Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have tickets to an amazing troupe from Quebec performing an incredible show: L’orchestre D’Hommes – Orchestres: joue à Tom Waits. Truly an experience I will never forget! For some awesome local Victoria Theatre, check out these, among others:
http://www.atomicvaudeville.com/
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/
http://langhamcourttheatre.bc.ca/
The cherry blossom spring is in full swing in our little west coast town. All the early cherry and plum trees are open, and the fluffy showy large blossom ones should be blessing us soon. Happy days.
Some pretty blossoms near our home.
Last year I made a bunch of needle-felted wool blossoms to adorn some bare branches; bringing the spring in! They were eventually turned into hair clips.
Gorgeous spring day yesterday so we set out to walk the Westsong Walkway. We weren’t far along when I was hit full in the head by a seagull’s well-aimed ordure, good luck maybe? Thanks to a kind stranger with a handful of paper napkins, we were soon on our way. A lot of people were also out enjoying the day and the beautiful scenery. I love to be able to walk far away from traffic and we are blessed to have this among many beautiful places to do so in our little city.
About half way along, this ever evolving sculpture by Rich Rico delights passers by.
Near the beginning, this little pug came charging up the path.
Westsong Walkway, not far from Westbay Marina.
We love to eat out, especially breakfast. We have our local favourites, but today we sampled a new place, Clay Pigeon, which just opened yesterday, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was delicious and the atmosphere inviting in this small bistro on Blanshard at Broughten, kitty-corner to the Royal Theatre, in downtown Victoria. The menu was well stocked, and with not-the-usual breakfast fare. GJ had a Ratatouille with poached eggs and I had the Kale Florentine with caramelized onions and crispy potatoes also topped with eggs. I was torn between several dishes and almost went for the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, which will likely be what I order the next time we are there. Thanks to our hosts for a delightful meal!
A new Victoria eatery, Clay Pigeon
A nice job transforming the space.
Ratatouille
Kale Florentine
The baking of cake has always been a challenge for me. Pie, no problem; cookies, awesome! Almost every year in the yule-tide season I make fruit cake, my Grandmother’s recipe, but with all organic fruit which has soaked in rum for months ahead. It always turns out perfect and delicious, but at a cost. This year I dropped a glass canister which I had just filled with organic flour on the floor, smash! Last year, the basket on the front of my bicycle fell off as I was hauling the bike up the stairs to our building: bottle of rum, smash! And so it goes. However, I endure. Last weekend was our dear friend Connor’s birthday. I know he loves carrot cake and I have always wanted to make one. So I turned to the Rebar Cookbook, published by a local Victoria restaurant, as I knew their cake was very good. I couldn’t be more pleased with the result! It was beautiful and delicious!
Found this blog while looking for links to the cookbook: http://rebar.cookthebook.ca/
The cookbook is available at the restaurant and it’s sister bakeries Cascadia downtown and Pure Vanilla in Oak Bay, at local Victoria book shops and at Amazon.
Rich moist carrot cake with white chocolate cream cheese icing, YUM!
I love coffee art, that extra bit of care and pride taken to present someone with something beautiful as well as delicious. A few days ago this was my Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Bean Around the World in Chinatown:
Yum! I love the two levels of decoration.
Went for our usual wander yesterday. It was threatening rain when we left, but soon the sun was peeking through and it was a lovely day. After a snack at Tre Fantastico, Parkside we headed into Beacon Hill Park. There had been quite a wind storm on Monday and it’s destruction was evident there. However, the daffodils abound and buds of new life were everywhere: spring is truly here! The tide was low, so once we made it to the beach we were able to walk almost all the way to the breakwater along the sand and over the rocks. On the way home we ended up at Dales Gallery for a visit with the owner. There’s a nice show of photos by Dag Goering on right now. Wouldn’t you know it, snow flakes began to fall!
So sad to see such a beautiful tree fallen.
Quite a noise I bet!
Magnificent daffodils!
One of three strangely uniform patches of crocus; very pretty!
Found this little art on the top of a concrete wall on the beach.
Many shades of gray; sand, stone, concrete.
An old concrete stairwell leads from the beach to Dallas Drive not far from the breakwater.
Our final day (too quick!) was all about food and art (mostly food!). We usually have breakfast at Central Bistro on our last day in Vancouver as it’s very good and very close to the hotel. Delicious! We had noticed a new shop on Denman while we were coming and going on the bus, so we walked a couple blocks to check it out: Ayoub’s Dried Fruit and Nuts. This is a gorgeous store run by a lovely woman. We picked up a few snacks for the ferry ride home and some Turkish delight for the cat sitter. After checking out from the hotel we headed up Robson Street, popping into a few shops. We encountered a very sweet blogger named Mel who snapped photos of me and GJ for her blog Culture Serf. We had a delightful chat about our favourite shopping places. Check out her blog; it’s really fun! Then met our friend Sandra for lunch at Nuba on Cambie at Hastings. We shared a snack plate and GJ was able to have Turkish coffee, which he loves. Next stop, a couple hours at The Vancouver Art Gallery, which is always wonderful. That left just enough time at the end of the day for a snack at Mink before skytrain/bus/ferry/bus to home and our little cat!
Our favourite new West End shop: Ayoub’s.
Amazing hot chocolate and snacks at Mink. And they have fondue!
Another gorgeous sky as we leave Vancouver.
Excitedly awoke to our full day in Vancouver with a dusting of snow on the ground! It was really pretty all the days we were there: lots of big, fluffy clouds; snow falling on the nearby mountains; breaks of sun; smell of snow in the air. We jumped on the bus/skytrain up to Main and 28th and walked east on 28th to St George where we enjoyed a lovely petit déjeuner at Le Marché St George. Our pastries were so delicious, I forgot to take a picture of them until they were almost gone! Along with pastries and light lunches, Le Marché has a few delicacy groceries and unique household goods for purchase. It was hard to take good pictures and not include the many patrons who came and went in the shots. Once we were done we walked back down Main Street to Broadway, stopping now and then to browse the many interesting shops we encountered, including Front, a cool shop of new and gently worn fashions, shoes and accessories. We wanted to check out Gravity Pope, a shoe store my sister recommended, so hopped on a bus heading west on Broadway, jumped off at Yew and walked over to West 4th for a bit of shopping. Luckily, at another shoe store, we found a new pair of boots for GJ as the only shoes he brought had sprung a leak in the slush first thing in the morning. Yummy lunch and celebrity sighting at Sofie’s Cosmic Cafe, then we headed down to the Kitsilano waterfront at the Maritime Museum and walked back to Granville Island to catch the ferry back over to the West End and back to the Hotel for a rest. The evening brought the main attraction of our trip: the world premier of Ignorance, a new production by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, showing at the CULTCH. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe the show!
A bit of snow outside our beautiful hotel, The Sylvia.
Yum! Croissant aux amandes, brioche, café et chocolat chaud.
Le Marché St George, St George at E28th, Vancouver BC.
Le Marché St George, detail.
Le Marché St George; small shop, lots to look at!
Looking up at the Maritime Museum and a gorgeous sky from the dock of historic boats just below the museum.
Looking over at the West End from Kitsilano.
A section of a kinetic ball sculpture in a window at Granville Island.
Last week we headed over to Vancouver for three days; what fun! We really appreciate having a much larger city in which to play so close to our little lovely town. We missed the bus on tuesday morning which would have put us on the 9am ferry, so were forced to eat a delicious breakfast at our favourite place Mo:lé, and had time to go back home to snuggle the cat for a few minutes before catching the bus for the 11:00 boat. The straight was a bit rough, but we arrived on the mainland intact and a quick bus/skytrain ride later we were downtown. First stop, the Sylvia Hotel at English Bay; our home away from home whenever we go to Vancouver. After a quick freshen up we headed out to walk the sea wall towards Granville Island. We found some great art to view at a few of the South Granville galleries. Equinox Gallery had an amazing display of Takao Tanabe; the largest number I’ve ever seen in one place. His work is so beautiful. A bit of shopping and then an AMAZING dinner at Vij’s.
Winding our way through the Gulf Islands.
Passing another ferry en route to Victoria.
Out in the straight, the chop was causing the ferry to bob about a bit!
Lovely walkway along English Bay in the West End with views across to Kitsilano.
The Ferry stop at the Aquatic Centre. From here you can get to Granville Island, Yale Town, Science World and a few other stops.
A quick hop on the harbour ferry from the Aquatic Centre to Granville Island.
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