British Columbia: Other places we went in Victoria

Somewhere, in the drawer full of large Zip-loc bags full of family photos, I'm sure there are photos of these places. I have not dug them out, so for now we are just dealing with memories.

My memories of Sealand are kind of tarnished now, but that was not the only place we went, so here are some of the others.

Butchart Gardens: We really do want to make it there once more. It was beautiful, but as a small child I remember finding it kind of boring. There were some little dwarf or gnome statues in one part, and a fountain, but otherwise it was all plants. I believe I would appreciate that more now. I'd at least like to give it a chance.

http://www.butchartgardens.com/

Miniature World: I mainly remembered the doll houses, but looking at some of the other pictures, yes, I do think I remember Gulliver on Lilliput. It looks like they have added quite a bit since then, so it would probably be worth another look.

http://www.miniatureworld.com/

Royal London Wax Museum

My strongest memory of this was of refusing to go through the Chamber of Horrors, but it kind of didn't matter, because the picture of the Algerian Hook was in the brochure. I never got rid of that image, and knowing that the victims usually survived was not comforting. Is this why I think wax figures are creepy?

Sadly, the attraction has been closed since 2010, in need of a new location.

http://www.news1130.com/2010/09/15/victorias-wax-museum-forced-to-close-its-doors/

We also took a sailboat ride around the harbor. There were at least three different family groups on the boat, possibly more - maybe 25 passengers and crew. I can find lots of links for tours, but they all seem to focus on ferries and water taxis. I suspect we were just wandering around the marina and found it, and that can be reasonable.

The other thing I remember is just walking around, and how beautiful the city was. There were floral baskets hanging from the lampposts, and other cities do that now, but Victoria was the first that I had seen. The streets were clean and the people were friendly, and it was just really nice.

Also, there were a lot of Italians, though that is true in Vancouver as well. On the ferry we met one Italian family and they invited us back to their house. Decades later, dining just outside of Vicenza, Italy, we encountered some Canadians who knew them.

It is indeed a small world after all.