Our last full day in Victoria was action packed.  After breakfast, we walked to Craigdarroch Castle.  Itā€™s not really a castle in the sense that Knights and Damsels in Distress lived there.  Rather, itā€™s a 25,000 sq. ft. triumph of a coal baron.  The Dunsmuirs made a fortune mining coal from up on the island.  A non-profit has been restoring and furnishing the house to look as it would have when the Dunsmuirs lived there (Mr. D. and friends only lived there 18 years and the house has been used as a school and infirmary among other things).  It was built as the world was transitioning from gas lighting to electric lighting so some of the fixtures support both.  The house had a lot of amenities like that, such as indoor plumbing.

We walked back towards the hotel and car and stopped for lunch in a nice food court in the huge atrium of a building.  The food at AJā€™s Organic CafĆ© was good and Canadian portion size is definitely smaller than what we get in the States.  More important than the food, was we happened to see a local paper about the recent opening of the Kinsol Tressle and decided to add this as a stopping point on the way to Tofino tomorrow.

Now that weā€™re full, we head out of Victoria to the nearby Butchart Gardens.  Itā€™s a world famous place as far as manicured gardens go.  They are very pretty and Iā€™m pleased that Iā€™m not having an allergy attack and the emergency antihistamines in my pocket are not required.  We explore the grounds, take lots of photos, and I enjoy a delicious soft serve ice cream (not as good as Carvel, but pretty close).

After we finished touring the whole place, we ponder returning for a free evening show, but donā€™t end up making it.  Instead we have a good pizza dinner at Pizzeria Prima Strada which is good wood fired pizza and a nice change from the fancier dinners of the last couple nights.  We walk to the water after eating and watch some crazy people ā€œparachutingā€ for lack of a better term.  Itā€™s windy enough that they just open their parachutes and hope the wind lifts them up, like a kite.  A few of them are successful.  Once it gets dark and cools off further, we stop for a drink and live music and then prepare for our departure tomorrow.

View all the trip photos here:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/VancouverIslandAug2011/