British Columbia took my breath away!

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I went to go see my sister over the 4th of July weekend in 2005. I hadn't seen Sis and her family in 4 years. Before I got to Seattle, I asked her if she would mind if my nephew, Will would be able to come to Victoria with me for an overnight trip. I figured he would be happy to see a change in scenery and it would give us the chance to catch up over the years that we've missed. Both were delighted at the opportunity and I was happy to play tour guide.

Will and I left Seattle early in the morning via the Victoria Clipper. The ferry ride is about a 3 hour ride, so it provided Will and I the chance to talk and snack on some goodies that the ferry provides.
I had heard how beautiful Victoria was and my friends told me that if I get the chance, to stay at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. I made plans for Will and I to see Butchart Gardens and tour the Butterfly Garden. After that, we were game for anything that we encountered. One thing I didn't count on is that we would be in Victoria on Canada Day, and that made it even more fun!

We began the early afternoon touring the Butterfly Gardens, I had never seen so many beautiful butterflies in my life. There is at least 35 different species of butterflies there! I had a couple of them land on my shoulders, no, not all 2400 of them! It was amazing to see the butterfly in the stages of development. The abundance of plants and tropical birds made the gardens even that more special.

The drive to Butchart Gardens was awesome, I enjoy that part of the country and can even envision myself retiring in that part of the country. It is truly beautiful! Little did I know that Butchart Gardens would leave me in awe as to how gardening could be!

Butchart Gardens is a 130 acre spread. At one time it was a limestone quarry. Sometime around 1904 Mrs. Butchart wanted to do something with this terrible pit that was pretty used up, therefore she brought in top soil, plants, and flowers. Today, there is over 1,000,000 bedding plants. Different flowers are used for the different seasons. The gardens are divided into: Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and the Italian Garden. I can't say that I had a "favorite", I loved each of them!

I found out that they served an afternoon tea, and I have never had that experience. I thought an afternoon tea at Butchart Gardens would be a nice way to end the day, I wasn't sure how Will would feel about going to a "tea" but he throughly enjoyed it as much as I did.

After the gardens, we went back to our hotel, Fairmont Empress to rest up a bit, as we had done some serious walking. The hotel was divine luxury in every which way. One of the reasons I picked it (besides its history and beauty) was that it is walking distance to the harbor. The hotel was opened in 1908 and was named for Queen Victoria, Empress of India. I enjoyed the tapestries in our room and sleeping on luxury linens were a great way to sleep the night away.

Early evening, we walked around the shops and one of my favorite shops was a Christmas Shop. I did more than "ooooh and ahhhh" over the ornaments! Will and I saw a band playing on the sidewalk, there were more activities than usual since it was Canada Day. Will thought the Canadian women were hot!

Will and I ended our evening with fireworks, which were right outside of our hotel!

The next day we walked through Thunderbird Park, Miniature Museum, and the Royal Museum. These museums are a "must" to go see. The displays at the Miniature Museum involved so much hand work, I could tell there was a lot of labor of love put into those exhibits.

We caught the afternoon ferry back to Seattle. I'd love to go back there for a longer stay!

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Photos

Port
This is the port for Victoria where we got off from the ferry.

Streets of Victoria
I couldn't believe how beautiful the hanging baskets were on the streets of Victoria!

Our home for the night
We stayed at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. We in awe of the luxury, including the robes!

Butterfly Gardens
It is really hard to leave! I was hoping to capture a picture of a Blue Morpho but they aren't still long enough for a digital camera.

Postman Butterfly
I don't know why kind of mail it brings.

Giant Owl Butterfly
I didn't know which "eye" was looking at me.

Julia Butterfly
Caught on camera, raiding the till.

Butterfly
You can't get away with it!

Giant Swallowtail
Butterflies are a bit of a challenge to photograph, they don't stay still for long.

Nursery
The different stages of butterflies.

Angel Trumpet
This plant is rather intriguing.

Vanda Tokyo Blue
This flower is beautiful. Imagine if a rose in this color could be grown!

Orchard
Butterflies were attracted to this orchard.

Violet Plantain Eater
There were two of these birds there. They can be found in West Africa.

Caribbean Flamingo
No- I don't have any of these in my yard. These are the prettiest of the Flamingos I've ever seen!

Flower Child
Will at the entrance to Butchart Gardens. Little did he know what he was in for!

Sunken Garden
Our descent into the main garden.

Poster children
Will and I are flower children.

Bog garden
Flowers in the midst of stone was pretty, almost like an artist took their paintbrush to the hardscape.

Yellow petals
There were so many flowers throughout the gardens, I couldn't even begin to identify them.