Victoria, B.C. – Part 1

(Victoria, B.C., Canada)

During our visit to Victoria, we stayed in the suburban community of Langford. While parts of it had a few too many chain businesses and big box stores for my liking, there were still some interesting pockets. There’s no question that it is a very prosperous community, and some of the “corporate creep” was redeemed by having a solid Thai restaurant.

Yes, this is indeed “Cashew Chicken” at Sabhai Thai Restaurant in Langford, B.C.

I can’t help thinking that Sabhai Thai is not the first tenant in this building. The decor seemed more “Steakhouse” than “Southeast Asian”. But we enjoyed our meals and would have returned for a second time if the need arose.

Sabhai Thai Restaurant

The next day saw us journey into Victoria itself. Because of our distance from downtown, we had a rental car for the period before my competition began. Downtown parking was potentially an expensive proposition. But some timely research revealed that the city’s parking garages were free on Sundays. We took advantage of that and enjoyed a leisurely ramble through downtown.

The Provincial Legislature Building in Victoria, B.C.

Our first stop was the Provincial Legislature in the heart of Victoria’s downtown. The (free) tour of this impressive building was brief but easily booked at the last minute (even on a summer weekend) just outside the building itself.

Looking straight up at the Provincial Legislature building

While obviously not identical to the various other provincial legislatures, the home of the B.C. government certainly shared a lot of “traditional” characteristics with those other buildings. But it was also very different from the much newer territorial legislative buildings in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

One of the opulent spaces we saw on our tour.

There are countless places to eat in the touristy downtown core. However, rather than visit one of those places for lunch, we walked south from the Provincial Legislature building to a community called James Bay. Despite being only a couple of minutes by foot, the vibe here was quite different.

This is where the business of governing actually takes place

In short, James Bay seemed to be a real neighbourhood. Many of the shops were clearly oriented towards serving the local residents. We opted for a quirky restaurant called The Bent Mast, where we enjoyed an al fresco lunch in the shade.

My lunch at the Bent Mast in the James Bay neighbourhood

Given the previous evening’s Thai meal, it really wasn’t necessary to have a Thai-inspired lunch plate the next day. But I really like the freshness, colour, and diverse flavours of Thai cuisine, and it just felt like the right thing to do on this pleasant day in Victoria. And like many other independent restaurants we’ve enjoyed on this trip, they had a lot of unique local beverages that you probably aren’t able to enjoy outside of B.C.

The Bent Mast restaurant in Victoria, B.C.

Stay tuned for more on downtown Victoria!

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