Isn’t it funny how US customs doesn’t ask why you’ve returned home after a trip? I mean, when you leave you need a reason to visit other countries, but returning? Not so much. We actually did customs in Calgary – I stood before a camera-type-I-pad device that snapped a picture and then said “Welcome Christine!” Weird! Since we are Global Entry screened, it almost seemed too easy. Where are the harried agents looking you up and down and asking if you have anything to declare?
YES. I declare that despite the cold and the rain, Canadians seem happier than Americans – and it wasn’t just the Blue Jays win!
I came back from our Vancouver Island adventure smuggling pockets full of snotty tissues. Our very last day in British Columbia I woke with a tickle in my throat, thank you Bob who had been coughing for days. This didn’t stop us hopping onboard a water taxi to search out the best fish and chips on Fisherman’s Wharf. We were on a mission. Have you ever watched the PBS show, “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love?” Well I’m addicted.
There’s just something about her generosity of spirit that makes hers a travel show worth watching. And since I hope that you, like my family, are contributors to public broadcasting, you’ll be able to stream all her work on PBS Passports. Anyhow, she did a piece on Victoria, BC that had us taking mad notes! We visited a jigsaw puzzle shop she recommended that featured local artists’ work all in wood and ordered two to be delivered home – one of an orca whale with all the tiny pieces resembling a whale!
We walked in from the rain, and I said I’d expected their shop to be on a small side street; the lovely saleswoman told me that after Samantha’s visit (who is also lovely of course), they’d had to move to a larger place on the main street. https://puzzlelab.com/
After our delicious fishy lunch, we hopped onboard another water taxi to visit Chinatown. This is the oldest Chinatown in North America and it didn’t disappoint. Of course we’d already gone whale watching earlier in the week, and managed to spy an elusive sea otter, along with lots of seals and a few humpback whales. One was identified as “Exclamation” because of his gigantic exclamation point on his tail. Most have migrated south by this time, preferring the warmer waters of Mexico for calving.
I remembered Ada’s 90th Birthday Bash in Cabo; the tiny motorboat we piled into to see mama whales and babies cavorting. At least in BC, the Prince of Whales was a much bigger boat and they served us hot chocolate!
My cold is finally getting better, but I’ve been quarantined from our little Nashville family for a week. So I had to leave the otter socks, lumberjack PJs, and books I got for the Grands on their porch. Like the tiny porcelain cat I found in Chinatown, my arm is perpetually waving across the distance.
Like this administration, a government unfunded, pulling away from our closest trade neighbor. Now Canada too is looking towards Asia. “Faced with a trade war with the United States, Canada’s biggest trading partner, Mr. Carney has set an ambitious goal of doubling Canadian exports to other countries within a decade. Expanding trade with Asia is central to Mr. Carney’s strategy.” NYTimes.
Here I am in my Victorian “Elsbeth” hat and a vintage green, cashmere sweater I found at the Crossroads Pets’ fundraiser. We were so cold people!
MountainMornings 