Josh and I just got back from a lovely long weekend celebrating our 5th anniversary and the end of Josh’s graduate studies. I wish it could have gone a few more days! We took The Victoria Clipper up Friday afternoon and stayed for 3 nights at The Empress. It was a beautiful hotel in a great location. Friday night we had a wonderful meal at Cafe Brio.
A room with a view(ish)
our "courtyard view"
Cafe Brio
Cafe Brio was delicious. I loved their "Dirty Laundry" Gewurtztraminer
Saturday we shopped and walked all over Victoria, including a long hike up to the local “castle.” Castle Craigdarroch is an estate from early pioneers; it’s lovely but not what I was thinking when I pictured a castle. It did have an incredible view!
Castle Craigdarroch
the "castle"...lets just say it was a long walk.
Victoria from above
the view from the tower
We continued our awesome food adventures with breakfast at Mo:le and lunch at Blue Fox Cafe. We then explored the shopping district where I bought a new hat and a dress. After a break from walking at the hotel, we went to dinner at a local brewpub called Canoe. The beer was cold, as was the breeze coming off the marina (which we had a gorgeous view of from the patio).
The Blue Fox Cafe
On Sunday we watched the water ballet of the local ferry boats – which was hilarious – and then went to the Royal BC Museum. The museum featured an exhibit called “Treasures” from the Royal Museum in London. It was full of great artifacts from ancient to modern cultures. I really liked the Egyptian, Japanese, and Roman collections. They also featured the Frazier Chess collection, which was used as the chess set in Harry Potter. We had lunch at the local fish and chips place on the wharf. It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as Ivar’s. After walking along the waterfront, checking out a street market and relaxing at the hotel, we went to a bar called Sticky Wickets. Monday we went to Willie’s bakery, the oldest bakery in Victoria. The croissants were excellent! Unfortunately it was time to head back home.
As you can see our trip was based around good food and shopping! Two of my favorite things!
The anniversary couple :)
Hooray for hats!
Posted Aug 25, 07:55 PM.
Taken Aug 22, 04:19 PM.