We flew to Victoria late (but non-stop) on Wednesday night, arrived at our B&B (the lovely Fairholme Manor) around 11:30PM and quickly settled into the wonderful King size bed.
The next morning we enjoyed an amazing breakfast of ricotta and lemon pancakes before heading out for the short walk to Christos' Mom's place in Oak Bay.
We were greeted at the door first by the effervescent Zoe the Pug and then by Mom (Barbara) and Gary who showered us with Kisses, Hugs and Heys!!After a bit of chatting, it was off for a wander with Mom through downtown Oak Bay with the goal of securing the ingredients required for Christos to prepare a Bolognese for the next day's dinner.
We visited a few shops, window shopping mostly, before provisioning at the new Red Barn at the base of Redfern avenue.
A couple of hours invested in the kitchen and the Bolognese was ready to simmer the day away so off we went for the 4km walk into downtown Victoria. We took Fort Street to the waterfront and thought about how it had been Alex's main drag as a youth in Victoria.
We wandered about for a couple hours, visiting the Roger's Chocolate store, some tourist shops and finally the super delicious Red Fish Blue Fish on the waterfront where we split Fish & Chips, Fried Oysters and a Fried Pickle!
We then walked back to Barbara and Gary's where the night was spent in chit chat, drinks, pizza and the movie "Passengers" before another round of chit chat when we realized it was quarter after 11PM and it was time for the walk back to the B&B!
The next day, after an amazing breakfast of Eggs Benedict for Lisa and Eggs Neptune for Christos, we discovered that our B&B was next door to Government House and from then on enjoyed a daily stroll through the grounds.Lisa and Barbara indulged in a mani-peddy during the afternoon while Christos rummaged at a junk shop finding five calypso (two good ones) records for a mere $20. After the sojourn into town, we then took Zoe out for a good long walk.
That night was Barbara's birthday so we splurged on a lovely Barolo to pair with the Bucatini Bolognese.
While Barbara's taste buds are a bid wonky due to medication, Gary and Christos devoured their delicious portions while Lisa ate most of hers but opined that it was not Christos' best work!
After some post dinner lounging it was time for us to head back to Fairholme Manor.
Our final full day in Victoria started with French Toast baked in a ramikin, our least favored of our four breakfasts, followed by a walk to downtown Victoria and then a walk back to Barbara and Gary's in the afternoon where Mom made roast chicken for dinner and we watched "Dr. Strange" after dinner.
Sunday morning it was a yummy breakfast of Veggie Fritatta with maple glazed bacon and then Mom picked us up to drive us to the Seaport for the float plane flight over to Vancouver.
The flight was a bit bumpy as the weather was stormy but we arrived on time in Vancouver and were met by wide smiling Jen, Neil's wife, who had lunch with us at a local spot before driving us in to Vancouver where we spent the night at the Georgia Hotel downtown and enjoyed Ramen noodle before an early night in bed.
Unlike Victoria where we had only occasional bouts of rain, it rained from the moment we arrived in Vancouver with only intermittent breaks. Ah well, it is the left Coast!
Monday we awoke to heavy rain but fortunately we were meeting JP only blocks away at noon. We had a good lunch with JP, catching up on many things, before James picked us up at the hotel in the mid afternoon and took us to his and Ria's place nearby.
Here we hung out till early evening, meeting the wonderful Lola the Chocolate Lab and having some beer while enjoying a cheese and salami plate.
James started to give us a quick tour of his place with Lola in tow until she gamed us! She played it very well, practically ignoring the food while our eyes were on it but acting with amazing speed for an old dog when our backs were turned!
Dinner at a nearby Tapas restaurant was wonderful with excellent food and an evening of good conversation and generous libations!
The next day was full of rain but still quite fun. James and Ria stayed home while we went out for breakfast at the local "Fable Diner" which was good, although not cheap, and the service was excellent.
After breakfast we wandered about for a bit, ducking into thrift stores to get away from the rain, until we finally found ourselves at Dude Chilling Park! We made it back to James and Ria's place in the early afternoon whereupon James put down his tools and informed us it was time for the "Mural Brewery Tour". There were indeed murals but given the inclement weather, the meat of the afternoon was spent touring five different craft breweries in the neighbourhood!
At the penultimate brewery, we met up with Lisa's brother, Neil and shared some tales with James as the beer was flowing liberally by that point.We floated back to the condo where Ria and James made an amazing Ramen noodle dinner from scrap! Thanks again guys!
Then it was an evening of conversation and drinks before bed and our flight back to Toronto the next day.
