Tag Archives: BC

Happy Holidays!!

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Happy Holidays!!

Hi Folks:

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Festivus, Solstice or Saturnalia, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or something entirely personal, we wish you and those close to you a safe and happy Holiday Season, and a New Year with as much joy, love, adventure, peace and excitement as you can handle!!

The blog has been a little quiet of late, but we’ll be back with much more in 2014, so our continued thanks to you for stopping by!!

With Hugs,
Marcia and Mike.

P.S. The photograph is a composite made from 75 images, shot on the corner of the Legislative Grounds. If you’re not familiar with Victoria, the Inner Harbour is on the far left, then there’s the Empress Hotel, the Royal BC Museum and then the lights of the Legislative bldg.

Eating Our Way Through… Tofino!

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Hi Folks:

Well, in a manner not unlike running away to join the circus, last weekend Marcia and Mike decided to escape for the weekend.  Knowing that summer is the height of tourist season and that it was a long shot at best, we began contacting a few B&Bs with the question, “Is there any chance you’re not completely booked this weekend?”  We were lucky, both in that we found an opening for Friday and Saturday nights, and more so in that we had the opportunity to meet (head chef) Duncan and (sous chef) Robin and stay at Gull Cottage.  Located on Lynn Road, almost directly across from an access trail to Chesterman Beach, Gull Cottage was perfect for us.  We stayed in the Spruce Room, with a wonderful bay window looking toward the ocean and a private bathroom next door.  Next time we’ll look into booking the Rainforest Room, probably with a little more than three days’ notice!

Gull Cottage

Gull Cottage

We left Victoria at 4:30 hoping to beat some of the weekend traffic, but even so it was six hours later that we finally pulled in their driveway.  The last time we were in Tofino was in 2007 for our son’s wedding, and were pleased to see that the road has undergone some upgrades since then.  Still, it’s a long and winding road and driving at night, in the rain is not something to be undertaken lightly – even if you do have over a million km of driving experience.   There is Tofino Air charter and a private, walk-on ferry that will take you from Port Alberni to Ucluelet, but if traveling by car there’s only one way in/out.  By the time we arrived everyone else in the house was already in bed but Duncan had kindly waited up for us, gave us a quick tour and took us to our room.  We slept like the dead and awoke early the next morning.

After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee and curried eggs we headed across the road and down to Chesterman Beach.  The tide was slowly coming in, but it didn’t matter.  We walked, watched, played in the sand and made photographs; some of those will eventually make it to our Flickr site.

After we returned to the B&B and cleaned up a bit we headed into Tofino proper to take in the Saturday Market.  We stopped at the Tofitian Internet Café on the way so Marcia could get her Americano fix (strictly Earl Grey for Mike), and she pronounced it very good!  Held in the Village Green, the Saturday market is a ‘bake it or make it’ market, so everything for sale is created by the vendors themselves.  While we were there we picked up a loaf of bread from the 600 Degrees Bakery; it was hard to choose just one!  There were also plenty of games and exercises for kids (and adults) to play, and a couple of local elders were teaching kids how to weave cedar baskets.  While we were downtown we also perused several of the galleries, had ice cream at the local candy store (next time, Chocolate Tofino!), and stopped for lunch at Breakers Deli.  Mike had a pork roast and cheddar sandwich and Marcia had a great salad of mixed greens and seeds with added avocado to give her some protein.  Very tasty!  While we were downtown we also stopped at Schooner Restaurant (NB: clicking on their website link automatically plays not one but two videos… :-P) to see about a dinner reservation.  We were told that their tables were pretty much all booked for the evening but that if we came by we could wait.  We opted to do that, and returned to Chesterman Beach for the remainder of the afternoon!

The Schooner Restaurant is on Campbell St. in downtown Tofino – casual enough to accept the entire family, and yet upscale enough to celebrate the eve of your 225th Monthaversary (or whatever else you might have to celebrate).  We timed our arrival for about 7:00 and as luck would have it we were shown directly to a table overlooking the patio.  We began with a virgin Caesar for Marcia and iced tea (unsweetened – yay!) for Mike, and by sharing the warm ‘Goat’s Nut Salad’, which is a combination of chèvre cheese and toasted hazelnuts, served on top of a bed of mixed greens, with a pear fan for accent and a balsamic vinaigrette.  As we had discovered at both breakfast and lunch, eating fresh and local has hit Tofino in a big way, and we were very pleased to see it!

For the main course, Marcia opted for the ‘Long Boarding Salmon’ – locally caught salmon baked on a cedar plank, drizzled with a raspberry ginger coulis and served with local prawns, garden vegetables and rice.  Mike went for the ‘Naked Steak’ – an 8-oz. New York steak, covered only with sea salt and black pepper and grilled (rare, in this case).  It was served with mashed potatoes and a selection of vegetables as well.  Both were well prepared.

For dessert Marcia opted for the fresh ‘Blueberry Crumble’, served with handmade Chocolate Tofino ice cream.  Mike’s initial request – the ‘Three Generation Chocolate Cake’ was sold out, so a tasty goat cheese cheesecake made up the difference.  All in all, very enjoyable!

Sunday morning, after another excellent breakfast of fresh fruit with homemade muesli, bacon, egg and toast we gathered our things, checked out of our room and said a temporary good-bye to Robin and Duncan.  We had a few thoughts on what to do for the day but decided to head to Tonquin Park and Beach.  We arrived early enough that there were a few people but no crowds, which suited us perfectly.  After several hours of walking and making photographs (and with great reluctance) we left the quiet of the beach and the trees behind and began our journey back to Victoria, with one last stop along the way.  Okay, there were two as Marcia had to pick up some earrings she’d been enchanted by the day before.  The second stop was at Shelter Restaurant for lunch before heading out.  Shelter Restaurant is also on Campbell St., a little bit south of downtown.  As we’d discovered elsewhere, Shelter places great emphasis on local, organic and sustainable.  In their case they augment this with their own herb and vegetable garden, a two-tier composting system and a rainwater catchment system.  Within Shelter’s walls are a bar side and a restaurant side, and we chose a table by the window within view of the fireplace.  Being lunchtime and with a long drive ahead of us, we opted for slightly simpler fare.  Starting with water served in an reused wine bottle, Marcia had the ‘Shelter Salad’ – a combination of greens, peppers, cucumber, seeds, dates, feta cheese and chicken breast and Mike had a Club sandwich with a side green salad.  Both were delicious!

With that we turned our noses into the wind and headed for home, arriving in Victoria 4½ hours later.  Our return trip was much faster, but it was daylight, it wasn’t raining, and Marcia did more of the driving! 😉

We’re already looking forward to our next visit!!

Hugs,
M&M

Photo of the Month – July

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Hi Folks:

At the end of July a friend of mine and I traveled slightly ‘up-island’ toward Duncan to visit the old stone ‘Butter Church’.  It’s a church with a somewhat colourful history – built in the mid-19th-century by a Catholic priest, using Native workmen for the construction.  The church was built on Native land with a verbal agreement for it to be there.  The priest in charge raised dairy cattle on the land surrounding the church, churned butter from the milk he collected and used the money from the sales of the butter to pay the workers, hence the name.  Services were held in the church for ten years, but the local bishop wasn’t happy with the verbal agreement for the location, ordered a new church built on a different site and the existing one was deconsecrated and abandoned.  A few attempts were made over the years to restore the church, but today it has largely been left to the elements.  The quality of the original stonework is mostly what’s left to be admired.

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International Free Hugs Day, 2013

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Hi Folks:

As you’re surely all well aware, Saturday, July 6 (the first Saturday in July) was International Free Hugs Day!!  Marcia and I dutifully marched down to our spot at the Homecoming Statue at Ship’s Point and unrolled our ‘Free Hugs’ posters, then eagerly awaited the onslaught.  We didn’t have long to wait.  We both commented on how terrified we were the first time we did this down at the inner harbour, and how much we look forward to these outings now!  We meet some amazing people from around the world (and around the corner), shared some great stories and some great hugs!

Thanks to everyone who came by for sharing your hugs, smiles, waves, air hugs (from across the street), and best of all, yourselves.  We appreciate every one!

International Free Hugs Day, 2013

International Free Hugs Day, 2013

So go out and hug someone today, and be sure to check out our other ‘Free Hugs‘ posts!

M&M

P.S.  We recently came across a FB page for a woman named Rita who is also a hugger.  You can check her out here: 10,000 Hugs in 100 Cities.  Rita is also based in Victoria; we may not have all of the world’s best huggers, but we’re certainly on the map… ;-)  We haven’t (yet) met Rita in person, but the hugging will be epic!

Photo of the Month – Oncoming Storm

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Hi Folks:

This image was made on April 7, down at Clover Point and looking back toward Victoria. I was out for a walk that day without my camera, but the wind was really blowing and the clouds were just incredible so I made a number of images using my cell phone camera. It was blowing so hard I had to lean against lamp posts and the like to hold the camera steady, but I think the results in this image at least were worth it. This is a six-image panorama, stitched together in Autopano Pro and pushed around some in Lightroom. This is the first image I’ve posted that was processed in Lightroom 5 Beta (some great new features, BTW – can hardly wait for the final product!).

Oncoming Storm

Oncoming Storm

Okay, that’s it. Now go out and make some photographs!!

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. You can find more of our posts on photography and Lightroom tutorials here, and you can find links to over 200 other sites that have Lightroom tips, tutorials and videos here.

Victorious Voices Returns!!

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Hi Folks:

One of the ‘challenges’ of living in Victoria is that it’s such a culturally rich, diverse place to be that there are times we want to befriend Hermione Grainger.  We’re sure she’s a lovely young woman, but our ulterior motive would be to see if we could borrow her Time Turner.  We’d even invite her along; she could just slip the chain over all three of our heads…  One case in point is that this past week marked the 4th Annual Victorious Voices High School Slam Championships.  Mike was able to be there last year, but Marcia wasn’t: an event we wrote about here.  Monday night was the Semi-Finals, with eight teams from five schools, plus a ‘wild card’ team made of students from other schools.  Monday night was also the monthly Pen in Hand Poetry and Prose Readings at Serious Coffee in Cook St. Village.  Tuesday night was the Youth Slam at Solstice Café, but there was also a talk at the Royal BC Museum (with Sierra Club BC) on the ecology and preservation of the Flathead River ecosystem in southeastern BC.  However, nothing was going to keep us from attending the Victoria Event Centre on Wednesday night to attend the Victorious Voices Finals.

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Photo of the Month – Cathedral Grove

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Hi Folks:

March has been a busy month for us, but we did take one day toward the end of the month and head ‘up island’ to Cathedral Grove.  A part of MacMillan Provincial Park, Cathedral Grove has been ‘gentrified’ to provide easy access to a stand of several-hudred-year-old Douglas fir and cedar trees.  Unfortunately many of the trees are suffering from root rot/fungal infection, and a heavy wind can bring down a rain of branches.  Fortunately for us, on the day we were there we had sunshine (it only rained while we were driving), little wind, and not many other people.  I made over 400 images that day, almost all of them for HDR/panoramic images, and collapsed that number down into less than fifty composites.  I’ve joined them all up but have yet to push them around in Lightroom.  I do have a couple, however, and thought I’d share them here.  Both are 3-shot bracketed exposures (HDR, at +1/0/-1) and converted to B&W in Lightroom.

The Sentinel

The Sentinel

Ancient Watchers

Ancient Watchers

Okay, that’s it.  Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. You can find more of our posts on photography and Lightroom tutorials here, and you can find links to over 200 other sites that have Lightroom tips, tutorials and videos here.

Eating Our Way Through Victoria…

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Hi Folks:

We haven’t written one of these for a while, but we have been continuing to sample some of the best culinary experiences Victoria has to offer and we thought we’d suggest a few more.  If you’ve read our previous ‘Food‘ posts you’ll know that we don’t write about places where we’ve had a bad experience; many things can contribute to that – the chef’s day off, server having a bad day, etc.  However, with every recommendation our reputation goes with it, so we only write about places we’d be pleased to revisit.  Without further ado, and in no particular order:

1) My Thai Café

On Cook Street one block south of Fort, the My Thai Café is a little far north to be considered part of Cook St. Village, but it belongs in spirit at least.  At first glance the café doesn’t seem to offer much – it’s very small, and it’s certainly not fancy.  Don’t let looks deceive you, however.  The food there is excellent, and according to friends of ours who visit Thailand with some frequency, the My Thai Café has the most authentic Thai cuisine in Victoria.  We’ve been there a few times and have never been disappointed.  Thai food is spicy by nature, but they are more than happy to accomodate those who prefer ‘mild’ to ‘hot’.  Open for both lunch and dinner, the prices are reasonable, the service is open and friendly… well worth a visit!

2) Hot and Cold Café

Farther south on Cook St. is the Hot and Cold Café.  If the My Thai Café is small, the Hot and Cold Café is tiny – it might hold a dozen people, or a few more if the patrons are willing to get cozy.  The first time we went there with friends we weren’t even sure it was open, although the sign on the sidewalk assured us that it was (they’re open to 7 p.m. daily).  Put plainly, we hesitate to mention this restaurant only because it’s so small and once word of mouth gets out we expect the place to be jammed.  Simple fare – soups, salads, sandwiches, but exquisitely prepared and presented.  Each dish is truly a work of art, and the taste is to die for.  Be sure to try the rice pudding for dessert.  We’ll say no more, and leave you to discover the rest for yourself!

3) Millos Restaurant and Lounge

Located on Burdett St, just east of Douglas, Millos is a place we’ve often walked by and thought, ‘We should go there someday’.  To celebrate our 218th Monthaversary of being a couple, we did just that.  The name ‘Millos’ comes from the Greek word  for ‘windmill’, and it was this feature of the building that originally aroused our curiosity.

Millos has been in Victoria since 1978, and the owners are celebrating 47 years of marriage this month.  Congratulations to them both!  We were seated and served by Dora, one of the owners (her husband runs the kitchen).  A little spit of a thing, she effuses warmth and grace, making our evening a true pleasure.  We shared a Greek salad to start and although we ordered the large to share Dora advised against it, saying that it was a meal in itself.  She was right, and the small was just right for the two of us.  For the main course we both had lamb; Marcia had the roast lamb shank and I had the souvlaki.  Both were excellent, and the vegetables were done perfectly.  I’m a sucker for Greek coffee (unsweetened), and Marcia shared a bit of the galactobouriko I had for dessert.  At the end of the evening Dora came to give us a hug before we left!

4) The Noodle Box

Part of a chain of restaurants, The Noodle Box restaurant on lower Douglas St. is one of five locations in the Victoria area.  In a world where ‘fast food’ often means deep frying and empty calories, The Noodle Box is a welcome exception.  With a generally ‘pan-Asian’ menu, The Noodle Box serves up a variety of satays, sir fry options, soups, curries and more.  Each order is made fresh, using ethically-sourced and healthy options wherever possible.  More nutrition information is available on their website.  Available for eat-in or take-out, even these choices are given a thought to the environment as the cardboard take-out containers can be cleaned and recycled and there is in-store composting for leftover food.  There’s a choice of reusable chopsticks for dining in and bamboo chopsticks for those taking their food away.  NB: the food can be prepared anywhere from ‘mild’ to ‘make my head explode’, but be aware that they tend to be a little generous with their chilies.  If you like hot food, you might want to try ‘medium’ or ‘medium hot’ on your first outing, just to be safe.  You can always add hot sauce. 😉

5) Olive the Senses

Victoria has so many great places to eat; we’re looking forward to exploring more of them! By the time you read this we’ll have taken in one of the free olive oil tastings at ‘Olive the Senses’, on the east side of the Hudson Bldg, something we’re looking forward to experiencing!!

Update: Well, we completed our tasting tour this afternoon… Steve (the owner) was unavailable, but were privileged to attend Annie’s first tasting tour!  She far surpassed our expectations (and our taste buds).  We had the chance to sample a number of single-origin and infused olive oils and both white and dark balsamic vinegars while we were there.  It was, in a word, a revelation.  We really had our eyes opened to both the international and national standards for ‘extra virgin’ olive oils, and what good oil should contain (and not contain), how to store it and more.  Informative, educational and entertaining, this shop well deserves a stop on every tourist’s agenda, and that of every island resident too.  We brought home a blood-orange infused olive oil and an espresso dark balsamic vinegar – quite a heavenly combination. 😀

As Julia Child would say, ‘Bon Appetit!’

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. You can read more of our Food posts and restaurant reviews here.

Defining Customer Service

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Hi Folks:

There’s a saying that goes, “When I do something right, nobody notices.  When I do something wrong, everybody notices!”  It does seem that in our society there’s a greater trend to complain than to praise, but there are companies out there that continue to do excellent work, and who back up their work no matter what.  I thought I’d start with a couple of examples and invite you to share your own success stories.  Legitimate complaints have their place but this isn’t it, so please only post ‘success’ comments.

In no particular order…
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The Spirit of Canada

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Hi Folks:

Last night Marcia and I were down at ‘The Well’ on Fort Street for the semi-finals of ‘The Spirit of Canada‘ – Poetry, Spoken Word and Singers/Songwriters’ Contest.  Our friend Sheila was reading poetry in the event and has moved on to the finals on August 6!!  All of the poems and songs were to incorporate Canadian culture, politics, landscape and/or humour, and there was some excellent talent there.  Listening to the various performers, however, got me thinking about what it means to be Canadian, and I was reminded of a story shared with Marcia and me some years ago.  I think it captures the essence of Canada in many ways.  I was going to write it out for this post, then remembered that I’d already done so a couple of years ago.  Here once again, then, is ‘Telling Tales‘.

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. If you’re in Victoria on August 6, be sure to come by The Well for the final presentations!