March 24, 2011

Royal British Columbia Museum

Victoria, BC; Canada
Recommended visit time required: minimum of 2 hours (not including the time it takes to purchase your tickets)
Photography Allowed?  Yes; no flash
The Royal BC Museum has a collection of items that are specific to the province of British Columbia, giving you a good insight and understanding of its history.  My favorite part of the Museum was Old Town on the third floor.  The Old Town exhibit is a mock-up of a Victorian street where you peer into the windows of shops and buildings staged in intricate detail that would have existed in that era.  The Museum is extremely kid-friendly.  Aside from the kids' area in the Ocean Station exhibit on the second floor, there are sketch stations located throughout Old Town.





Second Floor: Natural History Gallery

Ice-Age Mammoth

Seashore exhibit

Seashore exhibit

Ocean Station exhibit

Ocean Station exhibit

Ocean Station exhibit


Third Floor: First Peoples Gallery

Totem Poles


Third Floor: History Gallery

Century Hall

Vehicle in Old Town

Old Town exhibit

Lobby of the Grand Hotel; Old Town

Kitchen of the Grand Hotel; Old Town

Pharmacist in Chinatown; Old Town

Gold Rush exhibit


Outside the Museum

Thunderbird Park
Thunderbird Park is a small park situated just east of the museum.  It is known for the several totem poles located here.

Mungo Martin House in Thunderbird Park


Totem poles of Thunderbird Park


Helmcken House
Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken was a surgeon with the Hudson's Bay Company who later became a statesman who helped negotiate the entry of British Columbia into Canada as a province.  His home is the oldest building in British Columbia, which still stands on its original site.  It is open to the public only between June and September from noon - 4PM, included with your museum admission.

Helmcken House

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