Victoria 3 September 2019

We're staying in a little cabin behind a house on Simcoe Street in the James Bay district, an easy walk from water (in three directions!) and most of the other amenities one would need – even walking distance of the ferry, should your car not want to leave Trump-land.

Sign on the house two doors south:

We walked over to Nourish, a local "foodie experience" and were well served with good, organic, local food.

Here's Rochelle (getting ready with the Demerara sugar), her cappuccino, and my Fruit Shrub ("fruit-infused vinegar with botanicals and soda"; yum) ...and then out came our Breakfast Hash. Nourishing.

A sentimental walk to the Inner Harbour, thronged with "experiences" waiting for their experiencers.

Victoria takes great (and legitimate) pride in its flower baskets. To the west, clouds over southern Vancouver Island, but here the sky is shockingly blue. This is truly one of those magical spots – at least it is today.

We walked through the Convention Center attached to the Empress just to look at the First People's carvings. I did a good job of isolating one of these last time we were in Victoria, in 2015. There's an amazing totem here, too ...but the light was too patchy for good photography, so you'll just have to come here to see it for yourself!

We walked back around past the British Columbia Parliament building – more flowers! – and on to Simcoe Street, where we sought a rumored post office for awhile (and finally found it, with help from several friendly locals) – mission #1 for the day – and picked up some lettuce for tonight's salad...

...then down Simcoe and home for a short rest before continuing with our Victoria mission agenda: high tea.

This visit, the main event isn't quite so memorable: no birthday, no unexpected gift from Damiana. But special, because we went to Abkhazi Garden for high tea – an unexpectedly jewel-like small (but beautifully developed) garden on the eastern side of Victoria, up where the houses are magnificent.

The combination of the moist temperate rain forest microclimate, comprehensive selection of plants that do well under these conditions, and decades of careful nurturing (not to mention an obviously unlimited initial gardening budget) kept us enthralled for the better part of an hour on its scant 1.4 acres. The garden's romantic story can be found here.

Extra points if you find the two critters in amongst all those flowers and vegetal textures. (Rochelle doesn't count.)

High tea, delicious as it was, was a pleasant anti-climax to the wonders of the garden ...but a delightful server and excellent little bites provided us with a comfortable cool-down from the excitement of the garden. 

Then back to our tiny digs on Simcoe Street, a salad, and a quiet evening. Tomorrow, we're away to Salt Spring Island for our "real vacation."