Adventure in Victoria

 Hullo!! Today we are going on a day-trip adventure to Victoria!!!

And, of course, we got our first real skiff of snow but the roads are bare and wet, so we are good to go. The Malahat is always interesting in the winter, but it was no problem...

Righto... we are in Victoria and of course... they are a couple of weeks ahead of us sooo....

Cherry blossoms are out!!!!

And the daffodils...

This is the BC Legislature, the provincial government's building...

You can't go in unless you are on a tour... so phooie...

It's pretty though.

That's the Empress Hotel in the background!

Here's an unfuzzy shot... and the flags are at half-mast because of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting... so sad.

Alright... let's adventure!

This is where the Seattle Clipper somes in... one day... one day... we will make that trip!

The harbour is beary pretty and... 

You know... they serve high tea at the Empress... probably with real clotted cream and not whipped cream... let's go and see what it costs...

Oooh... flowers!!!!!

We had to walk by Emily Carr with her little dog and...

Can you guess what is on her shoulder??

The dog is pretty fixated on it...

It's a monkey!! Where she got a monkey from... who knows...

She was a beary famous BC painter... who studied in England and later France. Do you know her work? Let me grab an example...

She traveled all over BC painting indigenous communities. Later, she got mentored by Lawren Harris, one of the Group of Seven who told her "you are one of us"... Beary cool.

That's one of her paintings on an old stamp!

Alright... let's head into the Empress Hotel....

Ooohh.. ahhh... lots of dark wood paneling...

And a fancy tea shop...

We didn't even go in... the dollar signs were flashing!

Hmmm... that's a nice painting....

Yep, it's beary expensive...

We also had a look at the high tea menu and... it was on sale for Vancouver Island residents for $100 per person!! And an extra $25 if you wanted champagne... although it does look beary good... And our local place charged $85/person... and gave us whipped cream instead of clotted cream. But... the Empress Tea place has a dress code too... sigh... Maybe another time!

This is the menu... and yes... they do have house-made clotted cream and it actually looks quite yum...

And the dress code is not... excessive... 

"Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.

• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted.

• No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.

• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted."

But... it's only for Afternoon Tea and it was only 10 am!!! Next time!!

Right then... where to next???

High Tea for a Bear!

 Hullo! Today we are going for High Tea at a local tea room!!! I am beary excited... as the only place we have come even close to this is at Laduree in Covent Gardens and the Royal Academy of Arts near Fortnum and Mason...

Ooohhhh... fancy tea cups and everything!

I do have to say this tea was beary nice and smooth... very drinkable...

It's nice to see that all this old porcelain has found a home...

One of the humans had a tea leaf reading done... so there were tea thingies in the bottom of the cup...

But I guess you need to know what you are doing to read this stuff... all it says to this little bear is "More Tea Please!".

And then... then we got our nibbles!!! On a three platter tower thingie!

There was fruit on top... kiwis and grapes and a few other things...

And the second level had little sandwich things... croisants with creamcheese and tomato...

And crustless cucumber sandwiches...

But best of all was the bottom layer which had butter tarts, cookies, brownies (yum) and scones... warm from the oven!!

We had jam and cream too... except... it was whipping cream not clotted cream or Devonshire cream and... Sandy wants to ask Beanie... "Does one serve whipping cream with scones and jam??"

It was in an old house (old for us)....

And there was outdoor seating too...

All in all, we had a fun time!!! Even if it was whipping cream... hmph.