The provincial capital of British Columbia is a very British city. We are calling it the Stained Glass City because the buildings are filled with gorgeous glass, which is very…Victorian! The first few photos are from Craigdarroch Castle, actually a mansion with 39 rooms. Built in the late 1800s, it is believed to have cost half a million dollars at the time it was built ($13 million today).
The Parliament building has a large dome, and beautiful windows abound. The coat of arms of BC has the Latin motto, Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendor without Diminishment), which you can see both in the wall relief and in one of the windows.
Now that we are further south, it is noticeably warmer than it was in Alaska. It is a busy port. All of the berths are filled with cruise ships, and we had to wait for a Princess cruise ship to exit before we took its place. Victoria is a beautiful city. Simultaneously, it feels very cosmopolitan, like New York City, and like an intimate small town.
