Life This Week: Royal BC Museum, BC Legislature, & Chinatown

After a wonderful vacation in Victoria I headed back to Edmonton this week. It's rather warm now, which is nice, but means that the gigantic (like 15-lb) icicles that form on the pipes on the outside of my building have been falling down -- loudly enough to wake me up at night. Also, talk about hazardous!

This was the final week of my GU/CNS/peds oncology rotation, and a particularly exciting one as one of our residents had twins (!). There's been a baby boom in our program, with our PGY-4 and -5 now on mat leave. They're doing amazing, and it's so much fun to visit with the babies.

Here are some things I appreciated last weekend, towards the end of my visit to Victoria:

sushi picnic -- Delicious.

Royal BC Museum -- My mom and I had a nice time visiting the museum during their annual Community Days (when it's by donation for a week or so after New Year's). I really love the RBCM; the galleries are familiar from many visits over the years, but every time I notice different things and learn new stuff.

the woolly mammoth -- a fan favourite

Legislature -- As we had an hour to kill before the museum opened, we wandered into the BC Legislature, which proved to be just as interesting. We caught a tour by Francis Rattenbury himself (a fantastic interpreter, complete with period attire and a British accent), the architect who designed the buildings in 1893.

frozen

huge Christmas tree

splendor sine occasu -- splendour without diminishment

pretty floors

legislative chamber -- we sat up in the gallery for a while after the tour to watch the University Legislature -- so rowdy!

Chinatown -- From the museum we walked over to Chinatown. I love the bustling little Chinese grocers, rich with Cantonese chatter, cardboard/sharpie signs, and the musty smell of dried foods. We walked through Fan Tan Alley, long-ago home to opium dens and gambling clubs. It's also billed as North America's narrowest street, and I remember a field trip here in elementary school when everyone had to take turns at its narrowest point, stretching out their arms to touch both walls at the same time.

It was nice to take a break and return motivated to give residency my all.