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I visited Victoria, British Columbia in July of 2023. This is a trip I had wanted to do for some three years but was waylaid due to Covid and Canada basically being locked down for over two years. I had taken a cross country trip in 2021 and had hoped to visit Victoria but hopes were dashed as Canada continued to keep its borders closed to tourists. I absolutely love Victoria, as I had visited it over 20 years ago and I was excited to return. It did not disappoint. It’s like Seattle and Oxford had a baby, modern Pacific Northwest meets quaint, countryside England.

Here are the 5 reasons to visit Victoria:

Butchart Gardens. I have been a garden devote since growing up in Northern Delaware in close proximity to the magnificent Longwood Gardens. I was always drawn to gardens and Butchart in particular because of my dear grandfather “Daddy Ott”. He came over every Saturday morning to my childhood home to work on his masterpiece rock garden. He used to take me to Longwood as a child and I remember seeing his photos of Butchart in the 1960’s and 1970’s when he traveled extensively. His photos did not do Butchart justice. Butchart is an old limestone quarry where Robert Butchart used the limestone to manufacture cement. His wife, Jennie Butchart, took it upon herself to use the leftover quarry to initially design a Japanese garden and then, after 30 years, developed it into the 55 acre display gardens that it is today. What I am struck by is the expanse of color, it’s not a row of Zinnia’s or a trim of Marigolds, it’s a carpet of Zinnias next to an entire plot of marigolds. I’ve never seen the sheer quantity and types of roses in bloom in the rose garden. It’s mind boggling! And the entire place is still privately owned after 119 years. Every nook and cranny holds a deliberate fountain, statue, totem pole or gazebo. It is all so exquisite and is like a treasure hunt around each impeccably manicured corner. It is not to be missed and a reason to travel to Victoria all on its own.

The wonderful sunken gardens at Butchart Gardens

The Empress Hotel. On my first trip to Victoria back in the late 90’s with my then boyfriend, David, he made a reservation at the Empress for afternoon tea. I’m pretty sure this was my first ever afternoon tea. I decided to go on my own this time, and it was, as to be expected, flawless. The hotel itself has been facing the banks of the Victoria Inner Harbor since 1908. Afternoon Tea has been served at the hotel since it opened. The piano playing, the flawless service and impeccable finger sandwiches are a once (or twice) in a lifetime experience. I really enjoyed it as some of the ladies coming for tea came resplendent in floral dresses and fascinators. I’ve now had afternoon tea across the United Kingdom and Denmark and can confirm the clotted cream and tea timer were perfection.

The Duen. Nothing in this world brings me closer to my father than going on a sailboat. I was excited to see a historic tall ship in Victoria’s inner harbor when I came in on the Black Ball Ferry from Port Angeles, WA the Monday after my daughter’s wedding in Sequim, WA. The Duen is a Norwegian built Ketch and is 72 feet long. I was able to book a 3-hour sail right out of the inner harbor. The owner and Captain, Michael, his wife, Manon, and crew, Ryan, were about the nicest people I’ve ever met. The other passages were from other parts of Canada and Switzerland. We sailed by the historic Fisgard Lighthouse (oldest lighthouse in BC) and Esquimalt Lagoon. It was also a great vantage point to see the floating Fisherman’s Wharf along Victoria Harbor. I was given the helm for about 20 minutes as Mike gave me hand signals on how to steer the boat. It just doesn’t get any better than being on the water with 25 knot winds, the spray coming over the boat and the glacial Olympic Mountains in the distance. The Duen is not to be missed.

Restaurants. I remember on my first trip to Victoria, I had not yet traveled to England. The many tea shops and pubs were foreign to me. It’s like every day is Sunday here in Victoria. Every cafe has upwards of ten different kinds of Eggs Benedict and the best restaurant coffee. I highly recommend John’s Place, Blue Fox Cafe, Frankie’s Modern Diner and Murchie’s Tea & Coffee. There are ice cream shops and plenty of Chinese restaurants as well with what was the largest Chinatown on the west coast of Canada. Of course, there is also afternoon tea at the Empress and at Butchart Gardens as well. Victoria is a restaurant destination.

Weather. Victoria is a weather destination for Canadians as it’s the most southern point and is in a “Rain Shadow” similarly to Sequim, WA in that it doesn’t get as much rain as the surrounding areas like Seattle and Vancouver. When I went out on the Duen you could plainly see the fog along the Washington State shore as we were sailing to the north under clear blue skies. During my week in Victoria, the temperatures were lows in the 50’s overnight and highs in the upper 60’s to 72 degrees. This was as the rest of the US was under heat and smoke advisories. The hanging flowers on every light post were in full bloom and the flowers in front of the Legislative Assembly Building spelling out Welcome to Victoria were in full bloom. Each day was picture perfect so that when I return, I will definitely try to come back during the summer.

There are some quirky things to see in Victoria like Fan Tan Alley which is a super narrow alley where they hid opium dens back in the 1800’s and the Miniature Museum with probably a hundred different miniature scenes. It was a wonderful escape to a foreign country with nice people, great coffee and a British slant on food. I will be back.

As I write this, it’s a rainy morning in Vancouver, British Columbia. I am here as an alumni to take the Path portion of ORSC (team and individual coaching), created by CRR Global. It’s been several decades since I have been to Vancouver. I am blessed in that, as a child, we took family trips to Canada and I had visited all the southern provinces of Canada by the time I was nine. As a kid, if everyone spoke the same language as I, I didn’t realize there were cultural differences. I remember the beautiful Butchart Gardens of Victoria and the profound crevasses of Banff National Park. And the adventure of the stretch of highway where there wasn’t gas for some 200 hundred miles and just praying we would make it with our enormous trailer that we were lugging behind us. Thankfully, we did.

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As I order at a restaurant or check in at the hotel, I wonder if I am obviously from the United States. Do they hear an accent? Do I dress funny? Am I clumsy? I say this because it’s hard for me to tell who is a tourist and who is a native. I just went to Starbucks for a coffee and ordered my usual. I assume those working there are Canadians. Are most of their patrons tourists? I have no idea. The differences here are subtle but there are differences that weren’t apparent to my nine-year-old self.

Here they are:

Celsius. Temperature is temperature. Whether or not you relate to it as Celsius or Fahrenheit, it doesn’t really matter, right? The funny thing is that when I found the thermostat in my room, I saw it read 22 degrees. Wow. We could hang meat in here. So of course, I had to google to convert the temperature to Fahrenheit – like it mattered. Why not just sense whether it’s too warm or too cool? The funny thing is that in my class yesterday, which was largely Canadians, someone said, “It must be 25 degrees in here.” She meant that it was hot. I chuckled to myself. I’m glad I knew she was talking Celsius.

Taxis. Luckily, I happened to research whether or not Lyft or Uber were available in Vancouver. They are not. I’m not sure about the rest of Canada, but in British Columbia, you must take public transit or a taxi. In the last year or so, I have realized that renting a car is an expensive encumbrance when traveling on business. Between parking, gassing up and tolls, it is just one more burden, kind of like an extra suitcase, that you have to take care of and keep track of. Luckily, there wasn’t a language barrier, which is the biggest plus to ridesharing apps. But if you aren’t in a well-populated location, it can be impossible to find a cab. In fact, I didn’t go to a museum I had planned on visiting because I wasn’t sure how I would get back to the hotel.

Currency. The last time I was in Canada, my daughter and I were in Quebec. I was trying not to have any Canadian currency. I try not to have any cash in any foreign country because it’s a mess to exchange back. In fact, like the euros I have from my trip to Paris, they are still clanging around in my wallet. Too minuscule to change and more of a remembrance of a great trip. The last time I was in Canada was a road trip with my daughter four years ago. We were in Montreal and visited the breathtaking Notre-Dame Basilica. I remember they only took cash for entrance and they did take US dollars. The exchange was pretty poor but I didn’t care. As I travel around Vancouver at restaurants and shops, I am careful that they take credit cards so I don’t have to mess with exchange of currency and I keep a few US dollars for tipping.

Language. So we speak the same language but as I said, my class is largely Canadian. I would guess that 95% of the words are exactly the same. It’s only the odd “PROOO-cess” or “Aboot” that crop up in conversation. The other difference, at least compared to Eastern North Carolina, is the diversity. The service jobs in Vancouver seemed to be staffed with people from all walks of life – from an Irish waiter, to a Korean busboy to a Nigerian desk clerk. It feels as cosmopolitan as Manhattan. As I walk down the street, there all sorts of languages being spoken. Again, I’m not sure if I’m in the middle of the tourist district (think Times Square) or if there is an international university nearby. But it feels as if everyone is welcome here, regardless of origin.

Pace. This is a large city. The thing that strikes me that is vastly different from a city like New York is that the pace is much more relaxed. Considering the blend of diversity and the size, it seems very calm. None of that frenetic buzz that seems to increase your anxiety. There is no rushing to and fro. My walking pace is even slower. For such a large city, it’s very calm.

Hot sauce. If there is a minus, it’s the hot sauce. No Tabasco. No Texas Pete. No Cholula. There is British Columbian grown-and-produced Verde and Salsa Diablo. I tried it out. It was acidic. I realized after I read the label that besides having Canola Oil in the top three ingredients (re. mayonnaise…yuck) there is lemon juice. I am not a fan. But this is a minor complaint compared to the rest of my experience.

Rain. I recently traveled to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It rained a lot. It has rained or drizzled almost non-stop since my arrival in Vancouver. The difference it that this is an umbrella city versus a rain jacket city. Seattle is a rain jacket city. More people can fit on a sidewalk if they have a rain jacket on instead of an umbrella. In Vancouver, you have to maneuver down the street to make sure to not crash into someone else’s umbrella. Funny how different cities adapt to similar weather.

I wish I had more free time to investigate Vancouver but maybe next time. Our classroom was on the top floor of the building and was floor-to-ceiling glass facing out. We were suddenly interrupted by five flying bald eagles yesterday. We all stopped to gaze at their majestic flight with snow-capped mountains as a back drop. Uniquely awesome. I will be back.