Victoria, BC

Ian (and some other thoughtful family members) surprised me for my birthday and planned a weekend getaway to Victoria! We took the Clipper from downtown early, and I enjoyed three quiet hours of reading time. We got to Victoria, and wandered around the city, trying to find something to do. We walked through Chinatown and down the narrowest alley in all of Canada. We then wanted to go to the public market but forgot to mark where it was (and in a foreign country can't access google maps easily) so we ventured probably an extra mile and a half with our overnight bags before deciding to turn around and eventually running into it. Needless to say, my fitbit step count was extremely high!

Favorite Eats:
-steak and mushroom pot pie from the Victoria Public Market
-Pagliacci's downtown: NOT the same as the chain pizza restaurant here. STELLAR italian food with yummy foccaccia bread. Apparently it's a popular place to eat because we showed up there at 5 and the line was out the door and around the corner. Worth it.
-Red Fish Blue Fish-large, deliciously fried fish. I love the British influence.

Many of you who know us know that we don't like to pay much to do activities so knowing that...

Favorite Sights:
-Fisherman's Wharf: we loved the seals and otters that were getting fed and the floating homes!
-The Breakwater: such a fun walk and great for people watching and boat watching
-Beacon Hill Park: gorgeous gardens!

Our favorite activity for both of us was definitely renting scooters. We decided now was the prime time so we each got a scooter. I sucked terribly but Ian went slowly and cautiously for me. I mastered right turns, and after hitting a curb and pole on my first left turn, I did great. Mainly I was proud that I didn't break myself, the scooter, and that I got back up and continued riding. Also, this is when I learned how fantastically nice Canadians are. One man whose wife saw me fall came up and offered to ride the scooter back to town and let me ride in the car. SO kind. We toured part of the coastline of Vancouver Island. The mansions were very neat!

We loved visiting Victoria and I thoroughly enjoyed an exciting, adventurous weekend. We'll remember our visit by checking out my 3 large bruises and our neat ornament that we added to our collection. :)

Fisherman's Wharf

Parliament Building

Thunderbird Park

Beacon Hill Park

riding scooters