Blogs from Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America - page 2

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Day 8 13/05/2019 Vancouver – Butchart Gardens – Victoria Up early to get ready for the tour to Vancouver Island to see the Butchart Gardens and Victoria. We decided to check in with the Concierge to make sure that they knew we were waiting for a tour and we were asked f we had booked the tour a while ago as the tour company wasn’t doing them anymore. They then quickly informed us that someone else had taken over the tours and they pick us up at the bus stop outside the hotel. E found the bus driver and boarded and was on our way. We picked up other people from other hotels and then headed for the ferry that goes to Vancouver Island It was a 90 minute ferry ride over. First stop for the ... read more
Butchart Gardens
Butchart gardens
Tulips Butchart Gardens


Victoria, BC Friday, October 5 Our first, and only, day of inclement weather. Rain. No big deal. We have the umbrella and our coats to keep us warm and dry. It won’t be a long day in Victoria, as we depart around 4ish. Christopher and I get our tickets for the shuttle, get on the warm bus and head into town. We stop on the main shopping street in Victoria (this could be a problem) and get out of the rain asap. Conveniently, the bus stopped directly in front of a store featuring Irish wool and linen. We are always on the lookout for linen napkins as we no longer use paper napkins in our house. Eliminate paper waste, and the water used is the same as used for our towels; we mix our towels and ... read more


Early start today! Quick run to Breka (a bakery chain) for coffee and breakfast, then downstairs ready to be picked up for our Vancouver Island tour at 8am! A quick bus change and we were on our way. Forecast is for clouds, but no rain. It is a 45 min drive south from Vancouver to Tsawwassen (silent T) where the ferries depart. The bus drives onto the ferry, they are fairly large! We went on the Coastal Celebration - holds 300+ vehicles and 1600 people (so not like the Lawrence ferry!). You are not allowed to stay on the bus for the 90 minute sail across the Juan de Fuca Strait through the Gulf Islands, so have to go from Deck 2 (taking note of where your bus is parked - one of 4 identical green ... read more
On the way to Vancouver Island
Entrance to The Butchart Gardens
Snail


Die Zeit hier in Victoria vergeht wie im Flug, was wahrscheinlich daran liegt, dass ich zusammen mit zwei sehr guten Freunden lebe und uns nie langweilig wird. Von der Natur habe ich noch nicht allzu viel gesehen, dafür haben wir Sport gemacht wie z.B. Volleyball, Bouldern oder Tischtennis. Neue Leute habe ich hier nicht kennengelernt, aber das war auch nicht zwingend nötig. Zum Thetis Lake fährt man von unserer Wohnung aus ca. 20 min mit dem Bus, was vergleichsweise nicht viel ist, aber dafür bekommt man schon sehr viel geboten. Ein wunderschöner idyllischer Ort, das einzige, was stört, ist der Lärm der Straßen in der Ferne. Der Beacon Hill Park hingegen liegt im Süden Victorias, also fast mitten in der Stadt. Enten, Pfaue, Eichhörnchen und weitere Tiere sowie große Blumenbeete machen den Park aus, der auch ... read more
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An meinem letzten Tag in Los Angeles hatte es ein richtiges Abschiedswetter. Es war kalt, wolkig und hat angefangen zu regnen. Nach einigen Orientierungsschwierigkeiten am Flughafen ging meine "Heimreise" los. Bei meinem Zwischenstopp in Seattle musste ich mir leider etwas von dem überteuertem Essen am Flughafen kaufen, weil ich so hungrig war. In Vancouver angekommen kam mir wieder alles bekannt vor, die Strecke bis zu meinem Hostel war gar kein Problem. Am nächsten morgen habe ich das kostenlose Frühstück im Hostel genossen und mich dann mit dem Skytrain und Bus auf den Weg zur Fähre gemacht. Nach der Fahrt von ca. 100 min bin ich in Swartz Bay auf Vancouver Island angekommen. Von dort aus bin ich mit dem Bus nach Victoria gefahren, wo ich endlich meine Freunde aus Deutschland getroffen habe. Ob ich hier arbeiten ... read more
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North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver Island » Victoria February 24th 2018

7/24 Well weren’t we surprised this morning when our grand old Victorian Gatsby B&Bserved our breakfast as a High Tea! This is of course Victoria, British Columbia where High Tea is in stiff competition. We began with a small bowl of blueberries topped with an Earl Grey infused whipped cream and a piece of mint. Then the tea tray arrived with French toast with Canadian maple syrup, spicy sausage, quiche with caramelized onion, cheddar cheese and artichoke, smoked salmon canapes with cream cheese, mashed capers and dill (marbled bread was a bit dry), and finally, light savory scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. I would have been very impressed because of the sweet little tea room presentation and good food but it simply could not touch the excellent high tea at the Empress Hotel, which ... read more
Chinatown in Victoria
Fan Tan Alley
The great stuffed woolly mammoth at the Royal British Museum

North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver Island » Victoria February 23rd 2018

7/23 We were up early, packed and down the stairs for our 8:30am BC Ferry Connector Bus pickup at the Georgian Court Hotel to take us to the terminal for the BC Ferry to Victoria. We were the first pickup on the bus so we had to ride around town to other hotels before arriving at the ferry dock which was fine with us. It gave me time to write my journal, Dave to rest and to see more of Vancouver before leaving. Even after all the passenger pickups we still had a 45 minute ride to the ferry terminal. It is not close to downtown Vancouver! We were perched at the front of the bus as the driver drove onto the ferry for the 11am departure from Tsawwassen in Vancouver to arrive in Swartz Bay ... read more
Victoria Harbor
High Tea at the Empress
Buchart Gardens


Saturday: Sylvia and Mark walked the sea wall all around Stanley Park, I met them partway in time for lunch at the Tea House. In mid-afternoon we headed out with a bus day pass downtown to the Skytrain to the Main Street neighborhood to a knitting store for Sylvia. We stopped off at a bistro for appetizers and drinks, a bookstore, then back to the Skytrain to go across the bay to Richmond for the last weekend of the Night Market. The market was fun but turned out to be mostly Asian food and vendor stalls. An experience to be sure. Back at the Sylvia Hotel we finished with a drink and snacks. Sunday: Off to Victoria. The tour bus picked us up near the hotel, drove to the bus station to pick up more passengers, ... read more


We have joined many of the Canadian Coasters at the Saanich Fairgrounds, located in Saanich BC on beautiful Vancouver Island. It is great to see old friends and to meet our new travelling companions. There are still many that I have not had a chance to have a visit with and more will be arriving tomorrow. The excitement builds with each new arrival. Some we have not seen for seven years, so we have a lot of catching up to do. Rick Cathro and Bill Cross cooked us a yummy group breakfast this morning, so that got us all together to start the day. There is plenty to do and see so everyone went about their own ways after breakfast. Some cars needed some repair work. Some people went to dip their wheels into the Pacific ... read more
Ab on the ferry to Swarz
Meeting another ferry
Dipping


Bonjour à tous, Je ne peux pas dire que j'ai passé une super nuit, mais le manque de sommeil de la première, a aidé au fait qu'elle soit mauvaise. Hier au soir nous avons passés une superbe soirée, chez Jo, le beau père de Daniel, filleul de Pier, le marié de l'an dernier. Le jeune couple habite ponctuellement, jusqu'au 15 juillet, chez Jo, en attendant la livraison de l'appartement qu'ils viennent d'acheté. Ils nous ont gâtés, avec de la morue noire, préparée en papillote au barbecue. Je ne connaissais pas ce poisson, qui vient d'Alaska. Une finesse de chaire, d'une onctuosité, un régal. Dommage qu'elle n'est pas été plus grosse. Voilà 3 fois que je rencontre Jo, et le trouve particulièrement sympathique. Toute cette famille est très agréable à fréquenter, malgré mes difficultés avec l'anglais. Ce ... read more
Victoria
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Butchart Gardens




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