Monday morning, we got up early for the ferry to Vancouver Island. The first ferry is at 6am. We were not that desperate though. We took the one at 7am. It was a big ferry, Spirit of British Columbia. The wind in the morning was a little chilli. The sun hadn’t made it way out of the clouds covering the sky. The sea becomes very open immediately after we took off. Then it zigzagged through the small islands. They are so small that I don’t even know they can called islands. On some of the big ones, I can see houses built on the coast surrounded by trees.

It took about 1.5 hours to get to Swarts Bay. Our first stop on the Island is Butchart garden. It is a garden raised from the debris of a quarry about 100 years ago. Again, the tickets were expensive and charged on the basis of person, not vehicle. This would be a busy place everyday. We arrived early so it wasn’t too crowded yet. The garden consists of several small gardens, including Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Italian Garden, etc. I enjoyed the beauty of the flowers. But my lack of floral knowledge makes me unable to name all the flowers. It was possibly a little past the blooming season of roses. They were already beginning to fade. Seeing the gorgeous roses fading is sad. It reminds of the line “fading like a flower, fading like a rose…” by Roxette, it is a melancholic song, so is “林花谢了春紅，太匆匆”. The lotus in Italian Garden were still at their youth stage, ready to bloom. Too bad it was already noon and the sunshine was too strong. Otherwise I could have had better shots. There is also a statue of Mercury (the messenger, not the planet or metal in Italian garden. Don’t know what’s the connection to the theme. Anyway, I shot a lot of good pictures of flowers:

Another 20 minutes of driving took us to Victoria, the capital of BC. We had a lunch at an Italian restaurant on Pendora St. By then, we were very low on Canadian dollars in cash. Since the credit card companies usually charge 2%-3% on foreign currency exchange, we tried to use cash as much as possible. We had already spent all the US$800 we exchange at the border, not counting the hotels. We exchanged some more cash at a bank and then began exploring Victoria.

Victoria is in fact a tiny little town although it’s not easy seen by looking at the map. A majority of the city lays around Inner Harbour. Right in front of Inner Harbour is the Express Hotel, a historical hotel where Queen Elizabeth has resorted. It was said that you need to reserve months in advance for their afternoon tea place. I guess I can never plan an afternoon tea so early ahead.

Another famous place in the Inner Harbour area is the legislative building of BC. I was even worrying about finding the place when I studied the map at home. But it turned that the worry is totally unnecessary. You just can’t miss it. It stands just south to the harbour, behind an open meadow. Right in front of the building, there is a statue of Queen Victoria.

The building is open to the public. They even have free tours. We even met a Chinese speaking guide. She told us they can provide Chinese interpretation. I guess we are fine with English :). The tour introduced some background about the building. I was so surprised to know that the designer was only 25 years when he accepted the project. The interior of the building is very neat and baroque. The general feeling is that the decoration is very royal. On the wall of the lobby hangs the Coat of Arms of British Columbia. The guide explained the meaning of the symbols. There is an explanation on wikipedia too. The latin phrase “splendor sine occasu” means “splendor that does not perish. Literally, it’s “splendor without setting”.

Outside the legislative assembly, a picture of the Queen and her husband hangs on the wall. I forgot the name of the photographer, who shot the famous picture of Churchill smoking a cigar toward the end of WWII.

After leaving the legislative building, we walked to Market Square, the old town of Victoria. It’s one of the most famous landmarks of Victoria. There are many unique shops, bars and night clubs in the square.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at a small café and had a cup of coffee. The coffee was so so. But I was really excited when I heard them playing Miss American Pie. We had dinner at an Italian & Greek restaurant called Passero. While we were waiting for the order, they were playing Carpenter’s Super Star. What a beautiful song! I used to listen to it a lot in college. I can’t help but sing along “long ago, I fell in love with you, before the second show…”. I believe beautiful songs like this one can pacify souls. I ordered a dish of roasted lamb, which was so yummy. The presentation was good too. I took pictures of all the dishes before devouring.

After the dinner, we were so full but decided to order a desert anyway. We shared a Tiramisu. But I think it was not as good as that in Olive Garden. A walk after the dinner is a good exercise for digesting. We walked all the way back to where we parked. It was sunset time. Like a canvas, the sky is painted with blood red clouds. They get redder and redder as the sun travels down. The sky is like a big bottle of red wine. I believe I was intoxicated.

We went to the Inner Harbour after settling down in the hotel. We heard that the night scene is beautiful. I have to say I am a little disappointed. The lights were a little too dark and not grandeur enough. We walked by two guitarists sitting on a bench practicing. I immediately recognized that they were playing Nirvana’s Where Did You Sleep Last Night. They played very well. I stopped and stood by for a couple of minutes, imagining Kurt Cobain’s voice, with despair and anger: “My girl, my girl, don’t lie to me, tell where did you sleep last night…”. I went up and told them this is one of my all time favorites. I am not a super fan of rock, but this song, as well as Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know always make me so passionate.

This is an interesting day, with encounters of so many old music.