Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.04.1999, Side 4

4 » Lögberg-Heimskringla * Friday 23 April 1999
A Trip To Victoria
Tea at the Empress: (left to right) Emma, Dilla, Bill, and Þórir.
Dilla Narfason
Gimli, MB
Yes, we are now home
from our trip to Victoria,
B.C. and the worst win-
ter weather they have had in
forty-five years or more.
However the weather didn’t stop
us from having a great time.
Victoria is still a charming and
quaint city. It is so easy to walk
around the downtown area and
other points of interest along the
many paths through Beacon Hill
Park and along the seashore.
Emma and I had planned to
go before we knew that our
cousin Þórir from Iceland would
be coming there, so we changed
our time to coincide with his
two- week stay. We attended the
presentations by Þórir and met
some interesting people as well,
including a niece (and husband)
of Richard and Margaret Beck. They
are faithful in attending no matter what
the weather is like. Bill Valgardson and
John Tucker, two profesors at the
University of Victoria, have the respon-
sibility of planning and coordinating all
that goes into putting on the Richard
and Margaret Beck Lecture series.
Once the lectures were over we set
out to visit relatives. Since Þórir is
working to complete the family tree on
his father’s side (our connection) both
in Iceland and in North America, there
was a need to use this short stay to that
advantage. Fortunately we were able to
visit a relative in Bumaby one day and
then take a two-day trip to Seattle to
visit with relatives there who we had
not known about until recently.
With the help of the information
centre and a travel agent, I was able to
plan these trips without too much diffi-
culty and all went well except it was too
windy to go over the water by Victoria
Clipper to Seattle. We were put on a bus
and took the more sheltered route by
B.C. ferry and consequently arrived in
Seattle later than planned. Two days
later we retumed by the Clipper. Even
though the wave action seemed turbu-
lent enough to us that a bus might be
warranted, it proved to be a pleasant
trip. The rain stopped on our retum to
Victoria and the sun even came out
from time to time. for may efforts, I
acquired a new name, “forystukind,”
the sheep that successfully leads the
flock along their way. I had never hard
that one before.
Another activity we had to do while
Þórir was in Victoria was to take in the
Leonardo da Vinci exhibit. This exhibit
began in October 1998 and just before
we arrived a woman from Seattle was
the 300,000th person to attend the show
which was held at the Royal British
Columbia Museum.
This was the sole location for
Canada and the Pacific Northwest. With
the extension of two weeks into March,
it would not be surprising, judging by
the line-ups each day, that they could
reach the 400,000th mark before the
exhibit moves to Japan.
On our retum from Seattle there
were no line-ups outside so we took the
opportunity togo. After one hour’s wait
inside, we got to the exhibit area and
even with the crowd it was well worth
going. As advertised, there were exam-
ples of da Vinci’s work as a number of
replicas of inventions he had only
sketched in his life time but were far
ahead of their time, for example a heli-
copter from a sketch done ca. 1486-
1490. Amazing!
Another “must” was to go for high
tea at the Empress. It has undergone
major renovations to the tune of $64
million, we were told, but the odd foyer
where the “tea” is served hadn’t
changed or so it seemed. Although
extravagant, we received plenty to eat
and the tea, a blend from Murchies, was
excellent. We were given a box to take
home as well. All considered and com-
paring prices to other tea rooms, we
probably paid very little for the privi-
lege of sitting in that grand old hotel
sipping tea.
After Þórir’s departure, Emma
and I continued visiting relatives
in Courtenay, Duncan, and in Surrey, as
well as many friends both on the Island
and the Mainland. We took the bus to
Courtenay which
winds its way over
the Malahat and
along the east
coast, stopping at
many towns along
the way. It was
convenient to trav-
el by bus wherever
we wanted to go
and the Greater
Victoria Transit
buses go to Sydney
and beyond.
The telephone
books, both B.C.
Tel and Westel were very helpful. There
is a transit bus map, categories of fares,
and you can call and find a real live per-
son to talk to for information. There are
other sections for dining (with some
coupons), attractions, and so on, but I
was really impressed to see the postal
code for each name and address listed.
At our cousin’s in Courtenay, I was
gratified to see how much he had put on
the computer about the family, includ-
ing picures. He showed me some old
books he has collected and there he had
a copy of the “passíu-sálmar”
with an inscription in Icelandic,
a gift to Richard Beck during a
visit to Iceland many years ago
and obviously signed by some of
the dignitaries of the day. This
book he had found in a second-
hand book store in Victoria.
The train travels from
Victoria to Courtenay every day,
so we decided to take the train to
Duncan and retum the same day.
Evidently, this one-coach daylin-
er train was to be shut down but
the Islanders spoke forth and
saved the day because it is their
constitutional right to have a
train. Now it has been purchased
by an American company which
plans to make it more tourist-
friendly. We were surprised to
see how many were travelling on
it this particular Sunday and
would say the majority were not
tourists.
The scenery was different than by
the highway, very nice and in some
spots spectacular. The train goes past
Shawanigan Lake where a monument
was erected to commemorate the last
spike as placed by Sir John A.
MacDonald. When I visited my friend
in Delta what do I see on her wall but
pictures from this event. Her grandfa-
ther, a MLA for the Kootenay aiea then,
was in attendance.
Victoria is surely one of my favorite
places to visit. Everyone is friendly and
helpful. There are people out walking
and you really see everyone come out if
the sun shines. One weekend there were
people just everywhere and we discov-
ered it was “President’s Day” on
February 15. Many Americans were
taking advantage of their three-day
weekend. Every hotel room was
booked, the paper told us. Besides
Americans and some Asians, there were
people from the Prairies, and we came
across a highschool group from Québec
at the Information Centre. It’s a place
where you feel welcome and when the
sun shines it’s even more beautiful.
Bent Gestur
Sivertz
Continued from page 1
became known as HMCS King’s, and
Bent its chief. As a result of his work at
King’s, Bent was awarded the Order of
the British Empire.
After the war Bent joined Extemal
Affairs where he became responsible
for the Canadian Consular Division. In
the 1950s a new department of
Northern Affairs was established which
Bent was asked to join. He rose through
the ranks becoming Chief of the Arctic
Division, and eventually Commissioner
of the Northwest Territories. Bent
Sivertz retired in 1963 and has since
been living on Vancouver Island. His
wife of forty-seven years, Barbara, died
in 1995.
More on Bent infuture issues.