Playing in Victoria, BC

Friday I did a bit of caching (I had a find a nice big cache to leave a bug in) and a good bit of getting ready for our trip and for circle Friday night.

Saturday the alarm was set for 4:00am. *sigh* Early even for me. Esp. since we got to the airport and had to sit on the tarmac for an hour whilst they played with possibly faulty navigation instruments. Luckily our connection in Seattle had been going to be a long layover and we made our flight to Victoria without difficulty. We got to Victoria in late morning and had the whole afternoon to wander the harbour area and generally sightsee. I picked up a few virtual caches but most folks up here don't want you to log until your answer is checked. I am finding that very annoying. Rather than going out for a fancy dinner since we hadn't had lunch until about 3pm, we wandered over to a movie theatre and saw Mission Impossible III which was about what we expected. A thrill ride with no particular merit.

Sunday we ate the very nice continental breakfast at our hotel, The Magnolia. I am very happy with the hotel. Our room is lovely and the service ahs been quite good. We're about two blocks from the Empress, so right near the harbour and all the tourist areas.

We went to Craigdarroch Castle right when it opened at 10am, which we were very glad for as it got crowded very quickly and we were a bit ahead of the curve. It is a *wonderful* stately home. One of those built on a scale one could actually imagine living in. It was built by a coal baron in the 19th century but fell on hard times after the 1920s and was a hospital and a school and such before being restored. They are doing a lovely job of the restoration.

For lunch we ate a Julia's, a Mediterranean place across from our hotel. Russell had ravioli in a creamy curry sauce which was amazing and I had Greek lamb chops. Yum. Then we wandered back down to the harbour and took the "Gorge" tour which goes upriver from the harbour. It was a bit disappointing since there wasn't much of a "tour". But it was nice to be on the water and to see the rocky shore and the various buildings old and new. There is a cool bridge with huge concrete counterweights. We passed a car recycling center... you could see the smashed bodies at one end and then piles of "buick chips" at the other ready to head off to China to be made into refrigerators or whatever. By then it was about 4pm and we wandered voer and found the BC Museum closed at 5pm so I decided to come back in the morning when it opens at 9am (and I'd better stop typing and go!)

So I wandered off and caught a couple of real caches along the shore and did a Travel Bug party (pictures) at Mile Zero of the Trans-Canadian highway. That was a fun.

For dinner we went to The Reef, a caribbean restaurant. I had amazing appetizers "squash fritters" which were trini pakora filled with goat cheese, "yam chips" which were yam french fries, and crab cakes. The various dipping sauces, jerk mayo, mango chutney and pesto aioli were wonderful. Russell has a thyme chicken which he pronounced very good as well. We split a pitcher of sangria which is a practice I think I need to stop... red wine has been giving me a stuffed head and it has too much acid in the fruit juice. Bah. I hate getting old.

Off to the museum!

Hanging in Victoria with Gary & Sarah

Today I got up nice and early and after breakfast at the hotel headed to the Royal BC Museum. Wow. The First Peoples Gallery which Sarah had particularlay recommended is spectacular. The artefacts and the way they have arranged and lighted the galleries is wonderful. I had about an hour and went through the pre-European contact area and then ran down to the ferries to meet Sarah and Gary (Gary is panlives and I think Sarah has a journal too but I don't know her handle) who had come over from Port Angeles to have lunch and hang with Russell and me.

They had a list of interesting shops they wanted to visit so we set off and wandered down Government St. toward Chinatown. The guy who sold me my ticket to the museum noticed my pentacle and asked if I was Wiccan. I said yes and we chatted and I asked about local shops. So we checked out Three Spirals which took us to the Fan Tan Alley. I didn't buy anything there but the nearby shops got some of our money. Gary was looking for a good pearl tea and found the Bubble Tea Place to be quite good. (When we came back several hours later so he could get another before leaving, I bought a cool shirt there.)

We had lunch at Garlic Rose where Gary & Sarah had halibut fish & chips and Russell and I had "seafood wellington" which was really good with perfect puff pastry and a yummy cream sauce. We sat and visited for quite awhile before heading out again. In the Market Square we ran into a choir performance with two choirs touring together - one from Namibia and one from Alberta. They were doing wonderful African harmonies and dance. A delightful and unexpected find. :-)

We went into a tobacconist so that Gary could look at pipes and I checked out the Cuban cigars. I didn't see any of the sort that pearlshadow says are Exu's favorites. I may have to get *something* for the Orixa whilst I'm here though.

We wandered into Roberta's hats and Sarah found a nice everyday hat. I tried on an amazing (and expensive) confection that saffronrose would have drooled over too. *sigh* Oh, to be a lady of means! *laugh* This hat was such a wonder that I'd have to build an outfit around it and I'm really not costuming anymore.

We finally went into Roger's Chocolates so Gary & Sarah could get a treat for their dog sitter. I didn't have any Willied money on me so I was able to resist. I do plan to got back for a chocolate and orange peel bar before we leave. (It is only a block from our hotel.)

We walked Sarah & Gary down to the ferry and they headed back across the border. I went back to the Museum to finish my tour of the First Peoples and a bit of the history of BC galleries. The museum closed at 5pm and I grabbed a virtual and a small cache before heading back to the hotel. I've walked almost five miles today and I decided I didn't want to go back out. Russell went down to the Museum to the IMAX theatre to see the moon movie. I took a bath with the "bath ball" which seems to have been just bath salts without scent that the hotel provided. Life is good. [Russell just got back... the movie was pre-empted by a fighter pilot movie - I'm so glad I took a bath!]