Victoria, BC – Day 1

June 30 – Victoria, BC – Day 1

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, the westernmost province in Canada. Victoria is a unique blend of old-world charm and new world experiences. Established in 1843 as a fort for the Hudson's Bay Company, Victoria's British ancestry is apparent in the double-decker buses, horse-drawn carriages, formal gardens and high tea service. So many wonderful restaurant choices. 

Greg was up at 7:00 and I slept until about 9:00. He had found a bakery called Crust and picked up some wonderful pastries that he had brought back to the room.

We got showered and felt almost human again and took off to find the meeting places for our tours for the next 3 days.

Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites

Great Blue Heron

Empress Hotel - tours were located in front of here

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

On our last visit here was after our Alaska trip and we did a whale watch tour from Vancouver to Victoria, and we had lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish and the long line was worth it, so we headed there for lunch. Very tasty and still worth the long line. They have a light tempura batter and of course the cod is fresh.

Then we wandered the area and went back to the hotel to figure out the rest of our day.

Marijuana is legal country-wide, so we found a store near the hotel for some gummies. (no baked goods like in Amsterdam, but gummies & chocolates) They had no chocolates at this store, so we got some gummies. 

We headed out to Beacon Hill Park which was peaceful and beautiful, and we did see at least 1 new bird there. There were tons of small birds and of course they notoriously don't sit still long so it was hard to get decent photos. The most impressive for us was the Barred Owl mother and baby, not new, but still a highlight. The parent was doing that weird head swaying thing that they do.

The park walk ended at the coast and we walked around there for a while and then returned back through the park. 

Then we wandered back to the tourist area and grabbed some tasteless gelato and went back to the hotel to figure out dinner. 

There was a Greek place next door that got good reviews, so we ate there. It was very good. Greek ribs for me and a gyro for Greg. We then went for ice cream since the earlier choice was meh. This time it tasted like chocolate. We got it at BeaverTails. We love the BeaverTails, but they are filling, and we were stuffed from dinner, so their ice cream was the better choice.

We went back to the hotel and turned in early since we hadn’t had much sleep in 2 days.

Tomorrow we are headed to Butchart Gardens (we visited there after the Alaska cruise, but it was a rushed 2 hours and we had to leave on the whale boat back to Vancouver, so we hope to have more time there this time.

For larger photos: Victoria Day 1 https://photos.app.goo.gl/4ZKXNCntkxqk1JGg6

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