Magical Victoria

First, I want to thank those of you who have left comments. I have read every one but don't know the blog well enough to be able to reply directly to each of them.

Well today John left me back at the hotel and just took his videocamera. Darn!



He went to take some videos and set out in the wrong direction. What he thought was the Empress Hotel turned out to be a new resort and spa that had the same general shape in the distance. When he got there he realized it was too new!

Well the Empress hotel was across the small inner harbour but it was not more than a 20 minute walk to get there. He got there taking very short video clips of quaint little things all along the way. He signed up for a city tour at the Visitor's Centre and then walked about the quaint downtown area taking short videos that will make a nice video collage. Too bad that his suitcase is too full to get souvenirs.

As he was getting closer to the Empress he saw the BC legislative assembly building and a large student protest going on outside. The protestors were all women. He talked to one of the women who told him that the BC govt was closing the midwidery program at UBC. After signing the petition (even though he is not a BC resident) he asked about Ontario programs. Apparently there are three: MacMaster, Ryerson and Laurentian -- just the progressive schools, I guess. Of course, Western has no such program.

By then it was getting cooler and there was a mist in the air and the city tour was leaving ina half hour. He just had time to go to the Chocolate Brothers for a cappucino. It was great sitting at the window watching the people walk by. No one was hurrying. This is BC apparently and life is more relaxed. Cars stop for pedestrians. Cyclists are everywhere even at this time of year.



The tour was excellent. In 90 minutes he saw wild seals, the richest real estate in BC, a development that refused to change the way they drove on the right hand side of the road for years after it was illegal in probably the world's first gated community back in the early 1900's. He saw a few of the thousands upon thousands of rabbits on the campus of the University of Victoria. He learned the history of Canada's first Chinatown and saw the narrowest street in Canada (4 feet wide).



After the tour he went with the recommendation of the tour guide and visited the BC Museum. There was so much to see: the stories of the Salish First peoples, BC natural history where he talked to a volunteer who was telling people about tidal pools. John was amazed that he still remembered his biology from the mid 1970's and had a great conversation with the volunteer who was showing people live sea anemones, fish, and other molluscs and crustaceans. He realized that so many of the sea creatures are the same on the west and east coasts.

There was also a big exhibit on the history of BC. John got quite a start when looking at the exhbits when he realized that he was looking at an old PET computer from the late 1970s. This is history he thought to himself and suddenly felt quite a bit older. Hec he even remembered the 8 track cartridges and those fancy IBM electic typewriters! He ended the visit watching a hilarious old Charlie Chaplin movie. Eighty years old and just as funny today!

After getting back to the hotel, he found Gerald in the pub - where else? They had a beer then he picked me up with the suitcase and Gerald drove us all through the fog to Nanaimo. We met Karina, Gerald's wife who is a principal and talked education through a nice lasagna dinner. By 10 o'clock we were all tired and headed for bed.

This was John's first real vacation day. He didn't have to carry me!

Will try to upload videos but it is very hard. John gave up after waiting over two hours to upload a 25 second video at London airport!

TRB

A Day is 24 hours

Well, what a start to the trip. Janice took us to the airport in plenty of time for the 9:15 am departure. John packed so much into me I got him back by nearly dislocating his shoulder. He will know better next time!

As we waited in the departure lounge without being able to even see across Ramp 4 through the fog to the runway, John`s pilot training told him that there would be a delay. We did hear a loud engine roar overhead at one point and John told this military guy he was talkng to, that it sounded like a Dash 8 overflying the runway. At 9:30 the Air Canada sign at the podium said the ontime 9:15 departure of Jazz 7706 was delayed. Then it was cancelled. They sent us back out of the departure lounge and told us to pick up our bags (No, none were lost!) and call the Air Canada number on our cellphones to rebook. I didn`t have my cell phone. So, I went back to the ticket agent with my luggage and went through the whole process again. I booked on the next available flight 7712. It was to leave at 11:00am. I headed back through security and decided to make the video below. At 11:15 they said the flight had been delayed due to mechanical problems. The new time was 12:30, then 1:00pm, then 1:30. We finally took off at 2:00pm.

We arrived at the new Pearson terminal, the first time John had been there. We had a new connection to Vancouver leaving at 4:00pm. The flight went well. The new information options are great! I watched a movie about a couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii with an evil couple stalkng them. I think it might have been called Perfect Getaway.

We arrived in Vancouver. Airport staff were everywhere to help. Almost none of them knew how we could get to the ferry to Victoria. Eventually we found the right ticket booth and got a bus to the ferry, BC Ferries newest one, Coastal Celebration, and took the 90 minute nighttime trip and got on another bus to downtown Victoria and then a texi to the Swans Suites hotel.

Had a chat with Gerald until 2:30 am Pacific time (5:30 am in London). And our 24 hour day was over!

TRB

Here is the video in the departure lounge at London Intl Airport (YXU) which is not to be confused with London Heathrow (LHR) in the UK.




Arrival at Vancouver

I'm Off!

Welcome! I am on John's back and ready to head out to the airport. Today I fly from London to Toronto to Vancouver then take the ferry to Victoria, the bus to downtown and a taxi to the hotel.

I am carrying John's laptop, video camera, and iPod. I hope I am not too thick (physically, not mentally!) to get through security. Wish me luck!

TRB