We got to the Edgewater hotel at about 1:30 in the morning after a wild taxi ride, and we needed to be at the ferry dock by 7:45. Fortunately the Edgewater was only 100 yards away from the dock, so we settled in to enjoy all 375 minutes of a beautiful hotel room. Even with leftover "train legs," which made the room sway when you walked around. Then it was up, careful pressing of clothes, and out to the Victoria Clipper ferry. The last minutes in the room were made memorable by the sight of a massive cruise ship coming to dock apparently at our window.

The ferry was an air effect catamaran and it made the trip in ~2 hours. It was completely sold out, full of excited day-trippers and people going out to watch the Swiftsure yacht races. We sat next to a man who was going out to crew one of the competing boats. He looked glumly out at the placid water, with all the disgust any sailor feels for a clock calm.

Partway into the trip, the captain's excited British voice announced that we should check off the starboard bow for a sight of a new Navy ship out doing sea trials. He said it was the first time they had seen it out on the water, though it's been under development for a while and is due to be turned over to the navy next month. The new navy ship is a fast air effect catamaran as well, and it was really interesting to see the how quickly the two ships could move. (I've spent a good bit of time on the water and it was definitely weird to be going so fast.-A) Aside from the gray, blocky naval craft, it was a beautiful trip, rocky green islands in view the whole way. I can see why Seattle is a sister city to Bergen.

We docked in Victoria Harbor at mid-morning, in blazing clear weather. All the luggage was hoisted off in big wooden cartons, and unloaded into a customs shed. We stood patiently in line, alternately in bright sunlight and canopied shade. When every bag had been stowed on the shelves lining a short passage, people were permitted to walk down it, collecting their gear and moving one of several customs booths. The official there asked us a number of polite questions, and disappointingly didn't stamp our passports. We were released into the wild, and into the smiling, beckoning gestures of the bicycle pedi-cab drivers.

Victoria Harbor from the ferry loading dock.

A map check confirmed that our hotel was a few blocks away, so we decided to just walk over. The cyclists took the rejection in good spirits and redirected their attention to the next batch of tourists.

Hotel check-in was easy. Since it was so early in the day we'd been hoping to just leave our luggage with the front desk and return later to see our room. Instead a smiling concierge gave us the room card-keys and wished us a pleasant stay. The room has air-conditioning! Aaron immediately set it to 60 degrees.

Victoria! Refreshed and luggage-free, we walked into the city. With a couple of hours to spare before tea at the Fairmont we agreed to check out the Royal B.C. Museum. And its café. There hadn't been time for breakfast before the ferry, and the food on the ferry wasn't super-appealing, and dinner on the train the night before had been at 5:30, so we were getting pretty hungry. The café at the museum was closed for renovation. So, a little light-headed but face it, well-bolstered by our existing reserves, we ventured into the museum. Have you seen their website? And any review ever written about it? It's that good. I never knew people made clothes from cedar bark. Aaron really liked the display on white settlement, especially the uniforms from the English, Russian, and Spanish naval commanders in the early 19th century.

Outside the museum, the bright heat was waiting. We were both beaded with sweat by the time we'd crossed the street to the Fairmont Empress Hotel grounds. Tea was magnificent. Gershwin being played on a grand piano, elaborate pillars supporting a coffered ceiling, armchairs, portraits in heavy gilt frames, tall windows overlooking the harbor, smiling, ever-so-slightly-condescending waiters tending to throngs of nervous-excited guests, and oh-so-welcome tea-time refreshments. Ahhh . . . .

After tea it was naturally time for shopping, which super-hero Aaron took like a man. He was amused by a troop of Japanese school girls, complete with pleated skirts, ties, and knee socks, apparently on a school trip. Two stops, for a sun-hat and books, and we returned to our room. Shoes off!

We made dinner reservations at Café Brio, a place that specializes in using local ingredients. When our waiter heard we were not only from California, but *from the Bay Area,* it was instant admission into her Food Matters club. Not that she said anything like that directly, but she lingered to discuss the menu, beamed when we praised the food, brought us unsolicited tasting samples of dessert wines, entered whole-heartedly into the cheese-selection debate, wrote down cheese names & descriptions, and finally brought us a local magazine called "Eat."

A dinner like that calls for a walk, even when you've skipped dessert. We ambled down to the harbor and the parliament buildings, which are lit up like the entrance to Tivoli. Deep blue sky, lots of other contented strollers, and a feeling that for tonight, Victoria belonged to the tourists.

Our hotel room, did I mention the air conditioning?

Tea at the Empress.

10 years. . .