What to do on the weekend? (Victoria!)

What? One more day?! Yes, just one more day till the Victoria trip. Have you already packed your stuff? Said goodbye to your roommates? To be even more prepared we have wrote this blog post with some practical information about the Victoria trip.

We will meet each other at 9:30 am at the Tsawwassen Terminal. Keep in mind the ride will be more than an hour by public transit from downtown. Be on time, otherwise the ferry will depart without you. After we arrived on Vancouver Island we take the bus to the hostel where we will drop our stuff. Afterwards we go to check out Victotria Downtown. A nice thing to do is going to Beacon Hill Park for a soft ice cream, walk to the beach,  go through Fan Tan alley and make a quick buzz through Chinatown and Market Square. Irish Times or Bard and Banker are also cool for daytime drinking. We will have diner all together in a really nice restaurant/pub where 18+ are allowed to go. Afterwards everybody is free to stay there, go back to the hostel or check out the other pubs/clubs in Victoria. Local recommendations are the Garriks head, Irish times or Bard & Banker.

The next day we have an amazing breakfast planned. A must do when you are in Victoria, the breakfasts are legendary famous here. Because of that, be prepared there will be a line in front of the restaurant, but in the end it will worth it. After breakfast there is enough time to do some optional activities. You can go to the Royal British Colombia Museum, Butchart Gardens or The Craigdarroch Castle. In the afternoon we will meet in the hostel again, where we are going back to Vancouver. We will be in Vancouver in the beginning of the evening.

For the people not joining Victoria, we have also listed some nice thing to do in Vancouver. This weekend the Fashion Week takes place. You can watch a runway show the whole weekend or look at the fashion camp at Vancouvers Community College’s Fashion Labs. Of you want to enjoy the last summer days, the End Of Summer Tropical Boat Cruise is something you may want to do. If you are not going to Victoria but still wants to see the gardens, you can go to the Darts Hill Garden Park this Sunday. If you din’t do the Grouse Grind yet, it is also a possibility to do that soon before the weather gets bad. For people who like sports, this weekend the BC Lions are playing on Friday. Vancouver Giants are going to play a game on Saturday. Also the Whitecaps play a match on this day. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and the ones who are joining Victoria, see you tomorrow!

– Bart

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: INTERNeX goes Victoria – Review Vol. 2

Day One

Last weekend we went to Victoria with a group of 17. It was a trip full of good moments and some surprises during the trip that made it unforgettable.

We met very early in the morning, at 7am, in Waterfront Station. Going to Victoria takes a little while, because you first have to take the Canada Line, then a bus, then the ferry to get to Vancouver Island and then another bus to get to Downtown Victoria.

We had to take the Canada Line Skytrain at 7:30 am. It was 7:20am and everybody weas there… except Tobias! Our lovely new German intern was waiting forthe bus since 5:40 am in North Vancouver, but the bus never showed up. We couldn’t reach him, so we had to leave the station without any notice of him.

The tour with the ferry takes about 1.5 hours. It’s a beautiful way, and you can see the entire coast of Vancouver Island. It was raining a lot but even like that, the landscape was very beautiful.  We had the opportunity to eat breakfast inside, but we had to hurry up, because within two minutes there was a very very long line.

In Victoria, our first activity was the Royal BC museum. It was pretty amazing! You can find inside a very real reconstruction of a Wild West village! I really enjoyed that part because it isn’t the typical museum where you can watch paintings. It’s very interactive, and they have several exhibitions, like Race to the End of the Earth (about the Antarctic) the First People Gallery, and the Natural History Gallery (with a real size mammoth!). I felt like a child nosing around and touching everything!

Meanwhile, Tobias found the way to Victoria by himself. The next part of the program was supposed to be a walking tour around Victoria, but it was raining cat and dogs. We went to visit the Empress Hotel in Victoria, one of the most luxury places that I’ve seen in my life. After that, we tried to visit the Beacon Hill Park, but the weather was so bad, that we came back to the hostel. We slept in the Hi-Victoria in Downtown. After a shower and with dry clothes, we went to dinner in the Old Spaghetti Factory.

After that, we decided to go to a pub. The chosen place was the Sticky Wicket. We danced, we had some beers and cocktails, and we had a lot of fun.

Day two

The next day we went to visit the Craigdarroch Castle. It’s like a Scottish castle but in the middle of Canada. Mercedes discovered a piano and started to play one song made by her! It’s was so beautiful and all of us came around her to hear the music. Suddenly she spun around and realized about all the people who were looking at her and in that moment her face turned very red. It was so funny.

After that we visited the Emily Carr House where the staff opened the house only for us! Really guys, we are VIP everywhere. It was one of the best things of the trip! Jan, the woman who makes the tours, told us amazing things about Emily Carr. She was a real women, one of the first feminists, environmentalists and one of the first persons who defended the people of the First Nation. We could walk around the house, ask many questions, touch everything and she gave us cookies and coffee. With that rain outside, in this super cozy house, with Jan talking, showing us the Emily Carr’s paintings, we felt very good.

Then we went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff and leave Victoria. It was sunny, very sunny for the first moment during the weekend. And suddenly, somebody said: there is a big storm in the north of the Island; all the ferries for this night are cancelled, you have to stay in Victoria another night.

(Unexpected) Day 3

Can you imagine our faces? At the beginning we were a little bit worried, but finally we could sleep in the hostel and we could inform our homestay families and our colleagues at home. The people of the Hi-Victoria were super nice to us; they give us movies and pop corn. We spend the Sunday night with some beers, talking until very late.

Finally we could take the ferry the next day, and we arrived at Vancouver super tired and dreaming of a hot shower. After all, I have to say that all the mess was at the end super funny, I’m sure that I won’t forget that trip ever.

I really have to say thank you to the wonderful group that came with us, for being so understanding. You are the best travel partner!

Conclusions after the trip:

–      Tobias never will trust the Vancouver’s transport system again.

–      Emily Carr is more interesting that you can imagine at the beginning.

–      A Ferry is a very big ship where you can put cars, buses and trucks inside. A storm between Vancouver Island and Vancouver can sink a Ferry… Canada is really wild sometimes.

Clara.

International Village
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 9N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: Last chance to join us to the Victoria Trip !

Are you going to miss the opportunity to come with us to Victoria? Victoria has something for everyone! There’s so much to do and see. Come with us guys, is going to be an amazing trip, so don´t forget to come to pay until tomorrow Friday 20th in our office. Our office hours are from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm !!

Known for it´s beautiful gardens, and it´s magical nightlife, the capital of British Columbia is a perfect destination for a wonderful weekend!

The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel. 

That’s our plan:

Apart of this two amazing buildings we will take a tour around the beautiful city; visit the Royal BC Museum( one of the most interesting educational places in BC) and Craigdarroch Castle and enjoy the famous Victoria nightlife with its nice pubs!

We will also enjoy of the best mega icecream in Victoria, Inner Harbour, Chinatown and Beacon Hill Park . And much more, but it´s a surprise. :p

• When : Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of September.

PRICES:

• INTERNeX Clients: $185 ($5 additional discount with a valid student ID)
• Non-INTERNeX Clients: $ 195

We’re looking forward to come with you to Victoria, so don´t forget to pay in our office. ( just cash)

Best,

Mercedes

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 9N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: Trip to Victoria

Hello everybody,

today’s post will hopefully put y’all in the mood for our big Victoria trip in the end of this month. Thinking that a few of you still may not be sure whether to sign up and come with us, I will give you a little overview of what you would be missing out on. And for all who already decided to join us: That’s where you will be going 🙂

Victoria – also called the “City of Gardens” or the “City of the Summer Asian Invasion” –  is the capital of British Columbia and located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, right off Canada’s Pacific coast. Its name itself is a tribute to the British Queen Victoria and it is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific North West. Therefore, the town is still defined by many historic buildings, as for example the British Columbia Parliament Building. These are located at the Inner Harbor and a ‘Must See’ for every tourist.

And of course, like more or less every other bigger American city, one of Victoria’s neighborhoods is Chinatown. However, the interesting thing about this part of town is: It is the second oldest Chinatown in North America after the one in San Francisco!

Besides these two details, we are planning to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum also located downtown. The museum includes three permanent galleries: modern history, natural history, and local First Nations’ history. It is supposed to be one of the most interesting educational places one can visit in B.C. So let’s find out.

Another highlight of the trip will be our tour to the Craigdarroch Castle. A Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion built in the late 1800s. Originally, it was constructed for a wealthy coal baron and the mansion has over 30 rooms, which are known for their luxurious design and furniture.

Last but not least, I want to mention Beacon Hill Park. The park itself is for recreational purposes and offers some beautiful shoreline trails, as well as the “Mile 0” of the famous Trans-Canada Highway. Also, as a little bird told us, if you know where it is THE of best place in town to get ice cream. And guess what? We know where! So imagine yourself strolling around, enjoying your ice cream, watching out at the Ocean… Still not wanna come with us??? Come on, give yourself a start. You can still register (and pay) at tomorrow’s PuB NiGHT or until the 20^th at the INTERNeX office. We are waiting for you!

 

Best,

Annika

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 9N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com