Day Two in Victoria shown bright and sunny. We really lucked out with the weather the entire trip - aside from Friday's torrential downpour. Sunshine for Saturday was good since we were heading to the Butchart Gardens.
We doddled in the morning and then found our way to public transportation to get us to the gardens. The tour companies wanted $40 a person to take you out, give you 2 hours, and bring you home. We paid $5 round trip, as many hours as we wanted out at the gardens, AND we got to see more of Victoria via the bus.
What can I say about the gardens, but WOW. Usually people would think gardens not in full bloom would be boring and useless. We figured the gardens at fall just might be spectacular. And we were not disappointed. I took so many photos and can't possibly post them all there. Feel free to see them all on my flickr site though.
Entrance to the gardens...der...Captain Obvious again.
We entered the gardens, rounded a corner and was blessed with this site. The Sunken Gardens. This was just stunning in so many ways. So well maintained. All the fall colors shining bright...it was breathtaking. I thought I had found paradise. Only to discover the Japanese Gardens later...
See those people up top? That's where we stood when I took the photo above. This is looking back from the Sunken Gardens.
The Japanese Maples were just so vibrant and colorful. I must have taken a hundred photos of just those trees. I didn't realize they came in Red, Orange and yellow. In Seattle you mostly see the red and the orange.
One of the several ponds in the Sunken Garden.
I thought she looked cold. Brrr...bring me a coat!
There's this little hill in the middle of the Sunken Garden. We climbed to the top and took some shots, but I really liked the way the staircase twisted around the hill.
Poor Puck. He can't float. It looks like he's had too much to drink...
This gnarled mess of branches intrigued me.
Now we've moved on to the Japanese Garden. I've seen many Japanese Gardens in my day. In fact, just visited one a couple of weeks ago. This garden truly felt what I think paradise would feel like.
The colors! Just so vivid and beautiful. This particular Japanese Maple was so gorgeous. The sun was hitting it just right and casting an orange glow all over the place. Stunning really.
This is the Lucky Boar! Not so lucky for Puck though. The original little pig sits in the market in Florence Italy (I might even have a photo of the original somewhere in my stash at home). For generations, his nose has been affectionately rubbed to bring good luck. Naturally, I rubbed its snout. We'll see if it brings good luck.
Puck enjoying the view of the Italian Gardens. If only he would have turned around ... he would have seen more.
All in all the Butchart Gardens were fantastic. Spectacular! Gorgeous! Sensational! Vivid! and Glorious! I'm so glad we went there when we did and would love to go back in the Spring sometime. I've seen other photos of the gardens in the spring and summer and have been wow'd by their beauty. Maybe a PhotoGods trip to the gardens is in order.
After we finished with the gardens, we hopped back on the city bus and found our way back into Downtown. By now we were somewhat hungry and thought we'd find a nice little restaurant to eat. But before that, we checked out a few stores, and a few other sites in the downtown area.
We were standing on this corner when Seattle SIL said, "I want Irish food." She was staring at this building. So I looked and turns out its an Irish Pub. So in we went.
Its an old historic building too. And thankfully it was also an Irish Pub.
Puck decided on Shepherd's Pie. OMG it was so good. He also decided, after dinner, on Bailey's Irish Cream Crème brûlée! That should never have been ordered. I told my buddies that I'd take this one for the team. That they certainly wouldn't like it. I'd be the food martyr, but they didn't listen. They had to take a bite. Which meant less for the Food Martyr darn it.
All the Victoria photos can be found here.
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