Before Joe started his new job a couple weeks ago, we decided to take a weekend trip to Victoria BC to celebrate!

We took the clipper early Friday morning and got to The Grand Hotel around 10:00am, hoping to at least check our bags at the front desk for a few hours bc we were so early. To our surprise, they had our room ready and gave us the keys! The view was incredible from the balcony - so I had to snap a few pics!

We went to Irish Times Pub for lunch and sat by the window for a view. I had an Irish coffee with a flat bread pizza and Joe tried a local beer with his burger - perfect lunch before hitting the streets for the afternoon to look around.

I've been reading another book by Kate Morton called The Distant Hours that takes place in a castle.. so Joe agreed to take a tour of the Craigdarroch Castle. It was a self guided tour so we wondered around for about an hour or so and were really fascinated by the rich history.

We walked to the Royal BC Museum that afternoon too. The Modern Era History Gallery explores the mining and logging era of mankind on the west coast depicting the days of the gold mines and logging camps, the tools they used and the technology they invented to work their trade.

We took a picture by the Empress Hotel to show my parents. They have been here before for high tea so we were thinking of them!

Victoria feels so much like Europe and is such a walkable City. This time of year isn't tourist season so it wasn't too crowded, which we both appreciated. It rained most of the time and felt cold.. which made for a perfect weekend for two Seattle people. Until next time...