I have just experienced the perfect weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend Valentines or a better person to spend it with.
My boyfriend and I went to Victoria this weekend and it was magical.
Saturday was mostly spent travelling. Travel days can be tedious, but they’re also exciting. They mean you’re about to embark on an adventure, and there are few things in life that I love the feeling of more. Plus ferries are just fun. And it helps to have an awesome travel buddy to keep you entertained, warm, and to know what stop to get off at when riding a bus that doesn’t announce its stops.
When we arrived in Victoria at long last we decided to trek our way from the town center to the bed and breakfast where we were staying. It was about a twenty minute walk, which unfortunately was in the rain, but the area around where we were staying was the heritage part of town, so many of the houses were quite nice to look at.
We stayed in Abbeymoore Manor, and it was exquisite. It was a beautiful old heritage house and we stayed in the Lilac room, which was quaint and lovely and came with the original bathroom of the house, including the big claw foot bath tub, which I was especially excited to use.
Upon entering the room, we were greeted by roses, chocolate truffles, and champagne.
We kept the rest of Saturday pretty low key, tired from our travels and having planned most things for Sunday anyways. We did go back into town for dinner, where we had a nice meal at Cactus Club.
But Sunday was the real treat.
Because we were staying in a bed and breakfast, a good breakfast in the morning was expected, but even I wasn’t ready for the deliciousness that awaited me. First we were given mimosas and raspberry-cranberry juice, which were both amazing. We were then served a maple pecan scone with jam and cream, which may well be the best scone I have ever had, and a side of balsamic strawberries, also incredible. For our main course we were given a dish called Luau Eggs Benedict, which was an Eggs Benedict served with Panko crusted Mahi Mahi and citrus Hollandaise on top and a fresh avocado and tomato salad on the side. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water, it was so so so SO good. I wish I had a picture of it because it was also beautiful.
After our amazing breakfast, we headed out nice and early to the Craigdarroch Castle, which was just a short five minute walk from our place. If you know me at all, you know how great my love for castles is, so I was thrilled to hear that not only do we have a castle in Canada (whaaaaaat?) but it was right there too. This isn’t a castle in the way Europe does castles, of course, it’s more like a large manor house, but still it’s super cool to see and explore.
(Ignore the cars and we could be right back in the Victorian era.)
After our castle tour we went to the Government House and grounds to walk around. Thankfully, although a rather grey day, it wasn’t raining, so we could walk through the gardens without getting soaked through. Despite it being February, there were actually a decent amount of flowers out already. I’d love to go back in the summer though, to really see the gardens in bloom.
It was then time for our afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel. I felt rather elegant walking through the big doors and being escorted to our table. If you’re not familiar with the area, this is one of the prime places to do high tea. High tea has always been a favourite thing of mine to do, and high tea at the Empress certainly lived up to its standards. The sandwiches, pastries, desserts, and tea were all delicious, tailored especially to Valentines. I had a lovely fruity tea that tasted of pineapple and wonderfulness.
We walked around the harbour a bit afterwards, going past the Parliament buildings. Even Gnomebert got in on the action.
By now we were exhausted and stuffed, so we headed back to Abbeymoore to call it quits and enjoy a nice, relaxing hot bath. But not before gorging ourselves on the Valentines surprise that was left in our room!
The next morning was another amazing breakfast, this one with an incredible sweet and spicy tomato tart to start and Fromage a la Crème stuffed French Toast with orange blueberry sauce, breakfast sausage, and fresh fruit to finish. Amazing!
Then it was time to leave and head back to reality. I was so sad to see this trip end. I had a wonderful time with my wonderful man and we’re already talking about returning for another stay. It was the perfect weekend after all. Mwah!
violetsams 