Visiting Victoria

In my last post, you learned that we were taking a short trip to Victoria for Bruce's birthday. You also learned that to get to Vancouver Island you must take a ferry, and even more importantly, the correct one. Since we did not follow that advice, getting on the Duke Point ferry, rather than the more direct one to Swartz Bay, our drive to Victoria was longer than we anticipated, but not without sights, so all's well that ends well. Right? We think so. Taking Canada 1, we drove South, seeing amongst other things, beautiful yellow flowers growing everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.

Naturally I was going crazy wondering what they looked like up close; stopping for gas, at more than $6 a gallon I might add, I had the opportunity to do just that. A quick internet search has led to this informative article that tells me, and you, should you care to know more, that it is Scotch Bonnet, an invasive species which has spread throughout the island and beyond. Now we know.

After traveling through a beautiful forest, we came to Victoria, and more specifically the Doubletree, set behind the Fairmont Empress hotel. Wendy suggested the place, having taken her parents there last month. Furthermore, when booking the hotel she said to make sure to request a room on a higher floor so as to view the harbor from the balcony. Indeed, that is what happened.

Dropping off our bag, we immediately set to exploring, beginning with the lovely Fairmont Empress. We poked our head in and roamed around a bit, coming across this funny little, well, what do you call something like this anyway? For the corgi lovers in the audience perhaps?

A large solarium led to a conference center, the lobby filled with many impressive totem poles, a recurring them in Victoria.

The weather was perfect for strolling, seeing in person what before had only been on a computer screen.

The only bummer, as shown above, was that it is somewhat of a transitional time for flowers so instead of gorgeous beds of flowers, mostly they were bare dirt. Maybe I needed a break from flowers? Maybe not. 😁

One of the main attractions in Victoria is the Parliament House which was but two blocks from our hotel.

Queen Victoria graces the front lawn, apparently, although she was meant to be facing the grand entrance, a decision was made to have her face the street which so angered the sculpture that he refused to attend the ribbon cutting. Or, so we learned when we took the 5:00 tour. Before going in though, we checked out the grounds.

We learned all sorts of stuff, such as the architect was only 25 years old and designed the buildings to be very grand so that moving the capital of British Columbia to a more central location would probably not happen. I wondered why the capital was on an island and now I know. The rotunda was one of the best features,

however, and this was not part of the tour, it was not without controversy because it depicted what is now considered degrading images of Indigenous people. That's one thing that is a constant here, apologizing for past behavior. Plus, some people call them Aboriginal people whereas others use the term Indigenous. Furthermore, you are always reminded, whether it is at church, or a tour, that you are standing on the unceded territory of the Coast Salich people. The article I've linked to reminded me that there is yet a third term and that is First Nations. All of it is pretty fascinating stuff.

Here is the British Columbian coat of arms that also helped explain something I've observed.

There are no vanity car license plates here, rather they all say "Beautiful British Columbia" on them, both of the front and back of the vehicle. Turns out the above is where that term comes from and I just thought it was because people here are so proud of their home. Which they most certainly are as you hear it constantly. My observation anyway.

Here is a better view of the Empress. Note the flowers below the sidewalk that say Welcome to Victoria, or at least they did on our first day, on our second, they'd been removed!

Following the tour we made our way to our dinner destination, walking along some lovely streets with a decidedly British influence. Or make that United Kingdom.

Again, a Wendy recommendation, Il Terrazo turned out to not only be charming, but delicious as well.

And here's the birthday boy!

Should you be wondering about his shirt, James McMurtry is one of his favorite musical artists, the son of the famed novelist, Larry McMurtry, both of whom are excellent storytellers.

Speaking of which, on our walk home, we came across Munroe's Books, founded by one of my favorite Canadian authors, Alice Munro, although according to this, she's not had any connection to it for quite some time.

To tell you the truth, we did not see the Parliament building lit up in total darkness, because, well, it stays light for so long it was past our bedtime!

Up with the sun, I took a walk to the nearby Beacon Hill Park.

Part of it looks barren, if you don't count a random chair, while other parts are beautifully manicured.

As is my custom, I just roam around and see what I come across.

Not entirely true in this case however, because while I was roaming on the rocky hilltop, a man suggested I head towards a beautiful Japanese garden, advice that I followed.

That stone bridge has stood for quite some time my friends. Well, not so long for my English friends, but long for the West coast.

There was a noisy heron colony, and of course, some Canada geese.

We'd been given a handout the previous Sunday in Vancouver about an Egyptian artifact exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum, located across from the Parliament House, which is where we went after breakfast. More, very impressive totem poles on the lawn, as well as a longhouse.

Also on the grounds we came across this former residence and statue of Dr. Helmcken, a very accomplished Londoner who played a pivotal role in the history of this region. As is the case with many folks in these parts, he arrived here via the Hudson Bay Company. More to our point, we walk on Helmcken Street, here in downtown Vancouver, very frequently, so I was delighted to find out more about him.

The museum is huge, filled with the history of BC, both the natural and human experience. The Egyptian exhibit was very impressive, although with the rooms very dark, after a while I was getting very sleepy having gotten up so early. Everything was so well done!

The natural history part--whoa...very cool.

I loved seeing everything and oftentimes I find it hard to skim over stuff in a museum, just ask Matthew about the time we visited the Museum of London and he will heartily agree. Anyway, this poster was fun as I've told you in the past how this event put Vancouver on the public radar.

Speaking to one of the docents, she told us about a few places to eat lunch, one of which was on the water adjacent to the "airport." Watching the seaplanes come and go was fun while we were enjoying our lunch.

A bit of a research mission actually as we will be taking one of these in the next couple of weeks when we go on a fishing trip set on the west coast of Vancouver Island. A little nervous perhaps, but I'm sure it will make for some spectacular photographs. Or so I hope.

The rest of our day was pretty low key, spent walking the streets and popping into inviting shops. Then again, window shopping was also part of our experience.

In front of our hotel, there was this, a one person electric car made mostly in Victoria. Amazing right?

Perhaps we'll be seeing something like this in the future? It certainly looks futuristic doesn't it?

The next morning we left Victoria, heading north to the Butchart Gardens where the entryway was cloaked in what I've now learned are Golden Chain trees.

My goodness, the gardens were stunning with something to delight the senses at every turn. I'll tell you more in my next post as I suspect this has gone on long enough!

yours truly,

Gail

We've Been Busy

Gosh, is it possible that we only have two more months to enjoy this spectacular location? The answer is yes, so we are making the most of the fine weather and beautiful sights to see while we can. As to the weather, while it is raining cats and dogs in Orlando, for the most part, May has been very dry here with nearly 16 hours of daylight! Quite the contrast to a few months ago, that's for sure.

Mr. Peck hit the big milestone of 65 last Friday and has begun enjoying his senior discount with glee. Saturday afternoon, after arising at 4 AM to watch the royal wedding, we walked to the movie theater to see Deadpool, curious about what we would recognize from the next door filming. Amazingly, we ran into both Dale and Jackie there! Proving the point that every big city is a small town if you stay in your neighborhood. To tell you the truth, I was pretty excited about it because, well, after a lifetime of seeing people I know while out and about, it has been strange not doing so. Not that it should be unexpected when you move somewhere new, however, I think you get my drift. That's the thing, we are getting very comfortable here and it is nearly time to leave. I'm actually a wee bit proud that we've gotten to know some folks because isn't that what makes a life great? Enough of my rambling, let's get to some of those activities, shall we?

Rather than a cake for B's birthday, after seeing rhubarb at Nesters, I decided to make him a rhubarb crisp instead. He is crazy for rhubarb. We also had steak at home, something we've had only a handful of times because it is crazy expensive here, despite the fact that Canada produces a lot of beef.

Funny story about the crisp though as this is my second attempt. I prepared everything the night before with plans to bake it first thing in the morning for his breakfast. Except once I began putting it together, I got the notion that I should have peeled the rhubarb and threw it all away. Dumb, I know. I bought another batch and tried again, this time being more careful. While I was out buying the rhubarb, I stopped in to see Wendy at the liquor store for vodka to make Bruce a Caesar as a treat. He is crazy for that drink. What is a Caesar, you ask? Basically a Canadian Bloody Mary. The spicier the better is his motto. Wendy allowed me to take her photograph.

She gave me all sorts of tips about our trip to Victoria, including the romantic place I booked for Bruce's second birthday celebration. Not only has she sold me loads of wine while we are here, but she's become someone I might call a casual friend. She's lived here for ages, having moved from England.

We also can absolutely not forget the pastors at the church we've been attending. Both Gary and Dan are dynamos, and we can't thank them enough for welcoming us into the church family. Somehow they have managed to make the church service a fantastic blend of old and new.

Someone else we don't want to forget is Penny, a former nurse with a sharp wit that keeps us laughing every Sunday.

On his way to and from work, oftentimes Bruce cuts a diagonal through a large parking lot, slated  to become home to a new Vancouver Art Gallery. Anyway, last week he saw them dumping truck loads of sand in said parking lot, so after church/lunch, we walked over to see what we could see. Turns out it was a polo demonstration, as well as some jumping. So crazy in the middle of the city! Before they started, the horses were warmed up and shown to the crowd.

Followed by a man who smoothed the sand in preparation for play.

That would be a VIP tent on the right. 😀After a humorous introduction to the players, the mini version of polo began. As it turns out, we'd moved to not face the sun, ending up directly behind the goal; slightly unnerving to be honest.

We didn't hang around long enough for the jumping, mostly because we'd gotten there too late for a seat, but what little we saw was fun, not to mention, added to our growing list of new experiences.

On our way to church Sunday, we passed by the Davie Street community garden and while time did not permit us to stop that day, I made my rounds Monday morning. Bruce was home because it was Victoria Day, one of many reminders that this area of the world was once ruled by the British. Because so many people live in apartments, without a piece of land to call their own, these types of gardens are not uncommon around the city, in this instance on busy Davie Street.

Many people have told me just wait for the roses to bloom and now I see why. Some are beginning to flower, and just as every other blooming plant I've seen, there are abundant blooms. Plus, most of the roses I've seen have been very fragrant, a wonderful surprise. Naturally, I was loving this color.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bruce went to replenish our wine supply, going with his motto of, if one is good, two are better.

These are the steps we use to get to loads of places and it just so happened that as I was in front of the building, returning from my rounds, I called B to see where he was. Lo and behold, he was just across the street, thus the funny photograph using my zoom lens. After lunch we took a walk. A very long walk to Stanley Park, around most of the seawall in a first for Bruce. "Honey", I said, "you can't live here without doing it at least once!" Seeing the cliffs, and in general, enjoying being along the water is a must-do when in Vancouver.

But first I showed him the heron's nests which are filled with activity. Then we watched the lawn bowling for a bit, which looked very fun. The lady in all white, or so we were told, is 90 years old and a former national champion of the sport.

Further we were told that lawn bowling is an easy game to learn, and a hard one to become good at. On our way to check out the pitch and putt, lo and behold, we watched a raccoon scamper up a tree, and, well, climb in!

There was a slight chill in the air from the wind, however, with such abundant sunshine, the walk along the water was wonderful.

Bruce kept asking, how much further, to which I replied, just a little bit. I lied. Not intentionally, however, once you are walking it is not so easy to bail out. Plus, I wanted him to see Siwash Rock, another Vancouver landmark.

The bridge, featured prominently in Deadpool and other movies, was our next destination, further than I remembered, however we were energized when this appeared from behind the cliffs.

Pretty awesome, huh? It was low tide during our walk, giving the seagulls a nice place to land.

Fortunately I carry around a map of SP in my backpack, so using that, we veered off the seawall into the interior, coming to Beaver Lake which is jam packed with hyacinths blooming in various shades of pink.

As well, there were both yellow and purple irises blooming along the shoreline. Seeing them, I was reminded of one of the first photographs I put out for sale, same subject matter. I also remembered being so thrilled, showing it to Regina like it was something out of the ordinary. Naive, I'll admit.

Which brings us to Tuesday when we set out on another new adventure to Victoria, another must do if you are here for any length of time. Packing a suitcase, we drove the thirty or so miles to Tsawwassen where you board the ferry bound for Victoria and other Gulf Islands.

So far, so good you think and why would you think any differently? We sure did. Following the cars, we got in line, driving onto the ferry like we knew what we were doing. Watching the other folks, after parking your car, you go up some steps to the seating, except in our case, I convinced B to go up to the very windy viewing deck for takeoff.

All of a sudden we were on the move, and this is where it got a little crazy. Looking at my watch, I saw it was 10:35 and I asked B to check his phone as our ferry was meant to depart at 11. Uh oh. What's going on? I'll tell you what went on, in the above photo, see the ferry ready to dock? Of course you do! That was the boat we were meant to board!

We laughed and laughed, or at least I did. Bruce just kept puzzling over how in the hell we could have gotten on the wrong ferry. No harm though, although it meant we had to drive down the island about an hour longer to get to Victoria. Instead, we are looking at it as an introduction to Vancouver Island, and a dry run for when we return in a few weeks for a big fishing trip. We won't make the same mistake twice!

Lots to tell about Victoria, but I'll save that for a different post. Suffice it to say, I checked something off my bucket list, well, actually I don't have one, but we did make it to the Butchart Gardens, a spectacular place that I'd been wanting to see ever since Angela showed me her photos from there.

Peonies and Himalayan blue poppies! Unreal! Until next time...

yours truly,

Gail