Street Whales

On the corner of Humboldt and Government Streets is this fanciful bit of topiary art, an Orca (Killer Whale) and her calf shaped in plants. That's the Fairmont Empress Hotel in the background.

Morning Fog

Victoria, like its namesake, is a very civilized, genteel city but it is situated on the edge of the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest and thus shares some of the wildness that lies all around. I have been reminded of this on my morning walks lately, with last week's raccoon and this morning's Great Blue Heron, fishing for his breakfast with the Inner Harbour and the Fairmont Empress Hotel dimly visible in the background.

Inner Harbour Causeway

Here is what is probably Victoria's most photographed view, not surprisingly since it is an attractive vista. The three most prominent buildings, despite their different styles and purposes, were all designed by Francis Rattenbury. The three are the Fairmont Empress Hotel (on the left), the Legislative Assembly Buildings (slightly right of center) and the quite Grecian-looking Royal London Wax Museum (right). The first two are still used for their original purposes. The wax museum was originally designed for use as a steamship terminal. In the midst of these striking buildings, the Inner Harbour Causeway offers a colorful pedestrian walkway with musicians and artists, craftspeople and jugglers providing entertainment to the tens of thousands of visitors and locals who enjoy it every summer. This reads like a Tourism Victoria blurb but there's no denying it's a friendly, beautiful and interesting place.