Alaskan Cruise, Part Severin

Well, we are now sailing towards our last port on our Alaskan journey: Victoria, the obligatory international port. The cruise itself has been very nice, despite the fact that the the crew has been 'way overly cheerful. This was one of the last cruises of the season, so I'm sure they were getting antsy to return home. Every time I stopped to eat at the buffet the greeters were singing and dancing - and you get tired of seeing that seven or eight times a day. They would meet us at the door with a spray bottle and would sing "Washee, washee" as they sprayed our hands with antiseptic. I appreciated their efforts, but I almost armed myself with a squirt gun until my travel partner nixed the idea.

 

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, Canada, and is located on Vancouver Island. We came into port late in the day (around 6:00 PM) and had relatively little time on the "Garden Island." We hopped a bus and were soon traveling across the island on our way to the premiere tourist destination on the island: Tim Horton's. After that, we made our way to beautiful Butchart Gardens. The bus driver insisted on telling us the story of the Butchart family as we made the 45 minute drive to the gardens, and I for one was totally bored by the story. Sorry, but it really wasn't that exciting of a story. The family fortune was made in the cement industry. I mean, how captivating can the story of a cement mogul be? (answer: not very) However, out of the empty quarry, Jennie Butchart planted the sunken gardens, the start of what finally became Butchart Gardens. 

In our next thrilling chapter we'll talk about some of the highlights we visited on the drive home from Seattle.  Check back soon, you won't want to miss one wrong turn!

 

Here we are at the entrance to Butchart Gardens.  If you ask me, it looks like that hedges could use some trimming. 

This is the beautiful sunken gardens, built into the abandoned quarry from limestone excavation.   Dusk was setting in, so the flowers aren't as beautiful looking as they are in the daytime.   If you look to the top right, you can see a chimney, leftover from the days when this area used the big furnaces to manufacture cement. 

This is the same area during the day, from a picture I stole off the Internet.  If you ask me, I think those hedges to the right could use some trimming.

Again, the same area, now at night.  I see no one has gotten to those hedges yet...

Here is the Ross Fountain, named in honor of Jennie Butchart's grandson, Ian Fountain.

Cathy near the greenhouse.  If you ask me, these plants could use some pruning.    Amazingly, during the entire tour, no one asked me.

Later on, we had a little time to explore the city.   Here I am at the waterfront, posing with the Capital Building in the background.  To my right is a statue of Ian Fountain.