Oh, Canada!

Getting to Canada takes a while because, as it turned out, we needed to take two ferries. The first was a quick trip to get to Bainbridge Island to then drive to the next ferry to take us to Victoria, B.C. We made pretty good time on both of the ferries considering they have a schedule which we had no idea about. (It reminded us about how we never had to wait for our double-decker bus in Seattle; it would just show up when we got to the bus stop.)

The MV Coho was the vessel that took us across international waters. It was pretty choppy considering it was so big but it is also a ship that has been around a long time...I read all about it in the Coho literature. We braved the freezing wind to sit on the deck, the only place where Aaron did not feel sick. The trip was beautiful of course with mountains all around.

We finally arrived and drove off the ferry to the customs official. Answering questions makes us both nervous and we tried to be truthful but not too truthful. Do you have fruits or vegetables? No. Do you have alcohol? No (what about the bottles of wine??) Do you have weapons? Um...Pause...No. (ATP contributes: You never know with Golf Clubs. Many a gopher have gone down quickly...)

Somehow, we cleared customs and made our way to our Marriott. Victoria is such a charming little town; it almost felt like Disneyland because of its size and spectacle. The staff at the Marriott were so nice and welcomed us warmly with congratulations on our honeymoon. Aw! We were even surprised with chocolate covered strawberries and chocolates thanks to Mom and Uncle Alan to help us celebrate.

Right away, we ventured out in the chilly air and found somewhere for dinner. We listened to live music while we ate. We are considering dedicating some of our posts solely to the food we have been eating and calling it a "flog" because we have eaten and drank so many delicious things! Aaron wondered how it can be that the food in Canada is so good while the food in Great Britain is just not.

The next day was Canada Day! Whoo hoo! The one day when Canadians let loose with all of their patriotism in honor of their country's birth. There were music stages set up all over Victoria with the main stage in front of the stunning Parliament building. Many historical buildings were open for tours and there were special events.

One of our favorite special events was the hilarious and ridiculous display that featured the cute tug boat ferries 'dancing' to classical music in the water. Not only could we not believe it was actually happening but that so many people were gawking at it. Wow! Anyway, we had a great day taking pictures, listening to music and learning a bit about Victoria and British Columbia. We visited the Royal BC music which had treasures from the British Museum and cool displays of the history of BC's peoples. We went to visit the oldest synagogue in B.C. and saw the Israelis who would follow us all the way to Vancouver, including today's visit to Grouse Mountain.

The big Canada Day celebration really got underway in the evening at the main stage with a decent band followed by a fireworks display over the water. What really impressed us was just how nuts Canadian teens seemed to be. It was as if the rest of the year they are locked in the house and only unleashed on one day a year, Canada Day. Plus, the girls were very skimpily dressed including several who were only wearing the Canadian flag. Seriously. It was quite a scene...

The next day, we made our way to the Vancouver ferry and stopped along the way at Butchart Gardens. I am a pretty big garden fan as previously mentioned in Portland and these were fantastic: roses, tons of other flowers, Japanese gardens, sunken gardens, fountains and gelato. However, we felt our experience was ruined by the zillions of tourists who swarmed the gardens at the same time. Ugh! We don't want to be tourists and we are repelled by the masses. It was so uncomfortable, we skipped the gelato and just made our way to the ferries. Vanvouver, here we come!!