August 6

Quite a day today. I thought the pickle boat ballet in the harbor was at 11 am so we meandered that way and got to the harbor at 10:59, just as it ended. We had intended to have a short walk before lunch but actually ended up walking 11,000 steps! At any rate, we got to see them setting up for the Splash so that was interesting.

The barge being set up where the Victoria Symphony will play in the evening

We discovered Gordon Street and had a wonderful coffee and date square at a bakery and then home for a nap as we knew it was going to be a late night for us (past 9 pm).

Loved this mural across the street from the bakery on Gordon Street

Around six we decided to go to a pub a couple of blocks away for dinner but when we got there the computer system had died so we decided to go to The Old Spaghetti Factory but that had a big lineup so we carried on up the street and saw Bartholomew's English Pub and decided to try that. We got right in and the place was humming! Then a guitar playing singer started and we had to yell to be heard. Fish and chips were great! Interestingly we fit right in as we were in the right age range!!

Then we were off to the harbor for the Victoria Symphony Splash. We got to the visitor center and were deciding where we would go when we saw Rose Jeff, Art and Linda. What a riot to run into each other in a crowd of 50,000 people. Then we lucked out in finding a table at waterside where we could hear the symphony and where I was able to at least record some of it, albeit imperfectly.