Victoria, BC, Canada - 3rd August 2008
By: AbbyB
Abby's parents had gone on an architectural church tour the day before, so they decided to show those of us who hadn't been able to go some of the churches.
This is Christ Church Cathedral, the only Cathedral in the province. An interesting fact about it is that the roof is made entirely of brick. It is also the tallest church in Victoria.
As you can see, Winston Churchill laid one of the stones as the church was being built.
This church is no longer a church, but in fact a conservatory of music. We slipped inside for a moment and four violinists were practicing onstage.
This church has burned down twice before and all that was saved from both were three small windows, the baptisimal fountain and their cross.
Don't be fooled by the rose window on this church, it's actually a synagogue, and the oldest standing place of worship in the city.
After the church tour, Abby persuaded her family to take us to see the more touristy parts of Victoria. This street here is permanently closed to traffic and people set up tables and sell art.
This is Market Square, which has many interesting shops. Unfortunately, we were only passing through and we didn't visit any of them.
This fountain stands just inside the gates. It's a water fountain for humans now, but used to be a place for horses to drink.
We paused for a moment to watch a belly dancer.
Here I am at Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest street in North America. At its narrowest it is only three feet wide.
This is the gate to Chinatown.
In Chinese culture, lions symbolize luck.
In the evening we went to a free concert in the harbour. Victoria's symphony was playing on a stage floating on the water. As you can tell, it was very popular and therefore hard to see.
A lot of people came to the concert.
People were talking through the concert, so we left after the first half. Anyway, Abby's family had a few more places to show me.
This school is famous just because of it's name.
Then, we visited the birthplace of artist Emily Carr.
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Posted Aug 11, 2008, 8:18 am Last edited Aug 11, 2008, 8:46 am by AbbyB
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Victoria, BC, Canada - 4th August 2008
By: AbbyB
Today we visited Craigdarroch Castle, home to The Dunsmuirs, the richest family in Victoria around the turn of the century. Apparently it's haunted. It is now a bit of a museum and there are tours through it, but we didn't stay for one.
This lion was sitting near the back door. As I learned yesterday, lions are supposed to be good luck. Apparently not for this family; Dunsmuir Senior died before the manor was finished and his children quarreled amongst themselves and parted ways.
Next, it was off to Hatley Castle, built and owned by the son of the Dunsmuir who built Craigdarroch Castle.
This is the view from the balcony. What a pretty place.
The main entrance of the castle. The castle now belongs to and is on the grounds of Royal Roads University, a military college.
In the basement there is a small museum. Here is a model of the castle. A little too small for toyvoyagers, unfortunately.
Next, it was off to Government House, the residence of the Leftenant Governor of BC. When the Queen visits BC she stays here. Because it was BC day, part of the house was open to the public. It has burned down twice before, roughly every fifty years. It has been 49 years since the last fire, so everybody keep your fingers crossed.
And what a pretty view from here too. I guess you have to be rich or famous to get these kinds of views. The mountains you can see in the distance are part of Washington State.
This is the main dining hall.
Lastly, we visited the bathrooms downstairs meant for guest use when there are balls and state dinners. I was nearly blinded by the chintz in the ladies' powder room.
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Posted Aug 11, 2008, 8:39 am
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Maple Ridge, BC, Canada - 12th August 2008
By: AbbyB
Today I said goodbye to Lemmy, who is on his way to Finland.
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Posted Aug 12, 2008, 10:31 pm
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Maple Ridge, BC, Canada - 14th August 2008
By: AbbyB
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Posted Aug 15, 2008, 4:51 am Last edited Aug 15, 2008, 5:27 am by AbbyB
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Burnaby Mountain, BC, Canada - 19th August 2008
By: AbbyB
I went to Abby's school today, Simon Fraser University. Abby was meeting some friends to run some errands.
These flags are right next to the bus loop. There's one for every province and territory of Canada.
This is a new building, the Arts and Social Sciences building, commonly referred to by its acronym, which I won't repeat here...
Here is the view from the criminology department in the same building. On Sundays they do yoga in the courtyards.
It was time for lunch. Yam rolls, gomae and iced tea, mmmm.
We passed the recreational areas.
On the track that you can just see, that is where the great Terry Fox, who tried to run across Canada on one real leg, learned to run again on a prosthetic leg.
This road is the only one leading to the school, as the school is on a mountain. In the winter when the road is snowed in or becomes too icy, the entire campus is shut down because it is to dangerous to drive up and down the mountain.
After all errands were run, everyone found themselves back at the Criminology department. One of the professors asked if we would help her with some sorting, and, because we had time to kill before Abby's friend's mom could give us a ride off the mountain, we agreed to help.
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Posted Aug 20, 2008, 5:38 am
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Vancouver, BC, Canada - 20th August 2008
By: AbbyB
This is Waterfront Station, Vancouver's original train station. It still is a train station, as well as a bus stop, Sky Train station, and Sea Bus station (a foot passenger ferry that travels across the inlet).
Down the street is Gastown, essentially the oldest aprt of Vancouver. Now it is full of tourist shops.
This is the Gastown Steamclock, the first clock to ever run on steam power.
This is a typical alley in the downtown area, though this is one of the cleaner ones, as it is close to the Downtown East Side, which is known for its homless and drug users. Behind it, you can see Harbour Centre, which is partially owned by Abby's school; many classes are held there. The spaceship-looking thing is a revolving restaurant.
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Posted Aug 21, 2008, 4:38 am
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Coquitlam, BC, Canada - 21st August 2008
By: AbbyB
I worked out on Abby's friend's Wii today.
First I tried out the Wii Fit. Apparently my balance is a little off...
Then I challenged Shirley Sheep to some regular sports games.
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Posted Aug 23, 2008, 4:51 am
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Jack Johnson Concert, Canada - 21st August 2008
By: AbbyB
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Posted Aug 23, 2008, 5:31 am Last edited Aug 23, 2008, 5:36 am by AbbyB
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Corn Maze, Pitt Meadows, Canada - 23rd August 2008
By: AbbyB
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Posted Aug 24, 2008, 8:15 pm Last edited Aug 24, 2008, 8:17 pm by AbbyB
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Vanier Park, Vancouver, Canada - 7th September 2008
By: AbbyB
Today I went to Bard on the Beach again, to see The Tempest. I can proudly say that I am the only ToyVoyager to see an entire season of Bard on the Beach.
After the play, we went for a bit of a walk in Vanier Park
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Posted Sep 10, 2008, 7:03 am
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Maple Ridge, BC, Canada - 11th September 2008
By: AbbyB
Today a new ToyVoyager arrived.
In a flurry of empty candy wrappers, Greedy popped out of his envelope and, ignoring Shirley Sheep and I, started looknig for food. How rude!
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Posted Sep 13, 2008, 12:20 am
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