Victoria: A Bit of Britain on the Pacific Coast

Where else can you go whale-watching in the morning and savor a proper high tea in the afternoon? Only in a spot where Mother Nature and a cosmopolitan city share the same place, and Victoria, BC, at the southern end of Vancouver Island, fits the description.

Getting there is part of the adventure and a good choice for those who want to leave their car at home is the Victoria Clipper, a ferry service out of Seattle’s Pier 69. Several daily departures offer comfortable seating, meal and beverage service, duty-free shopping and clean, but compact, restrooms. Huge picture windows provide excellent views of Whidbey and Bainbridge Islands, and the mountains on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The trip takes a little under three hours and docks at Victoria’s Inner Harbour within walking distance of several hotels and almost all the major attractions. While the town can be done as a long day trip, it’s much better to spend at least one overnight.

The Tourist Information Center on the north side of the Inner Harbor is a great place to begin a visit, and load up on advice, maps, and brochures. Most points of interest are in the Inner Harbour area, making Victoria an immensely walkable city. This part of town is the perfect place for strolling, people-watching, and enjoying the many street performers- musicians, mimes, jugglers, and comedian wannabes.

Impossible not to notice is the vine-covered, majestic Empress Hotel across Government Street from the visitor center. Built in 1908, the hotel is a throw-back to a more glamorous travel era when the Canadian Pacific Railroad brought travelers and businessmen across Canada in style to Victoria. Here, they stayed at the Empress (owned by the railway) before boarding the ocean liners (also owned by the railway) to sail westward across the Pacific to ports in Asia.
The hotel, thoroughly remodeled in 1996, is noted for its traditional, afternoon tea served in Edwardian splendor in the Tea Lobby overlooking the harbor. Their proprietary, blended tea is served in fine Royal Doulton china cups and accompanied by freshly baked raisin scones, clotted cream, strawberry preserves, a selection of dainty tea sandwiches, and an array of tasty pastries. A dress code is enforced so don’t expect to drink tea wearing your flip-flops, and be prepared to pay about $50.

Across the street from the Empress is the Royal BC Museum, one of Canada’s best regional museums. It interprets several thousand years of natural and human history through dioramas, street scenes, hands-on exhibits, and even a replica of Capt. George Vancouver’s ship. Of special note is the First Peoples Gallery with its impressive collection of native artifacts including some amazing masks. Outside, in a small green space, is Thunderbird Park with a display of intricately carved totem poles and a ceremonial longhouse. 

Next door to the museum are the manicured grounds and beautiful buildings housing the British Columbia legislature. Referred to as the Parliament Buildings, they were constructed between 1893 and 1898, and designed by Francis Rattenbury, architect for the Empress Hotel. Free thirty minute tours of the interior give a glimpse of the stunning stained glass windows and ornate rotunda, but one of Victoria’s best kept secrets is hidden in the basement of the building. It’s a lunchroom open to the public from 9-3 during weekdays and serves delicious sandwiches and salads in a white tablecloth environment at reasonable prices. You need to check in with security at the entrance; after all, you will be rubbing shoulders with provincial politicians.

Another must-see sight is not in the walkable Inner Harbour, but about 13 miles north. There are numerous sightseeing busses and shuttles happy to take visitors to the Butchart Gardens, and public transportation is available as well. The gardens, covering more than 50 acres, were the idea of Jennie Butchart, wife of cement baron Robert Butchart. Offended by the sight of a nearby, abandoned quarry, she brought in topsoil from local farms and transformed it into a stunning Sunken Gardens. Over the years, an Italian Garden and English Rose Garden were added. Today, the gardens host over one million visitors a year and many consider it Victoria’s number one attraction.

Mt. Angel Abbey: A Quiet Place Close By

A verse from the Book of Mark states, “Come away to a quiet place by yourself and rest awhile.” There is no quieter place to escape the stresses of contemporary life, or to steal some quite time for contemplation and reflection than the Mt. Angel Abbey.
Located about 40 miles south of Portland, the abbey sits on a hilltop above the town of Mt. Angel. The serene setting provides a stunning view of four volcanoes, the foothills of the Cascades, and a great chunk of verdant, Willamette Valley farmland. Wide lawns, sturdy Romanesque brick buildings, grand old trees, and black-robed monks strolling across campus contribute to the site’s special ambiance.

The abbey was founded in 1882, by Benedictine monks from the Engelberg Abbey in Switzerland. Fearing religious suppression in their own country, several monks were dispatched to America to seek a place of possible refuge. Their travels took them to Missouri, California, and finally to the young state of Oregon. While life in the Wild West was not always easy, they managed to survive huge debts, internal squabbles, and a series of devastating fires to develop a thriving religious community. Today, the abbey continues preserving the 1500-year monastic tradition of work, prayer, and study. In addition to the 50 or so resident monks, about 150 seminarians are at the abbey training and studying for the priesthood.
People of all faiths are invited to enjoy the Benedictine tradition of hospitality in a visit to the abbey. For those seeking that “quiet place” for some spiritual r&r, the retreat house offers simple rooms for overnight or short term stays. At $77 (single room) per day ($124 double), guests receive three buffet meals, a million dollar view, an escape from television, and the opportunity to participate in the many daily prayer services sung by the monks.

Visitors are invited to use, or at least take a peek at, the abbey’s magnificent library. Designed by world-famous Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto, the building features a fan-shaped plan with skylights and rows of high windows. “Even on the gloomiest of Oregon winter days, the room is flooded with bright, natural light,” according to the librarian. The collection includes approximately 250,000 volumes with an emphasis on religion, philosophy, and the humanities. All the furniture and fixtures in the library were designed by Aalto, and reflect a modern, Scandinavian sleekness and simplicity.
Also of interest to visitors are two small, but unusual museums. The first, sometimes referred to as the natural history museum, displays a huge collection of stuffed mammals and birds donated to the abbey by an avid wild game hunter. It certainly serves as a testimony to the art of taxidermy. Other exhibits, displayed on a rotating basis, feature small collections of odds and ends ranging from glass paperweights to pink coral formations, all donated to the monks for safekeeping. Sadly, the world’s largest hairball has been rotated out of the current exhibition, but the two-headed calf is on display!

The other museum reflects one monk’s keen interest in the “Old Believers,” a breakaway sect of the Russian Orthodox church. Choosing to ignore reforms, they continue to practice the older rites and rituals, and lead a more traditional lifestyle. The museum chronicles their troubled history of persecution, first from the Tsars and then the Communists; and their subsequent flight for refuge in such far-flung destinations as China, Tibet, Brazil, and the Willamette Valley. The community of over 10,000 Old Believers living south of Woodburn donated many of the handicrafts, clothing, paintings and icons displayed in the museum.
For the last 40 years, the abbey has presented an annual Bach Festival in late July. On each of three evenings, the event begins with the monks singing Vespers in the Abbey Church, followed by a half hour recital played on the grand organ. Guests then move to the grassy, front lawn to enjoy a picnic supper prepared by the abbey. More concert music in the Damian Center concludes the evening. Tickets can be ordered on line, but be forewarned this event usually sells out. In the midst of the 21st century, the traditional and simple lifestyle of the monks may seem slightly archaic. Nonetheless, even monasteries maintain websites and you may visit theirs’ at http://www.mountangelabbey.org./