Hi there, friends!
So sorry I missed blogging on Friday. I was able to go into a coffee shop in Seattle, but I was catching up with a friend who lives in there, so blogging took a backseat, I must admit (Hi ML!). It was great to see her…might even be able to visit with her a couple more times because our schedules match up, which is kind of fun since it’s as if I live in Seattle and we’re just meeting for lunch or coffee. It’s also fun because I rarely get to see her, and it was wonderful to catch up. If only I had friends in Juneau, or Victoria…
Speaking of Victoria, The Guns and I were both able to explore the city a bit. Unfortunately, we dock at 8PM so some of my pictures are quite dark, but I have a few good ones.
There’s lots of ways to get around the city, but we opted to follow one of three paths that they mark to walk into the city. The path we chose took us by the waterfront. We started out walking through a residential area, mostly modern-looking condos, which made me think that I could live in Victoria. Then we passed some waterfront homes and hotels and parks before we got to downtown and the BC capitol.
we walked down Dallas rd!
The capitol!
We walked up Government Street which seems to be the city’s major nightlife scene… everything from a Scottish and Irish pub to upscale restaurants and tourist trap shops. After exploring we settled on a little soda shoppe. I had a “Ruby Slipper”- peach and strawberry soda mixed with a couple scoops of ice cream (which sounds scary, but is really, really good). The Guns got a chocolate mint fizzie.
It’s strange. When I think of northwestern cities (like Seattle, and Portland- all in the same region as Victoria) I have always felt/assumed that the feeling of the land is very distinct. And it is. But, at the same time, Victoria feels like a northeastern city. A little like New England. It feels old. Not like old and rundown, but old and established. Not like a suburb, in other words. It’s something about the setup of the city, but also the vegetation. There’s a lot of trees with great and sturdy trunks and branches. I don’t know what kind of trees they were, but my educated guess would be maple or oak. Whatever they were, they reminded me of New England.
It’s interesting how different locales can evoke different feelings and remind us other places, while still holding their own identity.
Along the same lines, recently we visited Colorado and realized how permissive it was for a US city. The Guns swears he saw a woman driving on the highway with a marijuana plant in her backseat. I really have no comment on the legalization or not of the drug here in the US or anywhere, but that permissiveness does translate into a feeling amongst the culture of Denver. It translates into what you see and hear in the streets, from the dress you see to the way people conduct themselves in public areas. I wouldn’t say it’s cause and effect, but they’re definitely related.
ANYWAY- I found out on my first visit to Victoria that this same kind of permissiveness prevails. A group of us went out to eat, and for some reason one of my co-workers asked our waitress about Victoria’s open container laws. Well, she didn’t even know what an open-container law was, and once we explained she said “oh no, you can’t carry alcohol, but you can have an ounce or two of pot on you!” as soon as she said that I started to realize that there were things about Victoria that reminded me a lot of Denver as well…
I’ve found some ways to make more time for blogging and updates. Let me know if there’s anything you want to know about our travels!
PS- we’re still missing Bravo… mostly the dog, not the network.
sometimes she blogs 