Victoria, Canada - Day 5 (continued)

Monday, July 22, 2019

Following our food tour, which ended at 1 pm, we caught a 1:30 City bus, which stops behind our hotel, to Butchart Gardens. Although we have been at least 3 times before, it is always worth seeing. Since it is a city bus, it meanders through little burgs outside of Victoria and follows the coast north about 45 minutes. We find doing this tour on our own is very relaxing.

Butchart Gardens, which now covers 55 acres, was started in 1904 by Jennie Butchart to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry which had supplied her husband Robert’s nearby cement plant. They collected plants and ideas from their world travels and expanded the garden to include the Sunken, Japanese, Rose, Italian and Mediterranean gardens of today. Close to a million people visit each year and the family still operates it.

The garden is open year round but, of course, the flowers change. The admission was $27 and included a guide book of plants and when to expect them in bloom. The plants were not really unique to us — much of what we saw are the same landscape plants we use in Kentucky — begonias, snapdragons, asters, geraniums, marigolds, hydrangeas, etc. — but the real magic comes from the arrangement of plants throughout the park. Also, from the fact that I have never seen a dead plant in the 25+ years I have been visiting.

This is the iconic image of the Gardens, overlooking the Sunken Gardens. 

From here you can take stairs or a sloped walkway down. 

We chose a walkway down to the Ross Fountain, installed in 1964, which rises 70 ft. and provides a brief water choreography. 

We enjoyed just wandering through this part of the park, admiring the different features.

The Rose Garden is always spectacular this time of year and includes a wide variety. 

The path led us around to the Sturgeon Fountain.

We also toured the Japanese Garden, but it was so condensed that it was hard to photograph. We ended with the Italian Garden and the star pond.

The visitor center is in the background.

We caught the 4:15 city bus back to Victoria and relaxed from a very busy day. Then we went to dinner at Bard and Banker, named for noted Canadian poet Robert Service and for being in an old bank building. 

We also listened to a guitarist there for awhile. A lovely ending to the day. 

Victoria, Canada - Day 5

Monday, July 22, 2019

After a lovely breakfast in the hotel dining room, we returned to find our room key was not working.  There was a concierge desk on our floor that was really for “premier” guests, but they were happy to help us.  We were able to wait in the “premier” lounge and caught some great views of the harbor.

Around 10 am we left to walk to the Victoria Public Market to catch an 11 am “Taste of Victoria” food tour. We arrived early and looked around the market, which had been refurbished into a trendy environment with interesting food and gift stalls, small eateries and seating for a number of people. We hope the new market in Louisville resembles this.

Our guide was delightful and our first stop was in the market at “Roast Meat and Sandwich Shop.”  Our treat was a large meat ball made of beef, pork, ricotta cheese and bread crumbs covered in arrabbiata sauce, a touch of pesto and Parmesan cheese. All the food on the tour was delicious but I would return for this.

Next we walked along Douglas St., which is Rte. 1 in Canada, stretching 5,000 miles all the way to St. John’s.

We walked to the beginning of Chinatown to the Gates of Harmonious Interest. 

Our guide told us that the Chinese came to town during the gold rush of 1858. However, many moved to Vancouver to work on the railroad. The Chinese were not allowed to go to school with the whites so they built their own school in 1905. Today it is a cultural center in what is now an ethnically diverse neighborhood.

Our next stop was LaRoux Patisserie where we were given our choice of two macaroons. A woman started it 3 years ago after studying in France and has made about 800,000 macaroons in that time.

Our guide walked us through Fan Tan Alley where many nefarious activities occurred in past years, but now it is a high priced residential area.

Then we stopped at Just Matcha, which was a great experience. I had heard of Matcha but had no idea what it is. It is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. The plants are shade grown for 3-4 weeks before harvest and the stems are removed. The proprietor told us that it had great health benefits - is an anti-inflammatory and is good for joint pain. 

To make matcha, he used 1/2 teaspoon of powder to 1 cup of water and then used a little tool to whisk it. He then mixed it with soy milk and strawberry syrup for a delicious drink.

Next was Shanzee Biscuit — biscuits being the new food rage. We had a quarter of a biscuit with gravy, bacon, onion and cheese and another quarter with Nutella and whipped cream. Both were delectable. 

On to Market Square where we saw the Institute for Chinese Medicine which offers a 5-year course. This area had 1600 hanging baskets which are watered by city workers every night.

Our next food stop was Sult Pierogie Bar where we had two of the traditional Polish delicacies stuffed with 3 cheeses and mashed Yukon potatoes and covered with sauerkraut or bacon.

By now we had worked our way back toward the heart of Victoria and were on Government Street. We went to The Churchill, a bar specializing in beers — specifically 50 different craft beers all made in Canada. We were invited to pick our own from an extensive list and I had one flavored with chocolate. Very tasty. 

Our final stop was the iconic Rogers Candy store, founded in 1885 but moved to its present location in an old jewelry store in 1917. This is the Royal Chocolatier of QE2. We were given a cream filled chocolate to take on the road. What a great tour!

We were done by 1 pm and decided to take the 1:30 city bus to Butchart Gardens. Must make this a separate entry to get everything in.