Cold and wet (16 November 2024)

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 cup of tea. 

 

It was a quite a shock to discover a high tea was going to cost $109 each.  I think I made quite an exclamation when the waitress told me.  Instead we went to the cheaper place which still had a good view of the waterfront, where we had a cup of tea and a bite to eat at a price that was more acceptable.  It was more about the experience but the flat bread we had was actually very good.  The public areas were very grand with high ceiling and lots of wood.  It felt airy and warm.  The windows looked out to the bay around which the downtown area and parliament are situated.  The wait staff were very attentive and a bit too ingratiating (but even that is not quite the word I want to use).

Christmas lights in the Bay Centre

 

It was not nice outside after we left the empress,  so we wandered around the Bay Centre - a big mall that would have been a large department store in the past.  Hudson’s Bay was that store and it had reduced in size to occupy a few floors at one end of the building.  It had been set up for Christmas and the  lights were very good.  There were also a number of Christmas trees all decorated differently for which there was a competition.  It created a great atmosphere.

 


We returned to the wine cellar and purchased a nice bottle of British Columbian Chardonnay.  The salesman suggested we go to a Tapas Bar called Bodega which he said was very good.  It was nice and warm and we were fortunate to get the last couple of seats.  They had outdoor seating but only those with no cold sensors were mad enough to sit outside. , It  seems there are a few under thirties people who are happy to do just that.  The tapas and wine were
very good.  


An old clock in the Bay Centre

Very damp outside Parliament

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Choosing where to go next (28 October 2024)

Image
  Canal St-Martin There is so much to see in Paris, which makes for an almost overwhelming number of places to choose from.   Graham had what he called “crikey” moments where something would just take his breath away.   The Pont du Gard was one of those moments but he had many more so the challenge was to find at least one on our last full day in Paris.     We were keen to go to Belleville which is the highest point in Paris and Graham had picked up a book in the apartment with graphic photos of its former self before and after it had been redeveloped in the 1970s and later.   The view from there on a good day is excellent as you can see the city laid out with its various landmarks.   It   was quite misty when we left but we still decided to go. Parc de Belleville   We entered through the Parc de Bellville and climbed to the lookout point.   The Eiffel Tower was not visible due to the mist but as it was coffee t...
Read more

Frankfurt am Main

Image
Looking toward the CBD We woke early and found that our apartment had a wide and expansive balcony that gave us a view from the west to the east.   It was a nice outlook.     Apartments' courtyard View from the balconey of apartment It was over twelve hours since we had last eaten and Bev wanted breakfast so we went looking for a place in the local area settling on a bakery/café.   The food was carb heavy but it did the trick.   (Comment from Bev: Yum! – there will be a few of these added comments throughout as she edits my blog)   Our tram stop - cycle lane on my right Just before we left New Zealand I had a message from Deutsche Bahn to tell me that the train we were going on from Prague had been cancelled and we had to find another way of travelling.   The website was optimised for German speakers of course so I think the translated version was not as clear.   I thought the easiest way to deal with it was to go to Fra...
Read more

The Causeway Coastal Route (2 November 2024)

Image
Carrickfergus Castle It was very damp when we departed for Derry/Londonderry, taking the Coastal route there.   Normally this would be done when going to the Giant’s Causeway but we had not managed to do so.     The first stop was Carrickfergus Castle about 20 minutes out of Belfast.   It is a Norman castle that was built in 1147 on a rock that has fresh water available.   Over succeeding centuries it was much modified to become the fortress that it is today.   It was a central player in the wars of control of Ulster.   Initially it was the main centre of Ulster but eventually in the 1700 and 1800s the centre moved to Belfast.   Halloween display in the Keep   We paid the small fee to have a look around.   It was interesting to go into a very different kind of castle to those we had visited in France.   The idea was the same but execution was different.     In the main Keep which is the large...
Read more