Here is what is probably Victoria's most photographed view, not surprisingly since it is an attractive vista. The three most prominent buildings, despite their different styles and purposes, were all designed by Francis Rattenbury. The three are the Fairmont Empress Hotel (on the left), the Legislative Assembly Buildings (slightly right of center) and the quite Grecian-looking Royal London Wax Museum (right). The first two are still used for their original purposes. The wax museum was originally designed for use as a steamship terminal. In the midst of these striking buildings, the Inner Harbour Causeway offers a colorful pedestrian walkway with musicians and artists, craftspeople and jugglers providing entertainment to the tens of thousands of visitors and locals who enjoy it every summer. This reads like a Tourism Victoria blurb but there's no denying it's a friendly, beautiful and interesting place.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010
Inner Harbour Causeway
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7 comments:
I LOVE VICTORIA!!! On one of my trips, one of the guards in front of the Legislative Buildings told me I could go inside and walk around and take pics if I wanted. I was so surprised, b/c I don't think the US allows photos inside our federal buildings. So before I got on the Clipper, I wandered around inside. The stained glass was just amazing.
Re-stating the obvious; the inner harbour and lower causeway is one of the most popular and valuable attractions victoria has to offer.
It has been described as the 'living room'of the City as it entertains so many visitors, offering relaxing ambience and beauty.
I've been meaning to ask you Victorians a question about Inner Harbour. Do you guys feel about it the way San Franciscans feel about Fisherman's Wharf? aka, "Tourist Trap"? I used to tell our visitors if they wanted to ride the cable car and do Fisherman's Wharf, they could do that on their own, whereas I would show them the REAL SF. I can't imagine feeling that way about Inner Harbour though.
Many locals do feel that way and avoid the inner harbour because of it. Unfortunate, but understandable. A lot of downtown office workers are there daily for lunch and coffee breaks.
The greatest turnout of locals is for the many festivals and special events, such as Victoria Day, the Swiftsure race, Canada Day,BC Day, Dragon Boat races, Classic Wooden Boat festival and the Blues Bash, to name the first ones off the top of my head.
The causeway offers the greatest people watching anywhere, that's for sure.
I think a lot of dating couples use it as a rendezvous spot.
Plus, many artists and performers have local fans who come by regularily.
Nice shot, as always. I don't think it really is a tourist trap, at least in the sense of cheap "Victoria" decorated crafts (ie t shirts, hats etc). The art and crafts are all hand made and diverse, the music is not overly commercial and the atmosphere isn't too "carnival". However, as Dean said, many locals stay away because the tourists are there or it's too busy. Their loss!
JoJo - I think Dean and Dave have answered your question so well that there's little I can add. All I can say is that I live here and I photograph places around the city that I enjoy visiting though many such places are also high on tourist lists.
Thanks for answering my question everyone! Victoria is a very special city.
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