Thursday, August 24, 2017

Alaskan Cruise 2017 - Day 8: Victoria, British Columbia

7/13/17

A lot of pictures for this post, so I'll cut down on the minutia.

On this morning we docked in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  John would stay onboard while Norma, Todd and I had an excursion to Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.  We met Norma at her room at 8:45 then headed down our designated excursion post in the Palace Theater on deck 5.  They grouped by excursion type, then when the time came we left the ship in groups to board the buses.

Our guide and driver took us through Victoria first, then on to our first stop.  We arrived at Butchart Gardens at 10am, and it was incredible.  We had 1 1/2 hours to tour the gardens, but in hindsight we should have spent all day there, it was that amazingly beautiful.

After the gardens the bus took us back to Victoria at 12:30 where we toured Craigdarroch Castle which is not really a castle, but a storied old house/mansion.  It was interesting, but paled compared to the previous stop.  We spent an hour at Craigdarroch then drove back through Victoria to the port.

Sunrise view
Welcome to Victoria, welcome to Canada.  Don't forget your passport.
Home of Canada's vast seagull armies
"Hi, welcome to Canada.  That'll be $75.95 for a one-day ticket, or we have a seasonal special where you can get a 2-day multi-park ticket for just $120 with the purchase of a souvenir mug with unlimited free refills.  Children under 5 receive free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult, and ask about our senior discount and super-saver meal plan.  We hope you enjoy your stay!"
When I was growing up we used to see peacocks roaming free all the time at the Fort Worth Zoo, but that was a long time ago - it had been years since I'd seen one.  There were a lot of them in the Beacon Hill Park area of Victoria.
Just a live eagle on top of a totem pole
Closer look
Are we there yet?
Todd and Norma
Live flowers in the Butchart Gardens sign
Everywhere we looked was stunning beauty
Huge old trees and lots of green spaces - not everything was flowers
The Sunken Garden.  This used to be a limestone quarry used for making cement.
Looking back the other way
Dew-kissed clover...
...or is dew-dappled clover better?
When I win the Powerball tonight (sigh) Someday I will commission a garden like this
An island in a sea of green
Still waters reflect verdant wonders
I mean, come on.  It's almost too much to take in.
And yes I ended two sentences in a row with prepositions - that's what this garden will do to a person!
The Bog Garden
Little details everywhere:  Notice the topiary birds at the water's edge, and the fauna under the tree in the background
A willow is a wonder - one of my favorite trees
We've circled back to the Sunken Garden
An incredible use of color and contrast
The carousel
Great color combinations
Don't ask me what it is but I love it
Bumblebee
Dragon fountain
Norma of the Roses
The path leading down to the Japanese Garden
Serene
Flower island
Crazy/amazing root system
Norma of the Green
In case you haven't noticed, I don't take a lot of photos of/with people.  I'm really pleased with this one though.
I've run out of things to say
A closer shot
Looking back at the entrance to the Japanese Garden
The Italian Garden
Heading out to the bus
Craigdarroch Castle.  The house sits on a small hill in the middle of a neighborhood of houses in close proximity to each other (the bus had to park on the street a couple of blocks away and we walked from there).  The house next door had been purchased and was being converted into a visitor center.
Exterior detail
The entryway with live cellist on the landing above
"Welcome ever smiles and Farewell goes out sighing"
An approximation of what the bedroom may have looked like back in the day
Back in the day
"I can see my ship from here!"...
...*point*
This place could be pretty spooky with very little effort.  This is the chandelier at the top of the stairs leading up to the turret.
The facilities
Ornamentation detail
Frosted glass pattern
Windows in front of windows
The smoking room
Back of the house.  The door in the lower right is where the self-guided tour comes out - through a gift shop, of course.
Driving back to the port and at a stop light we discover the too cute for words H2O taxi.
If I were a painter I would paint this scene.
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-
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(too cute for words, remember?)
British Columbia Parliament Buildings
"Thank you for visiting Canada today.  Please remember to get your hand stamped for re-entry into the country."

Back on board the ship, we had a late lunch at the Windjammer Cafe, then went to our room to pack.  Keeping out only what we needed for overnight, we packed our luggage and then rested until dinner at 7:30.  As we left for dinner we set our bags in the hall for the porters to collect.

Dinner was a roasted garlic soup, followed by eggplant parmigiana and accompanied as always :) by a Rekordlig pear cider.  I followed up my dessert of tiramisu with a coffee from the promenade deck before heading back to the room for the night.

The pilot ship prepares to come alongside our ship to collect the Canadian pilot that took us out of port.  I didn't know that's how they did it - you can find more information here.  This is also an interesting read:  A Day in the Life of a Marine Pilot.




Pinks and blues, the evening sky's hues
Blues and oranges, the setting sun's....
#@*&%!
And that was the end of our day.  Early the next morning we would arrive back in Seattle and depart the ship for the last time.  We had a full day in Seattle before we headed home, so stay tuned.
Teaser:  Giant spiders!

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