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We set the alarm for 7:30 (absurdly early for us :)) and nibbled on
leftover Butchart fruit turnovers (thanks to the microwave!) before
venturing out into the sunny morning. It was quite a bit cooler in
Victoria, and we needed layers to combat the chill. We started with a
little self-guided tour of the Parliament buildings, since they were
the first thing we encountered, and enjoyed seeing the beautiful
mosaic rotunda, the theatre where the actual Parliament meets, and
lots of pictures of dignitaries (and the queen) making their official
visits to these buildings. There was a relaxed atmosphere inside,
almost like we could go anywhere, with the occasional polite "no
visitors please" sign on a chain in front of an unmarked door. When we
came out, we crossed the street and entered the Empress Hotel, which
opened in 1908 and is extremely grand. Since they hadn't started their
famous tea service yet, we were able to wander unmolested through the
lobby rooms, and saw more cool photos, such as one in which some
gentlemen in hats are holding a sedated cougar that was found
wandering in the Empress parking garage! Across the street from the
Empress was the Tourist Info Centre, and I'm a sucker for free maps
and brochures so we stopped in to peruse.
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By now the turnovers were wearing off, and we were standing in front
of Sam's Deli, which looked very nice. We got some baked goods
(including a famed Nanaimo Bar, which was good but very sweet) and
enjoyed a bit of people-watching and a discussion of that day's plans.
We were going to check out a kitschy museum called "Miniature World"
(David was much opposed, but I thought it would be wonderful) but the
brochure we'd just gotten made it look terrifying. :) We bypassed that
option and started a walking tour through some of the nearby
neighborhoods, including Chinatown (very small, but actually the
oldest Chinatown in North America) and Old Town, with brightly colored
Victorian buildings. It was perfect walking weather and we were in
high spirits. I was reading about the various landmarks from the
Frommer's Guide and that was fun. We crossed over the Johnson St.
Bridge (actually designed by the guy who designed the Golden Gate, but
it's not at all nice :)) and found ourselves on a little peninsula
looking back at Victoria from another view. We watched some float
planes land, which fascinated David, and went into a really fancy
hotel at the water's edge to use the loo, where we met a funny yellow
bird named Saffie. Eventually, we walked back across the bridge and
saw some squares full of cafes and people, and went into a
glassblowing gallery that had the most incredible glass artwork. Had
we shown up there a bit later, we could have seen the artists at work
on the glass in a workshop pit below the gallery.
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All the walking had gotten us hungry again, and I insisted we go back
to Sam's Deli for a sandwich (they had sounded good when we ordered
breakfast) but that was a mistake. The place was a mob scene, with a
10-minute line and a lot of crying babies. I didn't like the sandwich
we got, and the chicken soup tasted like a bowl of schmaltz. We were
soon out of there and headed across the street to the Royal British
Columbia Museum, which everyone had said we couldn't miss. The place
was huge, and was an interesting blend of kitsch and history. One
minute you'd be looking at giant stuffed animals and the next learning
about the culture of the first inhabitants of B.C. In the pictures,
you can see me succumbing to a current "interactive" exhibition on
dinosaurs from China (why China, I wondered?) in which "children"
climb into a sand box with a bucket and "dig up" dinosaur bones. The
dear docent lady told me that after I left she would have to kick the
sand back over the bones for the next child to uncover, but she seemed
thrilled that I climbed in despite my advanced years. ;) I actually
enjoyed brushing the sand off the bones more than I should probably
admit. ;) A highlight of the museum was a massive re-creation of 19th
century Victoria, actual streets with shops and houses that you could
enter or peer through the windows to see every last detail
painstakingly assembled. In the old train station, they even had a
light and sound show to simulate the trains passing through. It was
really moody and nice.
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After a few hours we felt ready for some ice cream (which we never
did find) and fresh air, so we headed to the edge of downtown for a
longish walk to Beacon Hill Park. I had originally thought the walk
would just be a means to an end for a beautiful view across the
channel to Washington, but Beacon Hill Park turned out to be
wonderful. The sun was going in and out, and we left the road for a
path that meandered past well-manicured gardens, ponds with ducks, and
black squirrels running up trees. We crossed a little stone bridge
that rose over a little lake with a fountain. Even though our feet
were tired, it was incredibly soothing to be in this park. And
suddenly we could see the ocean below us, just past the world's
tallest totem pole (the picture doesn't do the height justice; it was
something like 283 feet!) Down by the sea wall, we saw more who were
sort of "paraswinging," floating over the water's edge in cushy padded
seats with parachutes. It was beautiful, and we might have walked
further but it was getting quite chilly and we were also hungry. The
walk back to town was a lot longer than we remembered, and for a while
it was completely residential. Finally, we entered Antique Row, a
long street of antique shops, all closed by now. So we walked straight
to Suze, where we had already planned to have dinner after peering in
on our walk the night before. It turned out to be exactly right for
our mood, dark and cozy with lots of candlelight. We ordered some
satay (delicious) salad and pad thai (only okay) and a curious curry
platter that, as our friendly server described it, "looked like a
plate they'd give you in prison." Luckily it tasted better than that,
but since it was almost completely dark in there we had no idea what
we were eating. :) We had a couple of martinis and were soon feeling
much better about our sore feet. :)
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We tried to find some ice cream on the way home but everything was
closed except for a fabulous little vegetarian restaurant with amazing
baked goods where we got a ginger cookie, a lemon bar, and an apple
square to go. We decided to curl up with these in the "media center"
section of our suite (the bedroom TV was small) and watch "Down With
Love" on pay-per-view. It was kind of silly, but had great costumes,
and we were happy listening to the rain and putting our feet up.
In the morning, I was feeling really sad to leave British Columbia.
It was a long day of traveling because we had to get all the way back
to Vancouver, which involved a 90 minute ferry ride sandwiched between
two longish drives. We did manage to squeeze in a very nice breakfast
at a Mexican café next to our hotel, and then we were off for Swartz
Bay in the Bee Mobile. It was a nice drive, and we boarded the ferry
and departed right on time. Since there were no stops on this trip,
the ride was a lot less chaotic, and we mostly just read and enjoyed
the view.
When we got to Tsawwassen, I thought we had time to visit the
University of British Columbia (UBC) campus, as it was not too far
from the Vancouver airport. However, we got a little lost out there
and when we finally found the Museum of Anthropology (it looked very
nice) we realized we only had time for lunch before getting to our
plane. We stopped at the outlook for Wreck Beach (apparently it has
nudists at the bottom) for a moment and then went in search of petrol
via a "scenic" drive that had us both on edge since there were no gas
stations as part of the scenery. :) We ended up driving to the airport
without ever figuring out where to stop for lunch, and figured we'd
grab something there, but forgot that we'd have to pass through
customs before doing anything else, and that took a long time. Mostly,
they made us walk several miles, and that was WITH the luggage.
Eventually we stopped at a bagel place and then I took a walk around
the airport while David read. It had been a long day, but luckily both
our flights left on time and the flight from Seattle even arrived
almost an hour ahead of schedule.
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