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Published: August 16th 2007
saying goodbye to the clan
out the front of the hotel we stayed inMy family have left now, which is sad, but on the bright side, Jono’s parents will be here soon. That’s how we humans get by, more like amphibians than humans, jumping from one lilly of excitement to the next, before sadness, loss and emptiness can drench us.
It was great to have mum, dad and my lil’ sista around. The time went too quickly though, and now I miss them even more!
The last week went especially fast, as I was working for most of it. Jono got back from his field trip on Wednesday, which meant he had the chance to share a few meals with the McConnachie clan. I have included a few of his photos, just because they are so good, but I’ll let him fill in the details. The landscape looks amazing though - vast and arid, such a contrast to the lush mountainous landscape around North Vancouver.
Mum, Dad, Jenna and I took off to Vancouver Island on Friday, at the crack of dawn. Jono had to go to work, but he met up with us that night. The clan and I strolled around Victoria for the day on Friday. We dutifully appreciated
the parliament house, which is one very impressive piece of architecture with an equally impressive story behind it. The architect was 25 when he designed the house, and it was his first ever building. What a project to take on as a first! He made the effort to use all local building materials, so as to keep the wealth local, which I guess was a pretty unique thing to do at the time. He then, of course, became very popular and famous, until he shacked up with a woman 30 years younger than himself, and was ousted from the community. He and his new lover moved to Europe, where his lover fell in love with their chauffer, leading the chauffer to murder the architect which caused the lover to kill herself! What a soap opera!
We also strolled through some markets, watched a local African band and had lunch at a nice vegetarian café. Victoria is a very pretty (though somewhat touristy) Old English styled town, with a lot of paved walkways and gardens.
Mum found us an awesome hotel to stay in, complete with a brew pub, fancy restaurant, and an art space. The man who owned
the hotel donated it, and his extensive collection of art, to the university on his death a few years ago, with the expectation that the business profits go to the university, and that the art be hung in public spaces. It wasn’t cheap, but the beer, the food and the art were all divine, and at least the money went to a university rather than a big fat pocket. Dinner consisted of treats such as Bison ribs, New York steak, Duck confit (is that how you spell it?), saffron seafood paella… Thanks mum!
Saturday morning was filled with tears. The first lot spilled out while waving goodbye to my parents, but I still left enough to spill later that afternoon at Colin and Julie’s wedding. (I always cry at weddings!) The wedding was great though. Simple but traditional. It was in a beautiful heritage park and included a bag pipe player and Colin in a kilt. AS you can see, Julie looked amazing.
The reception was in their back yard, where we ate beautiful food (lamb and salmon and salads) under old stables (as it was raining). See the picture of them opening their wedding presents the next
day in pouring rain. They chose to get married at this point of the year, because it is usually very rare to get any rain so late in to summer. But there you go. It rained. Why am I not surprised? It did clear up for long enough to have a bit of a dance, which I was happy about. We also got to eyeball the boats (pictured) that Colin has built for their honeymoon row around Vancouver Island, which they are doing right now as I type. Don’t think those guys know the meaning of the phrase “taking it easy.”
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Kristen
non-member comment
Weddings and Such???
Hi Guys! Just doing a lot of catch-up on your blog. It looks like you are still having a blast! Send some rain our way! How fun that your families are visiting. I have to confess that I heard a rumor (yes you guys are still the topic of rumors even half a world away) that you'all are engaged!??!?!?!?!?! Just checking!