Alaskan Cruise Part 4 - Victoria, B.C.

Oh Canada!

The last port on our cruise was

Victoria, B.C.

Our plan for the day was to walk to the downtown

area, get on a hop-on hop-off bus that would

take us all around Victoria, and end the day at

Fisherman's Wharf.

Well...what was supposed to be a 15 minute walk

to town...was actually more of a 30 minute walk.

This became a joke with us during the trip

because whenever we would ask how far something was,

the answer was ALWAYS...15 minutes...

and that was NEVER accurate. ;)

The plus-side was that we got to see

quite a bit of Victoria and it is so pretty, quaint,

colorful, and proper feeling...if that makes sense.

The Parliament Building

Famous Empress Hotel

My sister, aunt, and uncle enjoyed "high tea" 

at the hotel.

Victoria is known for the beautiful

gardens and flowers that highlight the city.

In the downtown area a lot of the shops

had these fun, large, stuffed animals out front.

I thought it would be fun to get pictures with them.

As you can see...someone else didn't agree.

Even Lexie rebelled against the idea.

She finally gave in...kind of.

Landry...not so much.

He pretty much cried his way through

Victoria...no joke.

Since Brother stole her stroller,

Little Miss Independent enjoyed her freedom

strolling through the streets.

Remember how I mentioned earlier

that our "plan" was to ride around on this darling

hop-on hop-off bus?

We had purchased a Groupon and it sounded great,

22 stops all over Victoria,

buses were supposed to come to each stop in 15 minute increments,

you could get off, explore for however long you wanted,

and get back on however many times you wanted.

So we hopped on...

enjoyed part of the city...

and decided to get off at the...

It was this darling little farm with all kinds of farm animals.

The ducks were a little crazy

and thoroughly enjoyed

splashing anyone and everyone

who came close to their pond.

Chickens...

Peacocks...

EVERYWHERE!

They were on the ground,

in pens,

in the TREES...

EVERYWHERE!

Cute sheep

Lexie was in heaven!

Here is just one of the peacocks

in a tree...at least 20 feet high.

Donkeys...

and the highlight...

GOATS!

Unfortunately, 

that is where the enjoyment ended for us in Victoria. :(

Our hop-on hop-off bus ended up being a

"hop-off and get stranded at Beacon Hill bus!"

No joke!

We headed out to wait for the bus...and it NEVER came back!

After waiting for an hour...

when at least 3 buses should have come by...

my sister finally called the company and we were told

that one of their buses had broken down.

Hmmm...what about all of the other buses?

At this point we knew that we wouldn't be able to get

off at ANY of the other stops...

we would just have to ride the bus back to the last stop. :(

Well, after being PROMISED that a bus would be there

within 30 minutes...and NO BUS came...

we ended up have to call a cab and took a cab back to the ship.

Needless to say, we were so disappointed!

What was even worse...was the bus company NEVER

apologized for their lack of service and STILL hasn't responded

to my e-mails. So...if you are ever in Victoria,

DO NOT use Big Bus Victoria!!!!

I hate to do that...but their lack of customer service is apalling.

What I will say is that Groupon is FABULOUS!!!!

I wrote them, just to let them know about our experience

and how this company runs their business,

and they were so apologetic and refunded me for the purchase.

Way to go, Groupon!

So, our day didn't go as planned.

But it was full of adventure,

and now we joke about the "15 minute" walk...

and the "hop-on and leave you stranded" bus! :)