Victoria, Part Four: Thursday...Coming Home

I hung around the hotel until check out time at 11:00, watchng TV and using the internet kiosk. At 11:00, I drove down to the ferry terminal (I hadn't so much as touched my car since Monday, though I did check on her from my hotel room window every night and every morning). I left my car there and had 3 hours to wander after buying my ticket for the return journey.

First order of business: Return to the English Sweet Shop. I bought four more boxes of Jaffa Cakes. I'm not kidding. I consumed one box of my original two while in Victoria, so I now have five dozen Jaffa Cakes, which I will selfishly horde for the next month or so. I'm still debating whether or not to give Mom and Dad each one cake (hey, I bought them a box of maple shortbread cookies--they can be happy with that).

So I wandered for a few hours with a bag full of Jaffa Cakes, which could be clearly seen through the plastic. If anyone wondered why I had a boatload of Jaffa Cakes in my bag, well, I don't care. I've been craving those things for months, since the four-box supply that Kathy and Derek sent me were depleted.

Some pics I took while wandering around with my Jaffa Cakes:


More vendors--the flowers behind them spell out "Welcome to Victoria":


A spray-paint artist. I've seen this before in London, and it's really fun to watch (even though the art itself isn't really to my taste). Plus, this guy was kinda cute underneath the face mask and headphones.


More signs:




A street artist painting the Empress (her finished painting was quite good):


Finally it was time to get back to my car. At 2:30, the Customs agents came by to check passports and drivers licenses and ask the standard questions:

1. Do you have any tobacco, firearms or agricultural products?
2. Where do you live?
3. How much money did you spend on things to bring back?

I love Customs. It's a gigantic pain in the keister, but it also cracks me up. When I came back from England last year, the Customs agent at SeaTac asked me if I brought back any livestock. If I let my smartass tendencies get the better of me, I would have replied, "Oh crap! I left Bessie in the ladie's room!! Be right back..."

But I actually want a problem-free entry back into my own country, so I'm always super polite to Customs agents.

When it was time to board I was one of the first cars on (the advantage to getting there really early). This also meant I'd be one of the first people off, through Customs on the American end, and on the highway headed home.

I was quite tired by now. I spent the first 20 minutes of the journey taking some pictures (Thursday was cooler and overcast).

A floating neighborhood (must be such a hardship to be able to sit on your patio, right on the harbour):


Downtown Victoria (there's that pink building again):


Last chance to fill up the gas tank before leaving Victoria Harbour and entering the Straight of Juan de Fuca:


I was getting quite cold, so I went downstairs and inside to the cafeteria. I had a snack and read my book (a new one, as I'd finished the Da Vinci Code and now was moving on to Meg Cabot's "Size 12 is Not Fat"). Before long, it was time to go back to the car deck and wait while they turned the Coho around and backed her thang up to the dock.

I breezed through Customs after answering the following:

1. Where do you live? (I'm suddenly paranoid that all these customs agents are going to show up at my front door wanting dinner).
2. Why were you in Victoria?
3. What did you do there? ("Uh, the usual...Butchart Gardens, tea at the Empress").
4. Did you have fun? ("It was fabulous!!")

He smiled, said, "Goodbye!" and waved me through. A little over an hour later, I was pulling into the driveway, happy to be home.

That's the thing about travel. I love seeing new places and going on adventures, but there is no place like home. There is nothing like your own familiar shower, with just enough water pressure. And there is certainly nothing like your own bed, with dips in the mattress exactly where you want them and the pillows arranged just so. I slept so very well last night!

I had a lovely time. I definitely reccommend Victoria to anyone and everyone. There is a lot to see and do, the weather is lovely most of the time, and the people are without a doubt the friendliest I've encountered in my travels--even friendlier than the Italians, who are charmers.

The great news is I get to go back in May--granted it's only for a day, and I'll be helping supervise about 80 eleven-year-olds, but it will be a fun trip. We're taking them to the Royal B.C. Museum, which is really, really well-done. One of the best natural history musuems in the world.

Well, hope you've enjoyed my pictures!

Cheers,

Meg