The journey started with mother, father, Anton, and I loading ourselves into the designated vehicle that David so graciously lended us for the whole trip (honestly, can you believe the generosity of that guy!?), and took off on I-5 heading for the Canadian border. After entering British Columbia, we steered towards Tsawwassen from which a ferry carried us to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. The weather was nothing but lovely, making the cruise through the Canadian San Juan islands a most delightful experience. Once landed, we headed south to the tip of the island where we reached the first destination of our road trip: Victoria.
The capital city of British Columbia is an old British settlement and one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, giving it a sweet and highly agreeable old-timey aura. Two nights were spent here, and although we certainly enjoyed looking at art and admiring the city and its beautiful parks, the main thing was perhaps meeting a couple of long-lost relatives that ended up here after some truly fascinating adventures. Some of the remarkable stories have been told at family gatherings of different kinds over the years, making actually meeting the legendary persons behind them rather special.
My photos from Victoria are sadly not overly impressive but I'm trying to work with I've got, starting with a shot of the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This is the place to go to for ridiculously overpriced afternoon tea - a true Victoria tradition. The tea, at least. The prices I'm not so sure about... In terms of lodging, we went for something a tad more more low-key and tucked ourselves into a couple of bunk beds at a backpacker inn. Less glamorous, but at least we got cheap tea.
Don't trust the sign: we didn't spot a single whale inside the harbor. Not one! Terribly disappointing.
Christ Church Cathedral.
Meta!
Lawn bowling: possibly the whitest sport out there! (Yes, tennis can just eat it.) Amazing.
Next stop: Butchart Gardens. Those of you who don't like extreme closeups of flowers should probably skip that post. Consider yourselves warned.
Hoho! David knows there's secretly stashed $$$ whenever he lets someone use his car ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh, kul att få följa med! Jag och Tomas har också haft kvalitetstid med föräldrar (Blomstrands) och har byggt på ett nytt vedskjul/dass vid stugan uppe vid Gullmarn tillsammans. Ser fram emot kommande inlägg. :)
ReplyDeleteByggelibygg! Fräckt! :)
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