Automne en Europe 2024

  Bev wanted to do to the Buchart Gardens.   Fortunately the rain had stopped and the   sun peaked through the clouds every now and again. There were two ways to get there; either on a tour (very expensive but not available) or take public transport (much cheaper).   Conveniently, the bus stop for getting the bus that took us there was less than a 15 minute walk away.   It was a pleasant ride through the suburbs which were not too dissimilar to those in New Zealand and Australia.   Single dwellings on a plot of land, except for the most part they were two storied with a basement.     Buchart Gardens is a very popular tourist destination, particularly in spring and summer.   Even in winter they were very nice.   The leaves had mostly fallen, and they were setting the place up for Christmas.   It was lovely peaceful place to walk around with crowds.   In the tourist season it must be so busy judging by the number of car...

Fairmont Empress Hotel   Finally we were forced indoors by the rain.   We had a relaxed start to the day where we played pool on the pool table in the lounge room where we had our breakfast.   It was about eleven o’clock before we arrived in the Old Town to do a bit more exploring.   As we were walking down the street we came across a wine shop selling only British Columbian wines.   We wandered in and ended up having a chat with the salesman who was passionate about the wines and had good knowledge about them.   I browsed the wines and contemplated getting a bottle but decided against it given I didn’t want to carry it around for the rest of the day.     After a coffee we went to the local tourism office and were given some information.   By that time it was raining.   The idea had been to wander around to Fishermen’s Wharf but the rain became more persistent so we wandered back to The Empress where we had been told to go and have a...