June 23, 2019 Sunday
Vancouver, BC to Victoria Island, BC Canada

This morning we took the BC Ferry over to Victoria Island.  On the ferry, they have a “Quiet Lounge”, which we thought would be nice.  There was a lady there to open the door for us, so we went in sat down and thought this is pretty nice.  Well, a lady came over to us letting us  know that we needed to pay to sit in this lounge and it’s $13.00 CAD per person.  No Problem for us which ended up costing us about $20.00USD for both of us.  It was very nice, they have very comfortable lounge chairs, they provided snacks: cheese, crackers, vegetable w/dip, trail mix, coffee, tea and juices and we had a smooth 1hr 35 minute sailing trip.

After unloading from the ferry we headed straight to the hotel (Marriott Inner Harbour). 

Once checked in, we stopped at the Concierge to get information on what is the “MUST SEE” since we only have one day visit on the Island.  It was extremely windy and with the option of biking around town, we would have been blown backwards, so we decided to walk.  We started walking and right away, John needed his hat and I had to braid my hair because of the extreme wind.  Ok now we are ready to visit this windy town.  We walked the river walk, Historic District and Chinatown.   

We were told Chinatown in Victoria is the largest Chinatown in Canada.  Fan Tan Alley was our highlight of Chinatown, which is this alley that is no more than  10 feet wide and lined with shops.

.    

We walked to the Market Square where there was a band playing (Jamacian type music). We stopped to have a brew and listen.  Very festive event they have every week-end.  

   

We ventured onto Bastion Square, which is a historic pedestrian mall lined up with shops, restaurants and historic buildings. 

We stopped at the Old Times Pub for Lunch/Dinner.  This unique restaurant building is an eye catcher in the center of Bastion Square.  It has the classic Irish Pub fare.  The building was the first home to the Bank of Montreal, built in 1894 by Sir Francis Rattenbury.  The building is chateau style stone work.  The interior has cozy fireplaces, rich dark wood, Victorian-etched glass doors and windows.  It was such a beautiful day, we sat outside.  All the staff wear Kilts to represent the Irish flare.  Of course, John had Fish & Chips and I had there Lobster Bisque and salad.  It was all good and the service was great from our Irish waitresses.  HA

We walked back to the hotel to rest up  for our evening walk in the city.  The Concierge told us to take a short walk at night to see the Parliament Building (Provincial Legislature) all lite up.  We also took a short stroll around the inner harbor beautifully lite up.