Victoria, the Gem of the Ocean...

Victoria's Parliament Building with its raised iron canons
and beautiful gardens loomed up to greet us...

We lined up early for the large ocean-going ferry and spent the time til boarding going around to the visitors shops and drinking coffee….

The trip across was uneventful but as we approached we could not help be dazzled with the sight of Victoria harbor which was truly delightful with its multi-tiered white walkways and hand-rails set against some of the most beautiful gardens I have seen in any city…

Victoria was a true walking city—again not too big; not too small. It represented kind of a montage of Empire interwoven with commercial buildings set against a pattern of gardens and trees…. Victoria had a little bit of everything or so it seemed from its commercial streets with their
Special sales plastered over the windows. It seemed that vacationers were everywhere although I didn’t spot one cruise ship…

We fell into the tourist trap and made the rounds, also exploring for good restaurants which seemed a little harder to ferret out.

The next day saw us driving up the mountain ranges that border Vancouver Island and plunge down to the sea.
It was magnificent. We could see down to the Gulf Islands and I believe all the way to the San Juans…

We had tried to get into the Empress but it was booked at the quoted rate; instead, we did the next best thing and agreed on Delta Pointe that juts out into Victoria Harbor and is a beautiful hotel in its own right.

Since Jeff was tied up til the next evening, we decided to go to High Tea at the Empress the next day which was the best tea I had ever gone to despite the fact that we had made the rounds in London and Scotland and even tried the New York
Hotels. No, the Empress was best from every angle: the tea itself, service, ambiance. What a wonderful experience! All Rose’s idea but it was worth doing!....