| Another perfect day with beaming blue skies, great | | | | landscaping and fragrant flower beds. Sea planes |
| temperatures and no humidity greeted me yesterday. | | | | were landing and taking off, and the tiny local harbour |
| After a lovely strengthening breakfast and some | | | | ferry boats were zipping around on the water.After |
| business issues, Clare and I set off by car to explore | | | | gazing at the Empress Hotel and the downtown area |
| British Columbia's capital Victoria.We started by | | | | from the west side of the Harbour, we decided we |
| parking our car pretty close to "Mile Zero", right next | | | | were going to explore Victoria's next-door neighbour: |
| to Beacon Hill Park. This expansive city park is right | | | | Esquimalt, a much more basic area that is home to a |
| next to the waterfront and at its southern end you | | | | large naval base. Esquimalt is definitely not as scenic |
| have a perfect view across the Juan de Fuca Sound | | | | and dressed up as Victoria, but it still appeared to be |
| to Washington State's Olympic Mountain | | | | a pretty tidy place. We continued to head west on |
| range.Beacon Hill Park has beautiful landscaping, | | | | suburban roads and ended up having a beautiful |
| hundreds of flower beds, a petting zoo with | | | | nature experience at the waterfront of Albert Head |
| screaming peacocks, serene shady ponds hosting | | | | Lagoon. We drove in through curvy roads in a shady |
| various families of ducks, an assortment of totem | | | | forest, parked our car, and walked on the beach, |
| poles and a great variety of shade trees, many of | | | | besides hundreds of stranded wooden logs, to a |
| which I have never seen in Toronto. The whole | | | | shady corner at the west end of the lagoon where |
| waterfront around Beacon Hill Park reminded me very | | | | Clare and I had a beautiful chat about life, human |
| much of California and seeing the odd palm tree just | | | | relationships, changes in lifestyles and mentalities in |
| reinforced that image. I had to remind myself that | | | | the new China and other esoteric topics.Around 5 pm |
| we are still in Canada here.Our next step was to | | | | we decided to head even further west and we |
| explore the waterfront to the east along Beach | | | | decided to find another hidden lagoon, called Witty's |
| Drive. We moved past lovely well-kept houses and | | | | Lagoon which is part of a regional park system. We |
| various inlets and bays and about 3 km east of | | | | found the entrance and parked our car since only a |
| downtown we arrived in the Oak Bay area. When | | | | footpath takes you down to the lagoon. Sheltered |
| we saw the Tudor-style gables of the Oak Bay | | | | from the heat by a lovely overhead forest canopy, |
| Beach Hotel we decided this needed further | | | | we walked down a steep slope past the Sitting Lady |
| exploration. We stopped the car, went through the | | | | Waterfall. Along the way we saw hundreds of wild |
| lobby and outside the back door and saw one of the | | | | blackberry bushes that were just getting ripe, and |
| most beautiful patios and backyards on the ocean. | | | | we sampled some of nature's bounty. After about 20 |
| The hotel, just like so many other places in Victoria, | | | | minutes of walking beside a marsh on the left hand |
| has gorgeous landscaping and a multitude of brilliantly | | | | side, we finally ended up on a beach at the Southern |
| coloured flower beds, right next to the Pacific | | | | tip of Vancouver Island that offered a perfect view |
| Ocean.Coming up next we checked out the Oak Bay | | | | of the majestic Olympic Mountains range.18 minutes |
| Marina and then turned inland towards the quaint Oak | | | | of uphill hiking later and we were back at the car, |
| Bay shopping area, bedecked in hanging flower pots, | | | | ready to drive downtown where we were picking up |
| and featuring many outdoor patios. We knew an | | | | Haishan, Clare's husband, for dinner. The perfect |
| exploration of the Empress Hotel and the Provincial | | | | meeting place was the Empress Hotel, of course. We |
| Parliament Buildings was on our menu, so we started | | | | picked him up and drove back over the Inner |
| heading downtown on Yates Street. We turned right | | | | Harbour Bridge and reached our dinner destination: |
| at the waterfront and to find a parking spot in this | | | | the Spinnaker Brew Pub at the Western End of |
| bustling neighbourhood, we ended parking on Johnson | | | | Victoria's Harbour. On the outdoor patio we had a |
| Street, right in front of a retail store that had large | | | | gorgeous view of the Victoria Harbour, looking down |
| mechanical doll dressed up as an old lady with a big | | | | at the condo buildings, ships and sea planes that |
| hat in front of it. The doll was able to open and close | | | | were still going back and forth. It was a little chilly |
| its eyelids and move its head from side to side, much | | | | outside at that time, but the restaurant supplied us |
| to the fascination of the local tourists.We filled up the | | | | with blankets to protect us against the evening |
| meter and made our way along the waterfront along | | | | cold.Having strengthened ourselves after a long day |
| Victoria's serene Inner Harbour Area. Past various | | | | of sightseeing we arrived back at the house at about |
| buskers, mimes and outdoor performance artists we | | | | 9 pm and given the fact that I had pretty much |
| slowly made our way towards the Empress Hotel, a | | | | been awake since 4 am due to jetlag, I thanked my |
| gorgeous chateau-style grand hotel dating back to | | | | gracious hosts for their hospitality and made my way |
| 1908. Just southwest of it are the intricately styled | | | | to bed.It's now just about 2:15 am, that means I get |
| Parliament Buildings, built between 1893 and 1898. | | | | another 3.5 hours of sleep before I have to get up, |
| With expansive lawns and flower beds out front and | | | | pack my bags, eat a brief breakfast and then get |
| introduced by a statue of Queen Victoria, they offer | | | | dropped off by Haishan on his way to work at the |
| an impressive visual delight.Having strenghtened | | | | Victoria Bus Terminal. From there I'll have to say |
| ourselves with a tasty turkey sandwich and a | | | | goodbye to pretty Victoria and make my way back |
| delicious ice cream, we slowly walked back past the | | | | to the mainland by ferry and bus, to check out my |
| Empress on Government Street and checked out the | | | | next destination: Vancouver. I am already |
| various retail stores. This area is just hustling and | | | | excited...Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website |
| bustling with people, and we saw several street | | | | called Travel and Transitions( Travel and Transitions |
| musicians and bands. Many of the retail stores are | | | | deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of |
| located in historical buildings that have been painted in | | | | advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews |
| bright colours. Just as our meter was expiring we | | | | with travellers and travel experts, insights and |
| briefly checked out Market Square, an outdoor | | | | reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many |
| market area with many ecclectic little shops.Back in | | | | other features. You will also find stories about life and |
| the car we crossed the bridge at the north end of | | | | the transitions that we face as we go through our |
| the Inner Harbour and checked out the west side of | | | | own personal life-long journeys.Submit your own |
| the harbour which features a beautiful boardwalk, | | | | travel stories in our first travel story contest( and |
| flanked by upscale condominium buildings, most of | | | | have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise |
| them retirement homes, surrounded by luscious | | | | on the Amazon River. |