(Back Row Left to Right: Christi, Jonny, Faith; Front Row Left to Right: Dave, Lanell, Steve, Merrilee, Will)
After 2 days at sea, we arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is known as the City of Gardens. It was a beautiful place. We decided to hoof it to save some change and it seemed so small on the map. I don't regret that decision although we were very sore at the end of the day when we estimated that we walked at least 10 miles not including the walking that we did inside the buildings we visited.
On our way to the Craigdarroch Castle, we wandered through a park that had a variety of beautiful features. There was a redwood tree, a petting zoo, wandering peacocks, the Mayor's garden where Sir Baden-Powell planted a tree in the 1920's, and a very large water feature shaped like a watering can. It's definitely a tourist trap. A few minutes after the tourists push the button that turns on the water spout allowing time to get in position to pose for a nice picture, water suddenly starts squirting out of unexpected places.
We next visited Craigdarroch Castle built in 1890 by the Dunsmuir family which reminded Merrilee and Christi of the movie "Private Eyes" with Don Knotts and Tim Conway. Mr. Dunsmuir acquired a nouveau-riche fortune in the coal industry. He died before the castle was complete but his widow and some of his children and grandchildren moved into it. They had 10 children total. It had some beautiful architecture throughout. The Dunsmuir family lived in it for 18 years. Nobody could afford to buy it thereafter so they sold all the lots around the mansion and put the buyer's names into a lottery. The winner of the lottery could purchase the castle for one dollar. That must have been an exciting win for them but the lottery winner couldn't afford the maintenance on the building. They mortgaged against it's value and eventually, the mansion was foreclosed on. It later became a hospital during World War II then a College of Music before being turned into a museum. Somehow, they were able to keep many of the original relics. As you look at the old original photos, you can see many of the same statues, paintings, and furniture.
It was fun to wander through and imagine living in such opulence. The beds were definitely too short for anyone in our family. They must have loved music because there were 4 pianos throughout the house. It was at least 4 stories. The woodwork and stained glass windows were amazing.
There were 8 of us together initially (Steve/Faith, Will/Merrilee, Dave/Lanell, and Jonny/Christi). By the time we finished touring the castle and reading every word, there were only Jonny/Christi and Will/Merrilee left. The four of us continued on by foot. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant with portions so large that Jonny couldn't even finish his meal. The owner was a sweet Vietnamese woman that wandered around carrying a customer's baby so that they could eat. Her own 3 year old granddaughter had a bed of cushions behind the counter.
We saw the sights around Victoria and toured the BC Museum. We encountered a copper statue that every so often would move slightly revealing that it was a person. The statue would catch passer-bys off guard which was amusing.
Nikki called while we were walking around Victoria, Canada. We were happy to hear from her and thought it was nice that she was missing us. She asked, "Where are you!?" We replied "Canada" to which she exlaimed, "Canada! I thought you were going to Alaska!" We reassured her that we were on our way home and had to travel through Canada to get there.
After our long walk around town, we made it back to the cruise ship where we soaked in the hot tubs.
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