Time to Go

Today is our final day in Victoria so it is filled with cleaning and packing but I have a moment to say that we had a great week here despite the construction and all its problems.

We chose the new paint colour for our rooms which was a plus but we also discovered that while removing the outside stucco, the workers had cut the power to our dishwasher. That meant removing the lovely new siding which had been installed. On the plus side, our new windows are fantastic. Not only do they keep the apartment warm, they also cut down the noise from Fort Street. However, we must get new window coverings since our old blinds no longer fit.

Yesterday, during one of the sunny breaks, we walked down to Oak Bay shopping area to have lunch at the Pennyfarthing, one of the first pubs we enjoyed in Victoria. I had a hankering for their steamed Salt Spring Island mussels. Glen enjoyed a couple of pints of Smithwick's while I had an award winning beer from the Vancouver Island Brewery called Spyhopper Honey Brown Ale. "Spyhopping is the playful activity in which the orca will vertically pop out of the water in order to check out their surroundings or to examine prey."

Pennyfarthing has great pizzas so I ordered their Aspargus and Olive pizza with feta cheese and Glen had a pub staple of Beefsteak and Guiness pot pie. Both were delicious. To end this great meal, Glen indulged in a dark chocolate brownie with ice cream and I had the Pennyfarthing Irish Coffee.

Tonight, as has become tradition, we'll have supper at the airport White Spot restaurant. Originally the airport had a cafeteria-style restaurant but after renovations, the White Spot opened a lovely place in which to eat and drink. The service is always good and food tasty. Their in-house beer, Nat Bailey lager or Nat Bailey pale ale is brewed by the Granville Island Brewing exclusively for the White Spot restaurants.

Leaving is always bittersweet as we love being 'on the island' but of course, home is still Calgary. More and more we discuss the time when Victoria will become home but that is still several years away.