Hey, hey! How is everyone today? I’m pretty excited because it’s almost Friday…and not just any Friday, but the Friday of Mother’s Day weekend! I told Mr. Sugarplum all I wanted for Mother’s Day was him. Easy gutter-head, I mean I want his help on any and all house projects, no questions asked! Which he’ll usually do anyway, but this time I won’t have to butter him up first.
Today is the next Trip Report from our Canadian Adventure… Victoria and Vancouver! I posted about Tofino last week, which was actually our stop between these two cities. We flew to Vancouver, then headed straight to the ferry, which took us to Victoria, on Vancouver Island.
I’ve ridden the ferry from Galveston to Boliver Island, and let me tell you, this is not the same kind of ferry boat! Ours had four levels of cars and two more for passengers, and it was a little unnerving to watch over-sized 18-wheelers and buses drive on with us.
There were lounges, restaurants and shops inside the boat, but we couldn’t take our eyes off the view outside as we cruised through the islands.
Had I known the sun is rare was to be short-lived, I might have savored it more.
Two hours later, we were driving through the lovely neighborhoods of Victoria, with signs of Spring all around.
We stayed in a boutique hotel on the harbor, The Magnolia, and spent the evening exploring, and having a delicious dinner at a local favorite, Re-Bar.
Their Chinatown is the second oldest in North America, after San Francisco.
The next day we walked around the harbor, admiring the gardens, boats and Parliament Building.
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, and has a very old England feel. What made it so cool to me, is how they’ve integrated the First Nation influence and history.
Having tea at the Fairmont Empress is ‘the thing’ to do, but at $70 a pop, we opted out, thank you very much.
How about this for a Fiddle Leaf Ficus?! You know I took this picture specifically for you guys! I’m guessing they don’t haul this baby outside for thorough soaking, so mine should be just fine being watered in the Breakfast Room.
Less than 24-hours after arriving, we said good-bye to the lovely city of Victoria and headed to Tofino. After three nights there, it was back to the ferry boat and a night in Vancouver. This beautiful misty rain greeted us. No sarcasm in that statement yet.
After being in Tofino, with only 1,500 residents, it was a shocker to cross the bridge to the most densely populated city in Canada!
We explored downtown and ate divine Indian food at Vij’s Rangoli, before collapsing in our funky downtown hotel, The Burrard. We awoke to more light rain, but decided not to let that deter us, and hopped on the hotel’s bikes and headed to Granville Island Market.
It was a food shopper’s paradise, and we ate our way through it.
By this time, I wasn’t feeling the beautiful rain, only the cold and wet. This cute water taxi rescued us and kept me from having to whine ride back over the bridge, in the now pouring rain.
Texas gets short, rumbling thunderstorms, then the sun returns. I wasn’t really sure what to do with 48 straight hours of rain! Here’s my ‘I’m trying to be a good sport, but I’m really over this so feed me more cookies’ face.
After an amazing brunch at the cozy Medina Cafe, we checked out Stanley Park from the dry confines of our car.
After only one night, it was time to head north on the Sea to Sky highway for our final stop, Whistler!
Vancouver is a beautiful city on the water, and the people are so very nice. I hope to see it again, in all it’s glory, on a clear and sunny day! But since we returned to 90-degrees, those wet, chilly days of Vancouver are looking pretty good! Have you visited either of these lovely cities? Are you still with me? Last Trip Report coming up soon! And I was so disappointed to find out after the fact that Christine was in Victoria the same time as us! She has great re-caps here and here.
