Sunday Victoria: Church, Craigdarroch Castle, Museum

On Sunday, we went to church at the Victoria 1st Ward. It was amazing how similar the church looks to ones we see in the states. It was fun to be there, and I found myself wishing we could stay the whole block. We needed to check out of our hotel, so we had planned to return after sacrament meeting.

We went to the Royal BC Museum near our hotel. We saw glimpses of the first nations culture before the arrival of the British. Amazing how the story of Europeans coming to a country always results in the destruction of that native culture. We learned about Salish people - a subgroup of the Native American culture (in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon).

The natural history museum was really interesting, showing animals in their natural habitat. There was also a modern history gallery showing coal mining, logging, and quaint villages. It was amazing - well worth the time.

We also went to Craigdarroch castle (as it was closed the previous day). I was expecting a castle like we saw in Ireland (run down, cold, ancient, lots of old family portraits). This was quite different. It was build in 1890 by a coal tycoon, Robert Dunsmuir, (who actually died before the castle was finished). It really wasn't a military establishment, so I'm not quite sure why it is called a castle instead of just a mansion. It is over 20,000 square feet, 28 acres (originally) and four stories. The woodwork inside is gorgeous. It has been used for many movies (such as Little Women). Stained glass windows are everywhere and all the rooms are staged to look like they may have been when the Dunsmuirs lived there. In one of the upper rooms, a woman told a story to children. The story was about trolls and seemed to have been constructed just so she could use different voices, talk in a funny accent, sing, and pantomime - but it was fun.







Cherri asked, "Why Vancouver?" No real reason. Kimberly knew people who had been there - and none of us had been there before. It was fun, but going there during the summer would have been better for the gardens. We hadn't brought winter sports attire so ice skating, skiing, and snow boarding lost its appeal. It was about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, but it seemed much colder. I'm not sure why. Maybe because we were outside so much.

Things were super expensive. The ferry to Victoria was $240 (round trip) - so I was glad we stayed the night. Gas was high everywhere -$1.05 a liter (almost $4 a gallon). Kim got HP discounts on hotels and the rental car, so that was great.

We brought out passports, not really believing we would need them. Lucky we did, as border crossing was serious business and passports were strictly required.