Dhania Albani

The city of Victoria was the last stop I made during my journey with VIA Rail using the Youth 150 pass. And this city underlined exactly the definition of the coast-to-coast trip I’ve had because to get to the city we had to cross a strait that goes beyond into the Pacific Ocean. So I’ve met the Atlantic in the east, and now it’s the Pacific that I say hi to!

Victoria was a subtle place surrounded by coastlines. It wasn’t too huge, but the trip was very well worth it. We went to the Victoria Butchart Garden which is possibly the most famous world-class flower garden in the entire Canada, and then went for a few hours of stop to the downtown of Victoria. However, the most remarkable part of all to me was the ferry trip since the sunset was just spectacular.

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Remember when I said that Cape Breton Island in one of the easternmost provinces in Canada is all about the rare exposure of the mountain meeting the sea? Well, apparently, living in the western side of the continent doesn’t mean such grandeur is far too out of reach. We don’t necessarily need to travel across the continent to spot such majestic scene, because, apparently Vancouver has it too!

It’s a different type of mountain-and-sea kind of scenery, obviously, because Vancouver is the next level of a metropolitan city while Cape Breton Island and its composing small towns are the exact opposite. Nevertheless, Vancouver is one great example of a big city that truly knows who they are, what they’re good at, and what they’re capable of hence able to showcase the truly best version of themselves. I’m talking about a crowded city that is still such a delight to look at and live in, because all the best features and natural wonders that create them in the first place are still preserved and blending altogether, in harmony, with the modern developments that create the backbone of the city today.

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Despite the major tourist attractions such as magnificent classic buildings that surround the majestic and historical Parliament Hill and around, I must say that the most remarkable thing I did back in Ottawa was watching The Bad Batch in an old, hippie cinema of Mayfair Theatre with a new friend I met through Couchsurfing. That was my third attempts on CS, and legitimately convinced me that the next time I travel to someplace new, I won’t bother checking out other accommodation-booking websites without trying the best out of CS first.

Being a capital city that is actually smaller than other metropolitan cities in Canada, all the major touristy spots in Ottawa are close to each other and hence you could basically cross all the must-visit list within a day just like I did, and even with the bonus of swinging by to a vintageous cinema on top of all that. I missed few places of my original plan indeed but they were all of the secondary priority, hence I didn’t mind that much. Particularly because I am never really a huge fan of big cities, hence skipping one or two places do not necessarily bother me that much.

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