121 Last Legislature

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121 Last Legislature
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Canada: British Columbia

Friday 2 December 2005

Last legislature

John Lennons' Rolls

We spent more time this morning sorting out all the stuff inside Morty in preparation for taking him to a dealer tomorrow. Both of us have that “moving home” sort of feeling. Considering how cosy the interior is its amazing how long it takes. We stopped off to post our parcels and then headed into downtown Victoria.

Our first stop was Tourist Information to book a hotel for tomorrow night and to sort out how we would get back onto the mainland. The chap there was very helpful and gave us an overview of what we could see and do in town in the short time we have available. We then ambled up into the main downtown area to do a bit of shopping and just to generally have a look around.

The centre is quite small and has a villagey atmosphere to it. It is a direct contrast to Vancouver’s big sky scrapers and tower blocks as most buildings here are probably no more than four or five stories high. There is not so much evidence of the big chains of shops so again it has the feel of a boutiquey type village.

At four we went down to the Legislature Building where they run a free tour. The security guards here were very friendly and as we had time before the tour they told us about some bits it would be worth us reading. They had a whole series of black and white photos which showed the process of the building being constructed.

Initially the site of a building called the Bird Cages, they had to be moved before work on the main legislature could begin. It was a big project, managed by the architect Rattenby who was originally from Leeds and ended up being bludgeoned to death by his wife and her lover! Only twenty five when he won this commission he then went on to design and build many of the main properties in Victoria.

From the outside it was similar to others, a grand building but simple in design. Inside however it was more sophisticated, full of marble and warm wood panelling in contrast to the more modest interiors of those we saw on the East coast. They had some superb stained glass windows (made in Bradford) which we did not see at their best as the light was starting to fade by this time. Lights and lighting are quite focal to this building. For Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee they trailed three thousand three hundred and thirty three white lights around the building and have continued to light them every night ever since. It gives the place a gingerbread house look when you see it at night.

They are very proud across Canada of the Royal Family, more so I think than most people in Britain, and here they had a display of photos of Royal visits. These were lined up on a wall next to a large portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip. In the main entrance lobby they had a large coat of arms for British Columbia which for many years has been illegal as it included the crown and lions rampant that are only allowed on the Royal Coat of Arms. The problem was solved recently by adding a string of Dogwood flowers to the lions neck, a suitable differentiation.

After the tour we worked our way back up into town drawn by the sound of unusual music on the street outside the Elephant and Castle pub. A group of about ten people were playing fabulously rhythmic music on hug wooden xylophones, it was a really spectacular sight to see. They were hopping about and all looked as if they were having great fun, although they were also getting a little cold.

Across the way was the Irish Times pub and we popped in for a quick drink. It was a great place with a big bar filing the middle of the pub and tables all around the outside and in a gallery up above. In one corner a band was playing live Irish music and as we sat and supped our beer and wine we both knew that we fancied staying for the night. With Morty in the car park we knew it was a dangerous proposition. Sense sort of prevailed, we took Morty back to the RV park and then came back into town on the bus.

The pub was probably more full when we came back than it was when we left. As it is Friday night there were a lot of people who had obviously come from work for a few drinks before heading home. The reason we came back was because a band from Newfoundland were playing this evening. We managed to get a perch, opposite a couple of local men who come here every Friday. We chatted to them off and on throughout the evening but when the band was playing there was no point in trying to make conversation. They were really good but also really loud.

Next to us was a group of Newfies who were here for a course at the local naval college. They were well and truly into the music and knew all the songs. We recognised a couple from our Newfoundland Gold CD but this group rattled through them so quickly it was almost impossible for us to keep up! As we left the pub we were surprised to see a bouncer outside managing a small queue of people waiting to get in. The atmosphere inside had become more alcohol fuelled and outside too trouble a bit of trouble was starting to brew.

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