away we went

We have been away for a few days in Victoria. The trip on the ferry to Vancouver Island takes about an hour and 40 minutes..going over we were on an older ferry but coming back we caught the new ferry and it was great. Our guests Lynn and Daniel were very thrilled with the trip as they are from the north and have not been on the ocean before. Fortunately the ocean was reasonably calm and no one had a problem with sea sickness.
We stayed at one of the better hotels on the Inner Harbour. It is absolutley beautiful there with the boats and sea life and the lighst coming on around the Empress Hotel and the Legislative Buildings in the evening as the sun sets. The semi circle of the Inner Harbour is surrounded by stone sea walls and walking paths for people to spend a lovley day exercising. We walked a good part of the wall and around the Parliament Building, then went into the Wax Museum for a visit, through the Royal Families exhibits, Henry 8th and his 6 wives, many wax figures of important people of our own times and of earlier days,then the Chamber of Horrors. I had been there before but our guests had not. We met Mary our granddaughter at the hotel for breakfast and she came with us on that little tour.
I had to go and see a friend whose wife is in hospital with dementia. She and I have been friends since the fifties but she no longer knows her own children so Paul didn't think there was any reason to see her and in fact we were there for our guests. I'll go another time.
We drove up island on the Malahat, a very curvy road through the mountains , to Chemainus which was a town where all the buildings had wonderful murals painted on the outside walls and it was one a great place to shop and eat, very quaint. It was a disappointment as things had fallen apart and businesses had left due to the economy and rising rents. Sad story.
On the way home we stopped in at Butchart Gardens .It was pretty nice , the sun came out and that made it lovely. Lots of people there, bus tours and tours from the cruise ships. We talked to two ladies form New Zealand for a bit of time, then shopped in the gift shop. We bought a new glass set of wind chimes.
Oh and I broke my camera, need to buy another one soon:>)) so I can take a picture of the chimes.
When we boarded the ferry we went up to the buffet floor and had a great buffet, relaxed and watched the view through the very large windows.
Great trip!!
Nice to be back..... Take care folks.
Rest easy! :>)