Victoria - Week 7 Lieutenant Governor and Government House

We finally go to the Lieutenant Governor and Government House today.

It's about a fifteen minute walk from where we are staying. We walked through the grounds which are still in the throes of early spring. Then we went for coffee afterwards.

We saw our second deer sighting this morning as well. We heard that there is actually a deer problem here, yet this is only the second time we've see any while here. I got a picture of two of them today.

They have some big old trees here. I hugged one for Barb. Dear God, thank you for these trees.

This is a camel on an elephant.

Victoria - Week 7

Today Fred took these pictures at Victoria's new Johnson street bridge in Victoria West.

Victoria - Week 6 Houses

There is a style of homes in Victoria that I had never seen before. We've been coming here for four years now and it was driving me crazy what the style was. If it even was a style. Because what do I know about architecture? Not much. So I finally asked my brother Jimmy who knows about houses, what kind of houses they were. He told me they were Craftsman homes. They look very cozy and pretty. They were built at the beginning of the 20th century.

I don't think boring old Ottawa has any Craftsmen houses. At least I've never seen any. 

UPDATE: I stand corrected. Debbie informed me that there are some of these homes in Ottawa. I'll have to check it out upon my return.

Victoria - Week 6 where to get the best Carbs

I love carbs. I cannot tell a lie. And Victoria has yielded some of her best carbs to me. Some I have baked myself. Some I have purchased. And the bought ones may be better than the homemade.

This is the cinnamon bun from Discovery Coffee. When I chose it I asked the clerk if their cinnamon buns were good. He said yes. I looked at it skeptically, and wasn't sure. I went out on a limb and bought one, which Fred and I shared. Oh. My. Goodness. The best cinnamon bun I have ever eaten. Dense, chewy, gooey, buttery, cinnamony, and probably more calories than I would ever want to know about. Their coffee is also very good. In fact Victoria has a crap load of independent coffee shops. Way more than Ottawa. Why is that anyway?

We went back to Discovery this week, but the cinnamon buns hadn't been delivered yet. Note to self. Go an hour later next time.

Next we have Portofino's seeded hearth bread. Oh. My. Goodness - part 2. This bread looks ordinary. But it is not. It's chewy. Seedy. Spongy. Delicious. Makes great peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Or toast and peanut butter. Or just eat this bread naked. It all works.

And last but definitely not least, we have the monster scones sold at the Market on Yates. Once again, they feed two people (the picture does not do it justice). Every day they have a different one, blueberry and white chocolate, cranberry and white chocolate, etc. Also savoury ones. Really really good scones. Moist and blueberryiey. Even the white chocolate works and I'm not a big fan of it. Because clearly dark chocolate is better. But in these babies, the white chocolate works. The Market also has an all round fantastic bakery section and an amazing butcher shop.

All the grocery stores in Victoria sell Portofino breads, and there are many different kinds, including gluten free. But I think the seeded hearth bread is the best.

Who says woman can't live by bread alone?

Victoria - Week 6 High tea

Today we went for high tea at the White Heather Tea Room in Victoria.

It was excellent. Much better than the one Johanna and I had in London England at Harrod's. Well worth the visit. The service was also excellent.

I wish we had taken Maureen and Mike to high tea when they were here, but it just never happened. I am sad about that.