. Fortunately for Santa, there were some farmers in the area who raised elk that once lived on that island. Since the elk were pretty magical creatures, they were able to give one to Santa and he could then finish delivering presents in America.
The city is very pretty, and kind of tiny from my point of view. At least the interesting parts fit into a few blocks.
Outside of the city in the more rural areas, a lot of people have hobby farms. They're small farms that they grow vegetables and stuff on for themselves, but they can't really make enough to make a living so they have real jobs too. This was all started because of all the hippies they got back in the 60's. People wanted to control urban sprawl. Often, people will have extra stuff they want to sell but because they have to work, they don't have time to go to farmer's markets. So they set up a table in their driveway with a sign saying how much everything is, and just leave a box for people to leave money in. And nobody steals their fruit or money. That's the most amazing part.
Of course, there's also Butchard garden which is freaking beautiful. I got some pictures of one of my most recent trips there: photobucket.com/albums/y237/VictoriaVacation/?action=view&slideshow=true (also a picture of the parliment building, the original town hall, and a couple of a cruise ship. Ignore the cruise ship)
They've also got some delightful ghost stories. I can't recall them all, but I remember that there's this one pub that has a sign on the men's room door asking patrons not to be disturbed if they see a woman dressed in period clothing in the bathroom, because it's just the ghost of some lady..who's name I've forgotten. Dammit. (Pub used to be a hospital that she died in.)
The only things I can really say about Vancouver is that Stanly park is awesome, the Gaslight district is boring but a good place to buy crappy souveniers, and it has really good gay bars. And one time I went there to see the Barenaked Ladies, and that was fabulous.
I used to really like Vancouver when I drank, but now that I've stopped, it just doesn't have the same draw. It's like a more boring version of my own city. More boring, and with more people speaking French.
