Thursday was a day at sea and Friday afternoon we Arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, our last port of call before returning to Seattle. Victoria is a beautiful city of around 200,000.
Our excursion was described as a "stroll" through Victoria. Actually it was a 4.5 mile, 2-1/2 hour walk (hike) that ended in downtown Victoria, which was over a mile from the ship. Just sayin'. Still, it gave us the opportunity to get closer to some of the sights than any tour bus could provide.
One thing that impressed us throughout the entire cruise was how clean and fresh the air smelled. Looking out into the bay in Victoria one is struck by the crystal blue water. Those dark streaks in the middle of the clouds are actually mountain peaks poking through the clouds. Again, the size of the mountains is impossible to imagine or describe. You just had to be there.
Our stroll (hike) took us down Government Street, which was the first exclusive residential area of Victoria. It is now a historical area, which means that the owners cannot make interior structural changes to these homes and that the exteriors must be painted in period correct colors. You really have to be a dedicated preservationist to live in one of these homes, but they are lovely.
The next stop on our adventure was Beacon Hill park. The gardens here are amazing. There are pine trees, in the park, that eagles actually nest in during the year. I could have spent a long time in this park and still not photographed everything.
The tour ended at the parliment building and the Empress Hotel. Both are magnificent, imposing structures. The parliment building is over a block long, so we hung around until after sunset to get a photo of it all lit up.
After this stroll/hike, we were still over a mile from the ship and my knees were in no mood for another adventure, so we took a cab back to the ship. The next moring we docked at the very place were this vacation started. We collected our luggage and spent the night in a local hotel. Sunday morning we boarded a plane and flew home. Our once-in-a-lifetime adventure was now a fond memory that we will treasure forever. Hope you enjoyed the cruise.
