We decided to try breakfast in the main dining room and both got these beautiful fruit plates. All of the fruit was ripe and sweet and tasted just as wonderful as it looked.
We got ready to explore Victoria and stopped by the Bistro for a cup of coffee while we waited for the ship to dock.
While we were there, a tray of the famous egg custard tarts were served, so of course we had to have one of those too.
Once we left the ship, we took the complimentary shuttle to downtown Victoria. What a beautiful city! We wandered up Government Street which was full of stores and stood inside the door of Starbucks to steal some wi-fi and check our email. Then I bought some coconut and an orange flavored tea at a great little tea shop called SpecialTeas. We walked along the harbor for a bit before taking the bus back to the ship.
We barely had time for a very quick lunch at the Lido deck buffet before joining up with our group for an excursion to Butchart Gardens.
The gardens were very pretty, of course, and the weather was excellent for a stroll through them.
My favorite portion is known as the sunken gardens. Our bus driver told us that it used to be a quarry and then Mrs. Butchart, a chemist, had it covered over with her own special blend of dirt and fertilizer. Then she planted all sorts of flowers and greenery in it. The quarry was not "filled in", but just the top layer of rock was covered, so it is still a very deep pit. You can sort of see it behind Ross in the picture below. It was stunning.
Our excursion also included afternoon tea. We had a nice time chatting with our table mates, which was good because the tea itself was quite disappointing. Unfortunately I think we had been spoiled by Crystal's afternoon tea in the Palm Court the day before. At Butchart Gardens we were not given a choice of tea. It was already steeped and waiting in big pots on each table. We have all grown so used to being served that at first no one even realized that the pots had tea in them. We waited for almost 10 minutes for a waiter to come and take our order before someone thought to check the pots and started pouring for themselves. Boy have we gotten spoiled!
This is a picture of Ross rubbing the snout of a bronze boar statue for good luck. Isn't there one of these in Kansas City, too?
The gardens were bit unkind to our clothes. Ross just about ripped the top of his pocket off his pants and I lost a button off of mine. When we got back to the ship, I tried to make some repairs. My sewing isn't pretty, but since we are traveling and don't have many pairs of pants, I just had to do my best.
Port days are always casual dress, so we didn't have to change for dinner tonight.
For an appetizer I had a crab tower, which was good.
Ross had a sea scallop which was so succulent and sweet that I wished I had ordered it instead.
Yesterday, I had watched with interest as the head waiter tossing something in a bowl at someone else's table side. He noticed me watching and came over and said, "Would you like me to make you some beef tar-tar, too?". I said that I would and when he brought it over, I said, "When I first saw you, I thought you were making a Caesar salad, but tar-tar is even better.". He said, "Would you like for me to make you a Caeser salad tomorrow?".
"Yes , please."
And of course he remembered and made me one tonight. Unfortunately, he has ruined all other Caesar salads for me because it was the best I have ever had. It was not too tart, which I find to be a common problem for Caesar salads and the croutons were cut into small cubes, which I loved.
Next up Ross ordered a ribeye.
Ross rib-eye was okay, but my order of sea bass was so much better that I ended up giving Ross quite a bit of mine.
For dessert the head waiter offered to make us cherries jubilee. It had an excellent sweet-tart flavor and I love cherries so I was very happy with it.
After dinner we wandered around the ship before settling in the Starlite lounge for a San Juan rematch.
Ross beat me again, but I have a new strategy for next time that I think will defeat him. :)
At midnight, we set sail for Vancouver, BC.
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