Photo Scrapbook: Our Last Day in Victoria

Touring Craigdarroch Castle - built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal - was a wonderful way to end our visit to Victoria. Designated a National Historic Site and attracting nearly 140,000 visitors per year, the Castle showcases four floors of exquisite stained glass, intricate woodwork and lavish Victorian-era furnishings.

The Fairmont name is associated with famous historic hotels built to accommodate people traveling across Canada on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Edwardian, chateau-styled Empress in Victoria, overlooking the Inner Harbour, opened in 1908; on our last evening in Victoria, Doug and I enjoyed the curry buffet in The Bengal Restaurant.

The Bengal Lounge and Restaurant- decorated in Victorian-era, Colonial Indian style - opened in 1954 at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. Today it features live jazz on the weekends as well as a nightly curry buffet.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)