We decided to make this a guilt free day. Knowing what we had planned for lunch we went to the fitness center to work off some calories early in the morning. We then headed to the Empress Hotel for High Tea which we had been told was a must do for Victoria. The Empress Hotel first opened for business in January 1908. In 1939 it was visited by King George VI (that would be Colin Firth from The King’s Speech and not George III from the Broadway play Hamilton for any Millennials reading the blog). According to Wikipedia for many years the hotel did not have a sign above the front entrance. When a sign was finally put up they received some strong criticism as exemplified in the statement made by an irate gentleman, as workers raised the sign above the front entrance: “Anyone who doesn’t know this is The Empress shouldn’t be staying here.”
Our hotel supplies a shuttle service to any place you want to go to in downtown so we decided to hop on and take a ride. When the driver dropped us off at the Empress we caught the end of the water taxi ballet that is performed on Sunday mornings in the Inner Harbor. Then it was inside for tea. The hotel looks just as one would expect. Beautiful lobby with magnificent chandelier, wide spiral staircase and ornate accessories decorating the facility. We were too hungry to dawdle in the foyer and headed straight to the tea room. The ground rules were explained and then we got to enjoy a lovely meal and were given a wide variety of teas from which to choose.
While eating we got to relax and watch boats in the inner harbor and listen to a piano soloist playing some of our favorite songs.
After the Empress we decided to walk back to the hotel and explore the neighborhood. My friend, Virgil, recommended we check out Roger’s Chocolates on Government Street. This was not a kind recommendation. After High Tea the last thing we needed was chocolate but I couldn’t resist. The chocolate was fantastic but as I tell my patients do what I say, not what I do.
We then returned to the hotel to rest for a bit because we had tickets to see Ziggy Marley tonight. He is here as part of a Jazz Festival in the city. Ziggy who’s real name is David is the son of reggae icon, Bob Marley. The theater was packed and everyone seemed to love the show (including Patrice). Practically everyone stood up and danced to the music. I have to admit this is not my type of music. But at least I have more appreciation for what Patrice has to go through during baseball games that go to extra innings.
Tomorrow we are going to look for whales and explore the famous Butchart Gardens.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 