Bree and Patrick

Spring Break Getaway!

Patrick planned a fantastic trip for us over my Spring Break. We boarded the Victoria Clipper at 7am for a lovely 2 1/2 ride to Victoria. Here is a nice shot of Seattle as we headed off. That is about all I could take of the wind outside so we headed in and had a champagne breakfast! After our boat ride we immediately boarded a bus for a tour of the city and to head to the Buchart Gardens. I did learn quite a bit about Victoria from the tour but on the way back from the gardens all the guide talked about was hallucinogenic mushrooms??!!?? Here are some great shots from the Gardens which were so beautiful and full of amazing colors.

After the gardens, we checked into our amazing hotel, the Fairmount Empress! The hotel is incredibly old but regal with amazing woodwork and furnishings! Our hotel was virtually next to the Parliament building so we walked over there for some pictures and a tour!

We ended our evening with a great dinner at Pescatores and a walk around the city. Patrick was having a blast with our new camera...especially these night shots of the Parliament building and our hotel. Here is the Fairmount Empress.

On Thursday, we had tea in the Empress room. This was quite a lavish event. We were started with a lovely fruit cup while we selected our teas. Patrick chose the Jasmine Green Tea and I had the Berry Tea, both were excellent. Next a three tier platter was brought to our table. The bottom plate was covered with little finger sandwiches. The next plate had scones and a green tea and cream flavored pastry puff, and the top was desserts. Here is a picture we took right after the tea. This is the courtyard of our hotel. Our last sightseeing stop for the trip was to Craigdurrough Castle. The main entry was amazing. It was six stories tall and the woodwork was unbelievable!


And for Pat and I, nothing will stop us from our favorite place to eat if it is nearby. Our hotel was a mere one block away! Yes...the Old Spaghetti Factory. There is nothing like Mizithra! What a great way to finish off a wonderful trip!