Beauty, eh? Our Trip to Vancouver, Canada

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to Canada. We stayed in downtown Vancouver which is a huge city a lot like New York. We loved being in a big city again where we could walk to dinner and shopping. It's right on the water as well and is beautiful! Stanley Park is a beautiful park similar to Central Park and all the leaves were changing and the weather was perfect!

Our first day there we drove our car onto the ferry and had a 90 minute trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We sailed past gorgeous forested islands! The ship had two levels for cars and then a couple of restaurants and cafes as well as a small play spot for young children. We didn't see any whales, but Marty was pretty sure he saw an octopus come out of the ocean.

Our first stop in Victoria was Buchart Gardens. It is by far the most amazing, beautiful place I've ever seen in my life. Mrs. Buchart (sorry, don't know her first name :-) started creating the gardens on a rock quarry 100 years ago and they are extraordinary. You have to see it to believe it. We loved it! The above photo is taken of "the sunken garden."

Once in Victoria, we visited the Royal BC Museum (very cultural) and Pacific Underseas Gardens (very touristy gimmicky place -- next door to the wax museum). However, it's a "don't miss" because they had a large octopus in their tank that a diver would coax out from it's hiding spot so everyone could view!! Worth every penny!! It was so cool!!

We had lunch at The Spaghetti Factory. Amazing how with four hungry kids our desire to find new and exciting lunch spots went out the window and we resorted to anyplace that looks half-way decent and has a high chair.

I'll continue journaling tomorrow. We had a great time!