O, Canada
A ferry ride aboard the Coho to Victoria. So calm I didn’t realize we were underway. We also didn’t realize it was September 11, until the ferry agent mentioned the ship would be stopping for a moment of silence at 8:50 AM. Everyone was given a carnation as we boarded, to throw into the water during the silence. Very touching. A little over an hour later, and we were on Canadian soil. What a beautiful city, but rather than stroll casually around, we hightailed it over to the tour buses parked in front of the Empress Hotel to get our tickets to visit Butchart Gardens, or as the guide said several times, the World Famous Butchart Gardens. After making a fortune in the early 1900’s, owning a limestone quarry used in their cement factory, the Butcharts had wagon loads of topsoil brought in to create the gardens. 55 acres of beautiful flowering plants. Lots and lots of color. Petunias, begonias, daisies, hydrangeas, etc. A wall of dahlias with some blooms as big as dinner plates, others so ...