Photo credits for this episode: me, Barbie, Lynne … and the kindness of random strangers.

WEDNESDAY: We’re rarely in the same time zone these days, let alone the same city, so it was a real treat to have a short in-person visit with my best friend…. even if I have to share her with a few of her other fans.

Barbie flew in from Montreal, via a stopover in Edmonton to visit her mom who turned 101! We talked about flying in separately (she from Edmonton and I from Vancouver) and meeting at Victoria’s lovely small airport, but then I decided I’d save some money and take the ferry instead. That sounded good to Barbie, so we met at the Vancouver airport and both took the ferry.

Our short stay meant I could have travelled with just a canvas shoulder bag, but because I wanted to pack a bottle of wine to share on our arrival at our hotel in Victoria – without having to find a wine store right away (a girl has to have priorities!) – I opted for my sturdier carry-on suitcase. That meant I could throw in a raincoat (effectively guaranteeing no rain, right?) and an extra pair of shoes. Why leave empty space?

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The BCConnector runs a bus/ferry option that allowed us to board a bus at the airport, transfer onto a coach that got driven onto the ferry at Tsawwassen Bay, disembark the coach during the scenic Strait of Georgia crossing, and re-board before landing in Victoria and being dropped off at the city’s central bus station – just a 4 minute walk from our accommodation at the Helms Inn.

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Our bus was the first vehicle onto the ferry, which meant we had a fabulous view of the gates opening and the ramp/drawbridge coming down when we arrived at Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal in Victoria.

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Our efficiency suite-style hotel, Helm’s Inn, was located on the edge of Beacon Hill Park, a perfect location from which to explore Victoria’s city centre. Excluding our 2 travel days, we had just 3 days to connect with all Barbie’s friends out here, do a couple of touristy things, and catch up on 2 full years of missed hugs.

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Barbie had been up since 3:15 a.m. (BC time) for her flight, so a short afternoon nap was in order. That gave me the chance to start prepping this blog and looking through some of our day 1 photos. Once Barbie was a wee bit rested, we headed to Bartholemew’s Pub for a relatively early dinner with her friends Lynne and Trevor (neighbours from Hudson Quebec, but relocated 4 years ago to Victoria). The “bonus” to meeting Lynne and her husband was the opportunity to fan-girl a little (and yet I resisted so as not to embarrass anyone); Trevor is renowned Canadian writer Trevor Ferguson (aka John Farrow), whose books I only just discovered a couple of years ago. My favourites of his many novels and series are those featuring Detective Émile Cinq-Mars.

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THURSDAY: We met Lynne, her cousin Kerry, and Kerry’s friend Phyllis for breakfast in a lovely art deco style room at the James Bay Inn.

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After a leisurely chatty breakfast Lynne generously offered to show us her lovely flat, very near Beacon Hill Park. She knew, through Barbie, that Ted and I covet a future life in Victoria, and are always curious about what might be available there. Bonus: we got a peek at the advance copies of Trevor’s new book, A Patient Death.

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Next up was a walk through Beacon Hill Park, which is still just as beautiful as my memories of it from the last time Ted and I visited, over 15 years ago!

Our walk ended up being almost 4 hours, liberally interspersed with taking photos of flowers and ponds, chatting with folks walking dogs in the park, and generally lollygagging.

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The 180 degree view of the ocean and the Olympic Mountain Range from Finlayson Point is spectacular. At the point (land’s end) we met a couple from England (just minding their own business sitting on the bench at the overlook – until we got there!) who were on their first visit to BC, headed next to the mainland and then to Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise via The Rocky Mountaineer train. We chatted for over half an hour, demonstrating that no one in Victoria, native or visitor, is ever in too much of a hurry to take time to talk.

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Our “tour” took us along the Dallas Road path to Cook Street and Cook Street Village, where I decided on behalf of all of us that it was time for a beer and snack break at the Beagle Pub, Lynne and Trevor’s “local”.

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Our 7500 step goal more than accomplished, we picked up cheese, grapes, crackers, and wine gums at The Root Cellar Green Grocer in anticipation of a snack with wine later in the evening.

Once it was dark, Barbie and I headed back to the harbour front to take in the beauty of the BC Legislature building lit for the night. Victoria’s James Bay truly is a magnificent venue, and even more-so after dark.

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Even the enormous yachts in the busy harbour seem more impressive beneath moon and streetlight.

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FRIDAY:

Victoria harbour is a busy place, with the Coho and Clipper ferries, the pickle boats (green pickle-shaped vessels carrying a maximum of 12 passengers), yachts, and potential seal, otter, waterfowl, and oystercatcher sightings. Although it turned out that today was sadly not a wildlife sighting day, Barbie’s treat to us was crossing the harbour on one of Victoria’s iconic water taxis.

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Barbie sure has a lot of lovely friends! Today, Barbie, Lynne and I joined Barb, Nancy, Linda, and yet another Barb – all classmates of Barbie’s from the Lachine High class of ‘63 – for brunch at The Boom & Batten on the Songhees side of the harbour.

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We walked off our delicious brunch by taking the path from Songhees Wharf into Esquimalt and back, with a quick stop so that I could see Kerry’s condo overlooking the harbour, then a return trip on the water taxi and back to Lynne and Trevor’s for pre-dinner drinks.

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Our last short walk of the day was to The Bard & Banker Pub, a really lovely eatery and bar located in a former BCBank building. The “bard” in the pub’s name is Canadian poet Robert Service, who was once employed by the bank.

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After dinner, we detoured through the gorgeous Victoria Conference Centre, attached to The Empress Hotel. Inside the glass-roofed main hall are several impressive totem poles.

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And then, 14,750 steps and 10.6 km/6.6 miles accomplished, it was off to bed.

SATURDAY:

Today was our day to spend á deux. We’ve both been in Victoria before, (Ted and I for 2 previous stays, and Barbie and I on a prior March Break holiday) so there was no pressure to be tourists; we really just wanted to have a day together.

After coffee, yogurt, and a bit of fruit in our suite, we wandered in a different direction than our prior days, headed to picturesque Fisherman’s Wharf.

The route we took was along Superior Street, which passes behind the Legislature. People, us included, are so focussed on the building’s façade overlooking the harbour that it’s easy to miss the library, the Centennial Fountain, the gardens, and the many memorials that comprise the “back yard”.

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We detoured through the weekly James Bay Market, with its produce stalls and artisan booths, and couldn’t resist buying a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. We shared, so it had no calories to speak of.

Eight years ago we had a slightly chilly spring day on which to walk the “streets”of Fisherman’s Wharf; this year we had glorious sunshine and absolutely perfect temperatures for strolling, and for enjoying lunch outside.

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The halibut and chips, and deep-fried rock oysters and chips from The Fish Store (also a “floating” building/houseboat) were delicious, and our lunch enhanced by good company at the shared picnic tables: first a trio of German women just off a Hurtigruten expedition cruise from Iceland through the Northwest Passage to Vancouver, and next a young much-tattooed farming couple from Alliance Alberta, a village they described as about the same size as Fisherman’s Wharf. They must have meant population size – Alliance boasts all of 154 inhabitants!

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Walking back to our hotel we took an alternate route past the city’s iconic statue of a young Queen Victoria, and then past Totem Park behind the Royal BC Museum.

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Our last “dinner” was ice cream eaten sitting on a bench people-watching on Government Street just after sunset. It was a sweet ending to our visit.

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SUNDAY:

… and it was already time to say goodbye. Barbie headed for the airport by taxi at 6:45 a.m.; I walked over to the bus station at 9 to do the return ferry trip.

I don’t want to wait another 2 year’s between visits, so have already started thinking about a mini-vacation together next year. Maybe we both finally get to tour Newfoundland? Or maybe just Quebec City, or even back here in BC. We’ll see.