Plum Crazy

Victoria and Vancouver were simply beautiful. We spent 3 days in Vancouver, touring the downtown area and Stanley Park. Stanley Park is magnificent. Absolutely worth the trip just by itself. We had a beautiful day to go out there, too.

The next day it poured, but we headed off to Granville Island Public Market anyway. Worth the 10 minute ferry ride. Do not eat before you go there! We made the mistake of eating breakfast before we went there, something we both regretted. We did stay over for lunch. The choice is amazing. I bought some duck pate and fresh bread from a couple of different stalls. Wonderful.

We also spent some time going around Yaletown and Gastown. Lots of good restaurants in Yaletown, and we wound up eating most of our meals there. We didn't hit Gastown until our last morning there, but it was really cool. Hands down best meal we ate, though, was at Chambar. If you get a chance to visit Vancouver, splurge one night and go to this restaurant. It's between Oldtown and Chinatown. The food is primarily Belgian, although the chef is Northern African and his lamb tajine is fantastic.

Then we took the ferry over to Victoria. This is not a quick trip, so if you do decide to go, give yourself plenty of time. It takes about an hour to get from downtown Vancouver to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal on the Pacific Coach Lines bus. The ferry ride is 95 minutes, but with the breathtaking scenery, this passes pretty quickly. Then it's another 30 minutes from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to Victoria itself.

Victoria itself is pretty small, but it's charming. At least once you get into Victoria itself. As we were on the bus from Swartz Bay to Victoria, I was looking around and swearing to myself that had the trees been different, I'd have thought I was on Route 3 in New Jersey. Strip malls, used car lots, appliance stores... But once you hit the city itself, the ambience changes completely. You definitely see the British influence there. Very touristy, though.

Things to do in Victoria. There are basically two. One is Butchart Gardens, which is astoundingly beautiful. The climate in the Pacific Northwest is definitely conducive to gardens, and this is the best of them all. Technically this isn't in Victoria itself, but by bus it's about 35 minutes.

The other thing to do is have high tea at the Fairmont Empress. Yes, it's pricey ($54 Canadian). Yes, it's touristy. Still, if you can afford it, do it. It's a taste treat, and the ambience is reminiscent of something you only read about in novels these days.

There are also a lot of tourist shops in Victoria, so you can also spend money. Rogers Chocolates is worth a visit, just for the aroma. If you like tea and china, go to the tea shop at the Empress Hotel. And the Christmas in Victoria shop is open all year round!