Tuesday morning (1/5), Frida, Karin, Marit and I took the Skytrain to the bus to the ferry to Vancouver Island. I felt a little sad about leaving Vancouver, I could have stayed for atleast another week, easily, but time is usually something limited when you’re traveling. So, I left.
But coming to Vancouver Island felt really exciting too. It was actually one of the things that I’ve been looking forward to the most with this North America trip, the temperate rainforests on Vancouver Island. So, of coarse, I couldn’t wait to get the opportunity to put my hiking boots on and go out socializing with the trees.
But first I had to get to know Victoria. The first thing the girls did when we arrived at our hostel was to change into their runnng clothes and go for a jog. Well, I just couldn’t get myself to tag along, running might be the most boring thing I know. So instead, I decided to go out and explore a piece of the city by myself.
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and the oldest town on the Canadian west coast. They were celebrating their 150th birthday this year, which is kind of a joke for a European as myself. But I must admit that for being a Canadian city, Victoria felt unusually old and cozy – and there wasn’t a single skyscraper.
Instead, most of the houses were only a couple of stories high, beautifully built and some even painted in quirky colours.
Bastion Square, just off Government Street, has this beautiful tree – and for you who might have missed it: I love trees. Of all shapes and sizes. But maybe these kinds of pruned city trees most of all. They fascinate me. (There is this square in front of the Royal Engineering Collage, KTH, in Stockholm with these beautiful trees pruned into squares that, especially in spring, make such good tree models. I can’t count the number of photos that I’ve taken there.)
But Victoria is not only cute and touristy. It’s also got these rough back alleys, which makes it feel more dynamic and alive than many other cute tourist towns that I’ve visited. There are actually people living here. A few of the houses were made out of red brick. But my partiality to red brick I’ve already told you about.
There’s even street art in Victoria. Beautiful.
Kanada’s oldest Chinatown is in Victoria. It isn’t really that much to brag about, it isn’t much more than one street – but then again, that street has gone all in. Red lantens, red lamp posts, Chinese restaurants, cherry trees, even the Gate of Harmonious Interest, all decorated and Chinesey. It was concentrated and cute.
One thing that surprised me in Victoria, though, was the amount of homeless people on the streets. They were everywhere. Apparently, they come here because it’s got the mildest climate in Canada, rarely getting temperatures below zero even in the middle of winter. So, they don’t freeze as much – but instead, it’s humid and they get tuberculosis. It’s an awful catch-22 situation.
As if wanting to create a new tradition, I was late getting back to the hostel. But the girls were waiting for me, and we had a lovely pasta dinner together in the snug hostel kitchen.
Katja Malmborg 