Victoria

About a week ago we took a quick trip up to Victoria, B.C. Mom and Dad had gone there before and this was an opportunity for them to show Christina and me some of the things they had seen and to explore some new places. I really enjoyed it and I hope we can go back some time. We started by looking around the downtown/waterfront area. This is where the beautiful Empress Hotel is located. The downtown area has a fun, British feel to it that I really enjoyed.

The lovely Empress hotel. 

The view of the waterfront across the street from the Empress.

There are lots of nice shops (including yarn shops!) and interesting restaurants in downtown Victoria. I wanted to eat lunch at the Sticky Wicket (loved the name!) but it wasn't open, so we went to another very cute place down the street.

Once we were finished in Victoria, we took the bus up to Butchart Gardens. This was definitely a highlight of the trip. The gardens are just amazing, and very extensive. They were developed on the site of the Butchart family's quarry operation. It's amazing how they were able to transform something ugly into something so beautiful and lush. We wish someone would do the same with the quarry down the street from us!

At the edge of the gardens is Butchart Cove, which was important for transportation from the quarry. Now they use it for tours.

I liked how they incorporated a hanging basket into the sign.