Monday 24 May 2010

21-Gun Salutes

We ‘made like tourists’ today, which was fortunate, as today was Victoria Day and we were staying smack bang in the middle of it all in a hotel on Quebec Street right next to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. We were planning on having a lazy morning watching TV, but faced with images of Oom-Pa-Pa bands, Majorettes, Union Jacks and Military Might parading down the street just outside our door, we thought better of experiencing this memorable event via the CRT and instead ventured outside into the Sunshine to stimulate all our senses. We weren’t disappointed!

Victoria Day (in French: Fête de la Reine) is a federal Canadian Statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24th in honour of both Queen Victoria’s birthday and the official birthday of the current reigning Canadian sovereign (Queen Elizabeth II). It is also considered an informal mark of the beginning of the summer season. So as we sat on the curb along the edge of the road packed with thousands of spectators as the city bell struck Noon, we were amazed by the Royal Salutes exploding into the blue sky from the barrels of 4 very big guns. A little tear came to Kat’s eye when the British National Anthem filled the streets of Victoria …we actually missed Queen & Country. It was tiring work trying to catch that ‘perfect photo’ for your enjoyment, but we managed it and the picture is there for all to see.

Feeling hungry, we thought it would be a good idea to experience a little bit of France (there seems to be a little bit of France everywhere in Canada) and grab something to eat in a typically understated French Bistro, with a fantastic little sun-drenched outside courtyard. We tucked into our Salad Nicoise, Croque Monsieur, Frites and of course un petit verre du champagne …very civilized!

We returned to our hotel room via a quick but necessary detour to buy some English chocolate (Bounty, KitKat, Crunchy, Dairy Milk Whole Nut, After Eight Mints) and were determined not to sully the memories of today with laundry duties. We did however perform the mandatory route and hotel planning and Anthony did have a long chat with Joseph, so all was good!

Better still, especially for Kat, we ventured out this evening to watch SHREK Forever After in 3D at the local cinema. Kat’s favourite character of all time is ‘Puss in Boots’ and it was great fun to watch that little animated Cat on the big 3D screen.

Now back in our hotel room we’re feeling good after a lovely Rest Day in Canada and watching the usual suspects on TV. Oh, one last thing, we’d like to say a big “Hi” to T&MG and that we have seen the new USA Fiesta ad on TV …yay!

Us x

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