Looking towards Hotel Fairmont Empress, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

This is an evening view of the grounds in front of British Columbia’s provincial legislative assembly or parliament. The vantage point offers no sign of the sea's proximity though Victoria Causeway Marina is at hand and excursion sailings from Vancouver dock near there. That palatial building in the centre of the photo is the Hotel Fairmont Empress of the title and there are a series of these remnants of accommodation provision for passengers on Canadian railways during their Victorian and Edwardian heyday. The accompanying absence of harbour seaplane services ensures a quiet atmosphere in keeping with the surroundings. It is hard not to think that this place has more upmarket pretensions than the city of Vancouver on the mainland.