If you are reading this away from the West Coast, you might like to know that both the Economist Magazine and Conde Naste Traveller rate Victoria among the half dozen best cities in the world in which to live.  When one thinks of Victoria, they always picture the downtown harbor surrounded by the world-famous Empress Hotel, the Parliament Buildings and the historic Old Town.

The harbor is the setting for the annual August Symphony Splash where the Symphony plays on a barge with some 50,000 Victorians and tourists sitting around the causeway to listen and cheer.  The harbor also hosts the Pacific Swiftsure International Yacht race; the Classic Wooden Boat Festival; the Dragon Boat Festival and the Canada Day celebrations, complete with fireworks viewed from your deck.

All of this takes place directly across from West Bay and a few minutes' boat ride to get into the middle of the action.

The first Sunday in August and the annual Syphony Splash. The finale is an eighteen gun salute with the 1812 overture.