Proudly calling itself both the capital city of the province of British Columbia and making its home on a massively huge island along the western coast of Canada, you can't yet get a sense of being in another land given some of the English stylings and vintage nature of the community surrounding the harbor ("harbour").

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, with nice views of the Inner Harbour across the street.	The Fairmont Empress Hotel (c. 1908) has been a fixture in Victoria for more than a century.	A living sculpture of a mother whale and her calf, along Government Street.
The little differences that remind us we're in Canada, like red mail-boxes (and working phone booths.	An amusing, yet quite accurate advertising technique. (Not sure how many kites are sold, though.)	Victoria is home of the second oldest Chinatown on the west coast, second to San Francisco.