Land of Hope and Glory-ah

Victoria, British Columbia, is often billed as "North America's most English city."

But just like Christchurch, New Zealand, which carries the same billing down under (or did, before it was destroyed in an earthquake), it isn't really English, if by English you mean Ye Olde Englishe Towne.

Olde it is, especially by Vancouver's ultramodern standards. But you can find buildings like this in pretty much any North American city of the right age:


And no, the cheesy tourist bus doesn't make it more English.

Victoria does, however, have three touchstones of the British Empire.

A hideously overwrought legislative building ...


... a grand old hotel serving a formal High Tea ...



... and, most importantly, lovely public gardens:


But the most breathtaking thing in Victoria is something you'll never see in England:


Those are the Olympic Mountains of Washington State, perhaps 20 miles south across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but so close they seem touchable.