Victoria – September 16-19 2009 (Part Three)

 

Shoe manufacturers send us regular thank you notes for our walking-intensive vacations that ensure super frequent purchases of new footwear. Rough calcs show that our entire trip was probably in the 30 mile range, and about half of that was accomplished on this day (our last full one in Victoria) alone.

Fuel for this healthy showing of bipedal excellence was consumed at a spot called the James Bay Tea Room, not too far from the hotel. Our route took us by the sexy backside of the Parliament building. Architecture-geek catcalls ensued. Work it!

 

The Tea Room.

Yelp reviews aren’t the kindest to the JBTR, implying that its excessively British decor and abundance of pictures of the royal family are kitschy. As a tourist, I thought it was all quaint and cosy (that spelling’s for you, Anglophiles!). Food was fine, though my memory a year later does not serve to tell me what I had. I wrote down “omelet” on the receipt (yes, which I’ve kept. Because I do that sort of thing). I didn’t add any modifiers like “disgusting” or “inedible”, so it had to have worked out for me. Mike had the bangers, and both meals were served with the best scones I’ve had. It was at this breakfast that we discovered packets of peanut butter next to the usual jellies. Neither of us recall ever seeing that at a breakfast spot in the states. We saw it at a different restaurant the next morning, too, and I declare the practice very approvable.

We let our breakfasts digest with a leisurely stroll through Beacon Hill Park, which stretches from downtown to the south coast of the peninsula. The park is lush and beautifully green. Impossibly green.

No, seriously, too much green.

 

Seriously, when you can hardly tell where the grass ends and the water begins, you’ve overdone the green.

The view across the strait was gorgeous. And not so green!

 

We rounded back up to the center of the city with the intention of strolling along the north side of the Inner Harbo(u)r. Passing Parliament, we struck some poses.

We crossed the Johnson Street Bridge to the north side of the harbor.

The waterfront trail is beautiful, and a must-do for those who also like to perambulate on their vacations.

  

This was taken shortly after Mike planted a flag and claimed the land for King Brutus.

Back in the states, Brutus took a celebratory frolic through the ocean over the new acquisition.

I think that’s pretty customary for kings in these situations.

We ended our journey in the suburb next door to Victoria called Esquimalt. I think that’s what the Eskimos call a whale blubber milkshake! Ha! Am I right? Anybody? I’ll send that one back to my writers.

We made our way back to the center of the city, and needed a little mid-day replenishment to set us up for round 2. At a charming plaza called Bastion Square, we encountered Paradiso Di Stelle, where I refreshed with some amaretto gelato and a tall glass of ice tea, while Mike drank an “iced chocolate”. First pic is Bastion Square – and then you can see us being actively refreshed below that.

We toodled through Chinatown. While it certainly won’t be mistaken for Vancouver’s, it was a very boisterous few blocks that really puts Portland’s version to shame.

This is Fan Tan Alley, which doesn’t look like much from here, but is actually home to several little shops, with the added intrigue of feeling like someone could jump out and knife you at any moment.

We ventured from here up to our next leg of our long walk. There are some excellent multiuse trails in Victoria that actually stretch out for several miles beyond the city limits. If we had had one more day, we would have liked to have rented bicycles and taken one of the routes that either steers you toward the eastern side of the island or the southwestern side. As it was, time was limited, so we made our way as far as our feet would take us on the Galloping Goose trail, which heads north out of downtown.

 

We then made our way (a long way) back to the hotel to rest a little and do some important research. What restaurant would we bless with our presence on our last evening in Vic? The winner was John’s Place, but really, the winners were us.

I had honey sesame braised ribs off the special menu, and Mike had ravioli of some sort, though I can’t recall if it was off the specials also. Both dishes were great, and prices here are better than moderate. But, the crescendo came with dessert, when we ordered THIS sour cream apple pie.

Oh have mercy – thankfully we ordered just the one slice for the two of us to share. I guess the portion size is dictated by the local sasquatch population that drops in on a regular basis.

We toured the harbor area one more time. If I look red in this picture, it’s because I am. Vic had left me with a sunburn.

The next morning, we prepared for departure. We had another solid breakfast at a place called Smitty’s, where we delighted once more in finding peanut butter packets. I’m sure I’ll get people telling me they see these all the time in restaurants here, and it’s just been the case that I’ve been too dense to notice them before.

Speaking of density, walking around Victoria was sometimes a bland experience due to the existence of block after block of very dull, 3 to 5 story apartment blocks from the mid-century period (not my personal fave). But, this density resulted in fabulously thriving neighborhood nodes and fairly lively street activity for what is, in all honesty, a pretty small city. It was definitely a “whole is more than the sum of its parts” experience at times.

Whew! I just had to get that boring urban planning/architecture note out of the way. How many people closed their browser? To those still with me, thanks…

We took a quick opportunity to check out the Fairmont Empress up close.

We were kindly let back on the ferry to return to Port Angeles, and it was yet another beautiful day at sea.

    

What was great about Victoria was how it wasn’t such an intense, big, cosmopolitan spectacle that it was too overwhelming to figure out what to do with a couple of days’ time. As we said before, we could have used one more day to do some bike riding on their trails, but we really had a relaxing, and fun time exploring in the two full days we had.

Next for the blog? Well, I’m still woefully behind. We had our Palm Springs trip at the end of July and then just went down to San Francisco for a few nights before attending a wedding in San Luis Obispo. Classes begin this coming week, but I will still try to catch up before the new year clocks in. No one make any bets or anything…

Thanks for reading!