Day 14 - Vancouver Island - Victoria!

I have wanted to visit Victoria for years! Said to be more English than England, well, I have not been to the UK, so can't say. However there are double decker buses, and places to have 'high tea' if that counts.

Victoria's downtown is the older historic area, right on the water. There is a huge marina - what a lovely place to berth your boat!

When we arrived there was an Indian festival in progress, with booths selling curries etc. and women in saris dancing.

We walked through the square and ended up in Chinatown - not a large area of the city, just a couple of blocks, set off with a large arched entrance and guarded by a dragon. There were shops selling vegetables and fruits that we didn't recognize, restaurants with good smelling food, and other shops and businesses.

Next we headed for the waterfront area, and walked along to government house (looks like parliament buildings) and the famous Empress hotel (where you can have high tea for $60). Undaunted, I decided to explore the hotel a bit, checked out the lobby area and dining rooms. Not in our budget for today (or tonight) so guess we'll just go back and sleep in the trailer :)

There are any number of restaurants! Waterfront patios, pubs, fine dining..... Mike was hungry, so we had a panini at a small cafe.

Maybe time to find a bus and head back to the campground. We retraced our steps and arrived home very late, and quite tired as well :) but it was a great day which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Pictures to follow.