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| On the way to Butchart Gardens |
It was everything I thought it would be, only
more. The rose garden alone has over 2,500 plants, comprising 250 varieties.
Their names and the year they were planted add to the romance of the roses: Winter Sun (Germany, 2001), Gold Struck (France, 2012), Always & Forever (USA, 2011), Sunshine Daydream (France, 2006), Opening Night (USA, 1998), Candella (New Zealand, 1996), All My Loving (England, 2011), Bride (England, 1995), Lasting Love (France, 1993), and many
more. And the waterfall in the sunken garden? Must savor it to believe it!
About 10 miles away is the Butterfly
Garden where I counted about 30 species of iridescent beauties fluttering
around me and teasing me as I tried to get the perfect shot in my camera. They
fly tantalizingly close but at the last moment veer away. Two hours passed in
two minutes. It’s true: When you are spellbound by transcendent wonders, time
sprints.
Next day, it’s the Abkhazi Garden in a leafy residential section of Victoria. It’s the garden that love built, result of an unlikely romance between a Russian prince, Nicholas Abkhazi, and Peggy Pemberton-Carter, adopted daughter of a wealthy British couple living in Shanghai. They crossed path in Paris and became friends. World War II intervened and the pair lost track of one another. Decades later, they met in New York after the War. In Peggy’s words: “We met again, we married, we lived happily ever after (40+ years!), and we created a garden.” If you visit, don’t miss the classy Afternoon Tea in the Teahouse, after a leisurely stroll past the rhododendrons, water lilies and the baby-blue hydrangeas.
Took a ferry – more like a
cruise ship – to Vancouver one day and to Salt Spring Island, one of the many Gulf
Islands around Victoria, the following day. Vancouver is just like San
Francisco, another big city with congested traffic and harried tourists. But
Salt Spring Island, well, that’s another story. This quaint island, home to
about 12,000 hardy but contented souls, is full of charming boutique shops and
eclectic restaurants serving food that only islanders can: Out of this world. There was also humor in front of a restaurant at Fulford Harbor, giving a spin to Einstein's famous formula.
One mystery that baffled me:
The river Ganges flows through India and assumes the name Padma when it flows
through Bangladesh. So what exactly is "Ganges Alley" doing in Salt Spring Island,
7000 miles and several oceans away from Ganges-Padma? Oh well!
Why travel to bask in the
wonders of nature? Found the answer in downtown Victoria, in the splendid
Beacon Hill Park.
