Vancouver
Day Two
10.12.2011 - 10.12.2011
5 °C
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Canadian Adventure
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Saturday 10 Dec 2011
Day two’s plan was thrown out when we called Grayline Tours the day before to confirm our trip to Vancouver Island on Monday 12th – turns out they need a minimum of 4 people to run the tour and we were the only takers for Monday, and would we like to go Saturday instead. So we agreed to a 9am start (after a very long day and experiencing a little jet lag). It turned out to be a good decision – it stayed cloudy in Vancouver but was fine over on the island. Our fellow-tourers were Corinne and Damian from Sydney and Gordon was our very knowledgeable driver. Victoria is a popular destination and we chatted to four lovely young ladies who were going over there for a Christmas party (including overnight accommodation) hosted by their employer.
We had a couple of hours to wander around the centre of Victoria so we strolled through the Empress Hotel (one of the famous Fairmont group) which was hosting a Christmas tree competition. Such a variety of styles and themes from Grinches to Paris plus the more traditional red and green. On a quest up the street we found the same coin and estate jewellery store where I had purchased an gold ring when I was there with Jim in 2007. Amazingly there was a similar ring for sale so I was able to take the first step in replacing what was stolen from me last June.
West coast chowder was our choice for lunch and what an excellent choice it was – thick, creamy and full of seafood bits.
Back on the bus we headed for Butchart Gardens which has a spectacular winter lights display. The theme this year is the Twelve Days of Christmas so the challenge is to find all the displays that match the song. We found about half – loved the pipers piping. Sadly I haven’t the skill with my camera to do justice to the display.
Posted by jrp_pedal 13.12.2011 10:25 Archived in Canada
At the Butchart Gardens there was a very old fashioned carousel -the sort we oldies grew up with and when a ride on a carousel was a special treat from your parents. The memories whilst sitting astride the beautiful carousel horse was a very precious moment and will remain with me.
The gardens at night were a real delight and really made one feel like Christmas was not far away. I've been good Santa!
21.12.2011 by Robyn_sme