Let’s finish up day 1 first. The last flight from Vancouver
to Victoria was only 12 minutes long. Yup we were actually in the air 12
minutes. I have been on many short flights, but 12 minutes!? We got to
elevation, the seatbelt sign turned off, and two minutes later the sign came
back on as we were beginning our descent.
Jenn and I left the airport, found our way to the bus (form
of transportation number 2) and headed to Butchard Gardens. A beautiful part of
Vancouver Island, about 45 minutes from Victoria. We wandered around the
beautiful tulips and saw many pretty arrangements, and while taking pictures of
each other in front of this one nice fountain,
we ended up in a conversation with these two lovely ladies and their
mother. It turns out that one of their daughter-in-laws is from PEI, so we had
a nice discussion. Now why do I even mention this basic exchange? It seems so
trivial a detail. It’s actually quite significant.
Some background: my sister will talk to anyone, about
anything, for hours. I have always made fun of her for this. We would be window
shopping and she would somehow get into a conversation with the clerk….without
going into the store! For the most part, small talk annoys me. Getting my hair
done can be torturous for the meaningless exchange of words. However, after
living on PEI for nearly 3 years, I think this dislike is changing. I really
enjoyed talking to these ladies even though I will never see them again. Then
later on in the day, I got into a few very meaningless short conversations with
a few other people, and enjoyed those too. I even initiated a conversation with
the people at the table next to us. What? That’s not like old me. Charming old
PEI is so friendly that I think it has its neighborly, rose-colored hooks in
me. Gone is the Arizona isolation, in with talking to new people! I can’t
imagine I’ll ever enjoy getting my hair done, but this is a step in the right
direction!
Jenn and I had a great dinner at the Flying Otter in
downtown Victoria (recommended by the ladies) after checking into our quaint self-described
‘boutique’ hotel: the Bedford Regency. For the price I was expecting Motel 6
and was very pleasantly surprised. It’s also the most haunted hotel in the most
haunted town in Canada. (dun dun dunnnnn) though we didn’t stay in room that
has the most sightings. Funny though, the elevator was out, so we had to drag
our bags up two flights to our floor, find our door already ajar, so I went
down and got us a new room up four flights, but after getting to that room
learned that our keys weren’t as updated as the hotel clerk thought, so I went
down and back up the 4 flights before finally crashing into the pristine white
duvet covered bed! Jenn elected to let me take the stairs and sat with the bags
so at least I wasn’t lugging those around. After a quick rest we walked around
the wharf area, had some awesome mussels and sampled a nice mojito with fresh
mint, tried on dresses at a cute shop nearby, then went back to the hotel and
crashed. With the 4 hour time change, we had been up nearly 22 hours and were
ready to call it a day, even if it was barely 9pm local time.
We woke up the morning of day 2 having heard no ghosts, only
the very happy loud people leaving the bars. I would like to say we jumped out
of bed but it was really a slow progression to get ready for the day. We went
to a great breakfast joint called ‘Willy’s’ where I had the most amazing
Southern Benedict. I don’t like breakfast food, but this was incredible! The
previous eggs benedict title-holder was my cousin Kevin, but the reign has
passed. This had cornbread and a chipotle hollandaise sauce with pieces of spicy
sausage instead of ham. Boy oh boy was it good! (I should note I started a
conversation with the waitress. Ask my sister…that doesn’t normally happen.
Silly PEI).
Next Jenn and I found Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown. This is
North America’s smallest alley, less than 1m wide in parts, and the oldest
Chinatown in Canada. We wandered into cute shops and each made a fun purchase.
I got an awesome hat that is too big to fit in my luggage so it will be in
every picture from here on out. Jenn bout a less conspicuous ring made from
spoons – very cool. We then went on a ghost walk in the middle of the day.
Isn’t that when most people go hunting for ghosts? Before checking out of our
hotel, we went up to the haunted room (number 49) and other than feeling
spooky, we saw nothing, not even an orb. So, we tried other known haunted spots
in the area: the Maritime Museum where the gallows used to be, the cigar shop,
a chocolate shop where we had to sample the wares before proceeding to the Empress.
A fun little ghost walk that unsurprisingly turned up nothing but a really nice
sea salt and caramel chocolate.
After this we headed to the Natural History Museum and spent
an hour seeing First Nations, Chinese, and American/Canadian cultural things. I
can use no other word than ‘things’. It was a neat museum with exhibits in
themed rooms, but I must say I was a bit whelmed. (Not overwhelmed or
underwhelmed…just whelmed). There was a stuffed Mammoth and some neat sea
lions, but unusually for a natural history museum, the word ‘evolution’ wasn’t
to be found. Additionally the exhibits had titles but really no information or
text. Quite whelming.
Jenn and I then hustled back to our hotel, grabbed our bags,
and went to the bus station to catch our 1:45 out of town to Vancouver. After
an hour’s drive, we got on the ferry (transportation mode 3) and had a nice
respite from walking while travelling to Vancouver.
This is a nice side of the world. There is green everywhere
and people keep telling us how lucky we are to come in this weather. That tells
me two things. 1 - it’s beautiful weather, and 2 – it’s not normally this
beautiful. It was neat to see snow capped mountains behind forests on an
island. The island I know is flat without mountains, so this was a different
sight. The downtown of Victoria is aptly named as there are Victorian inspired
buildings everywhere. The town is quaint and I could see spending a number of
days wandering around. There are ethnic restaurants on every corner – something
PEI is certainly lacking, but clearly an English rather than Scottish or Irish
influence.
Our Victoria appetizer is now complete, and we are ready for
the Vancouver course. Tonight’s entertainment is a musical: Dreamgirls followed
by retiring in a hostel in Gastown. Quite a dichotomy from last night’s luxury
and quiet evening.
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