Ask me

This morning I gave my email address to a total stranger.  The woman, whose name I never did get, was a passenger on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. 

You see, I volunteer down at the cruise ship port with the Tourism Victoria Ambassador program during the tourist season.  We greet the passengers as they disembark, direct them to Victoria's hot spots and, generally, chat.  Chatting is my favourite part.

Victoria is a regular stop on the Alaska run for over 600,000 guests on 245 ships from nine or so different cruise lines.

The recipient of my email address was a woman from England with a relative in Willenhall, where my Mum and Dad are from.  (Anyone in England know Eileen Davis from Willenhall?)

Though most of the passengers are from the US, today I met a Canadian woman with relatives in Braeside (Malcolm Campbell, anyone?), and another, from Kemptville (who just wanted directions to the nearest Timmy's), as well as people from England, Jamaica, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Colombia, Italy, Spain.

Many of the questions we get are pretty standard:  Where is the shuttle?  How do I get to ...?  Do I need to change my money?  How much is ...?  But most of the time, people just want to know what they should do with their six or so hours in town.  Each of the volunteers has a variation on this plan.

Here's mine:

Walk into town through the residential area.  Check out the free tours in the BC Legislature; visit the Royal BC Museum's Egypt display, take a wander through the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Walk up Government Street to the second oldest Chinatown in North America (San Francisco's is older) and visit the Gate of Harmonious Interest and Fan Tan Alley.  Check out the local shops on Government, Johnson, Yates, and Broad Streets.  Stop for a beer or a cup of tea at one of the many restaurants and pubs before checking out the craft market in Bastion Square.

Make your way back to the Tourism Victoria Visitor Centre and go down the stairs to the lower causeway and check out the vendors there before hopping on a Victoria Harbour Ferry to Fisherman's Wharf.  There, treat yourself to halibut (the world's BEST fish!) and chips, before sauntering back to Ogden Point and the cruise ship, a mere 10 minutes away.

(I have another plan for people with kids which includes ice cream at Beacon Drive In and playing with the goats at the Beacon Hill Children's Farm!)

Oh, and today I learned how to pronounce Louisville like a native: Loovll