a curling canada question
Ever wondered firstly how you can explore Vancouver Island on a budget and secondly, do Canadian’s really play curling? Diana McDermott answered these questions and more on her day trip to Victoria, the beautiful capital of British Columbia…
“Arriving into the picturesque harbour, my boyfriend and I set off on foot to the Empress Hotel for the traditional scones and tea. Our $20 budget was not that of my parents’ when I had been there as a child some ten years earlier, so we enjoyed the scaled-down version in the downstairs cafeteria. We then visited the Royal BC Museum, where a replica of a frontier mining town was complete with a bakery wafting clove-scented smells.
Our meagre funds exhausted, we wandered along backstreets until we came to the Victoria Curling Club. We’d always wondered about this bizarre sport that we had seen only on television. Inside was an homage to Olympic champions of years past, many trophies and medals and eight lanes of ice with bullseyes at the end.
A nice man inquired if he could help us and we confessed to having always been curious about the sport of curling. Our impromptu guide claimed it was easier to show someone the sport than explain it and handed us two brooms. Two hours later, after a complimentary lesson in curling from an Olympic coach, cold fingers and many laughs, we headed back to our ferry. It was an inimitable experience that I couldn’t have enjoyed more if I had planned it!”
To find out about travelling with Intrepid and for your chance to WIN a trip in every edition, subscribe to Intrepid Express, our free e-newsletter. Plus you can become a fan of our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!
* photo by Nelly Nghiem – Intrepid Photography Competition
