One Week in BC: A November Itinerary

What's that you say? BC in November? Why?

A pandemic really can do weird things to a person. This may include booking a one week trip to BC in the middle of November. My sister and I purchased tickets in the summer; unsure of what restrictions might be. But $230 round trip from Toronto to Vancouver on Air Canada? There wasn't much to complain about! 

This was our itinerary - a super packed but SUPER fun week where we truly felt like we went to all the places we wanted to go. I should note, there was sun 1.5/8 days we were in BC...so maybe November isn't the *best* time to go! Still...absolutely no regrets!

Day	City	Activities
Day 1	Vancouver	- Robert Street - Chinatown - Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden - Gastown - Dinner & Drinks (Chinatown/Gastown)
Day 2	Vancouver	- Stanley Park - Granville Island - Yaletown
Day 3	Vancouver to Vancouver Island (Overnight in Sooke)	- UBC/Wreck Beach - Richmond - Gulf of Georgia Cannery - Ferry to Victoria & Drive to Sooke
Day 4	Sooke to Victoria (Overnight in Victoria)	(Massive windstorm; change of plans) - Whiffin Spit Park - Sooke Marine Boardwalk - Sea to Sea Regional Park - Downtown Victoria - Fisherman's Wharf
Day 5	Victoria to Port Renfrew (Overnight in Port Renfrew)	- Shirley's Delicious - Mystic Beach - Sombrio Beach (secret waterfall) - Avatar Grove
Day 6	Port Renfrew to Squamish (Overnight in Squamish)	- Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge - Furry Creek - Shannon Falls - Howe Sound Brewing/Squamish
Day 7	Squamish to Whistler (Overnight in Whistler Village)	- Murrin Provincial Park - Brandywine Falls Provincial Park - Train Wreck Park - Whistler Village
Day 8	Whistler to Vancouver	- Sea to Sky Highway pit stops - Lighthouse Park

-M

Prince Edward Island: Final Day

Final day in PEI, and unfortunately a short day because of our flight! We managed to fit in some more sights while also doing all the admin (returning the car etc.). I started off my day with one final run through the downtown core, past the conference centre and the giant 2018 (in case folks forget the year). 

We decided to go back to Prince Edward Island National Park today, this time entering the park from another entrance. We wanted to access the boardwalk section of the park which involved a stroll through a sandy area, followed by a paved/bridge section. It was beautiful! It reminded me a bit of my trip to Newfoundland (see past blog posts several years back) in Gros Morne National Park. Finally, we ended off our trip with some seafood, because...why not!!!!! PEI, you were great!
-M

Prince Edward Island: Day 2

Today we had the full day to travel  and started off visiting the St. Dunstan Basilica in Charlottetown. Our Airbnb was literally a block and a half away; so we figured it would be neat to check out the interior! We then drove over to the Summerside area and took a look around. It was still pretty early so things were pretty quiet, but we fell in love with the colourful shops on Spinnakers Landing. I'm embarrassed to admit this; but we ended up getting food at McDonalds. Fish and Chips aren't on the Toronto menu at McDonalds so curiosity got the best of us and we had to give it a shot! I can't lie; it wasn't bad at all!

We then drove to an attraction called Bottle Houses- Maisons de Bouteilles; a collection of buildings made out of glass bottles. My photos don't do it justice whatsoever (Google it to see better photos), but it was beautiful! Had a bit of a fantasty feel to it all, especially when the sun came through the coloured bottles. Close by was the Green Gables Alpaca Farm which we decided to check out. Why not visit some Alpacas (and lamas)? Getting up close and personal with the alpacas was loads of fun!
On our way back, we passed by a view of the Confederation Bridge which of course we had to stop and look at! It's wild to see this giant bridge across the skyline...in a previous East Coast trip, I remember driving across what felt like an endless giant bridge, seeing all the potato trucks driving alongside our car xD. We ended off our evening with a musical - a production of Anne and Gilbert (because you can't go to PEI without paying homage to Anne of Green Gables!).
-M

Post-Conference Adventure in PEI: Day 1

This month I attended a conference in Charlottetown! Following the conference, my friend and I took some time off to travel around PEI. We kept Charlottetown as our home base, rented a car, and drove around the Island in what turned out to be a really fun little trip! During the conference we spent a lot of time exploring Charlottetown - my favourite morning run was along the Victoria Park Boardwalk along the water.

Our first post-conference day started out a bit later; we took the opportunity to sleep in and rent the car. We had lunch with some friends before they went back home to Toronto. Our first drive was about an hour out to Thunder Cove Beach where we went to see the Teacup Rock and other cool rock formations.

We spent a fair bit of time there, hanging out on the beach and taking in the rocks before we continued driving along the water stopping to enjoy the sights in the Rustico area. We ended up grabbing dinner at Blue Mussel Cafe and happened to be there during a "Best of the Sea" competition in which this restaurant was part of it! Unsurprisingly the food was fantastic :)

Finally, we ended off our evening at Prince Edward Island National Park. I didn't realize it until later; but this happened to be Summer Solstice (ie. the longest day of the year) which was perfect for catching the sunset off the water/lighthouse! 

 

 

-M

Thoughts on Avalon Waterways (Illumination): Magnificent Europe - Eastbound

Quick digression before I get back to posting the rest of the trip! This is wayy behind, but as usual life has gotten crazy! As always, I like to give my two cents on the trips/tours that I do so here goes!  

First off, I should start off by saying the Avalon cruises are meant for pensioners - typically older retired folks.  Similar to Topdeck, the cruise was made up of people primarily from Australia and New Zealand (though we had a fair amount of Canadians on this one as well).  So already, this isn't necessarily an accurate representation of the average experience since I'm in my early twenties.  Either way, I still had a pretty great time.  In the beginning of the cruise I was pretty bored - I'm used to seeing as much as I can in a short period of time, and planning every single part of my trips (like last summer).  It was very unnatural for me to be on a boat with everything already planned.  I was pretty restless to begin with, and I was visiting the gym multiple times per day.  Then I started getting used to relaxing and doing nothing, and before long I was having a grand ol' time.  

The Boat 

The Illumination is pretty new (2014), and it was really nice.  In more than one instance we were docked up against another boat which we had to walk through to get to the port.  This gave us a chance to check out the other ships which were most definitely dated compared to the Illumination....I'd say our ship was definitely better than the other ones we saw.  There were three floors in the ship - the bottom floor had a fitness room, the formal dining room as well as staterooms.  The main floor had the main lounge and bar and state rooms on the other side, and the third floor had more state rooms, a hair dresser and another lounge.  Above that was the sky deck which could be accessed from the main floor and third floor lounge where the captain and crew were situated as well as a hot tub, a whole bunch of seating, and a giant chess game.  The entire boat had fantastic wifi which only faltered once (and we were warned ahead of time) while entering a very very big lock.  You can probably find better photos on the website, but to get an idea: 

bedroom

bathroom

lounge on the third floor

main floor lounge

dining room

sky deck

The staterooms were really comfortable; my sister and I were given single beds shoved together with separate bedding (hallelujah!!!!) and we always had plenty of space.  The windows were fantastic giving us the option to see the view without going to the sky deck (yayyy laziness), plus there were TONS of movies available on TV so we were pretty happy xD. 

The Schedule/Program 
The program for this cruise was well thought out and accommodated everyone.  Quite literally.  After our first guided walking tour, the tour manager noticed that some individuals were having a trickier time keeping up, so she created a "gentle walkers" group for those who wanted a more leisurely tour.  

The schedule was dependent on when we arrived at the port.  On days where we arrived in the morning we would have breakfast, have a guided tour either walking or by bus (we would be bused into the city if the port was far), we'd come back to the ship for a buffet lunch, and we would either set sail in the afternoon, or have free time/an optional tour in the afternoon.  There would be cake and coffee at around 4pm, followed by a port talk to go over the next day's itinerary, then dinner and some form of entertainment (usually a music performance).  

If our arrival was planned for the afternoon, we would usually have a later breakfast, followed by scenic commentary along the river, or perhaps a lecture.  Once we arrived in the city we would have a guided tour and free time with the option of going back to the boat for cake.  

For this particular cruise, the first half of the trip was much more leisurely than the second half.  The first week or so had planned activities in the afternoon and long stretches of sailing which meant we could sleep in and lounge around.  The second half of the trip focused on big cities where we would spend the whole day on planned activities with much earlier wake up times.   Staying on the boat was always an option, and having the opportunity to tour with a local guide was a great way to see the cities. 


Food and staff

The food.  I can't. We literally had six course meals.  And they were GREAT.  Even the buffet style meals were fantastic.   They literally fed us every 4 hours with cake in the afternoon!  The head chef was Hungarian, so our meals were very authentic and.....ughh SO GOOD.  


The staff were so nice!  Well, okay, EVERYONE was really nice.  But on such a small cruise, you get to know everyone personally, and everyone was so incredibly nice!  The cleaning staff were fantastic, super efficient and really kind.  The kitchen staff knew us so well, they would switch the cutlery on the table as I was sitting down (left handed eating habits) and put the napkin on our laps.  The tour manager was especially fantastic.  She was very accommodating and kind - she knew all the tips and tricks to traveling in Europe, and really made it that much better!



And that's it!  That's my take on Avalon cruise we went on this summer - the average 17-22 year old might find it boring.  But my sister and I really enjoyed the chance to actually relax, and be forced to do almost nothing for two weeks :) 

 -M

Miltenberg & Würzburg: Avalon Waterways (Illumination)

The day started off quite relaxed as the boat continued sailing to Miltenberg.  My morning involved food, sleep and a quick trip to the gym before we were invited to watch a zither performance in the lounge.  The zither player was amazing, and the performance was really good!  Our boat got delayed arriving to Miltenberg because of delays with the lock schedule (we've started entering the locks which was quite interesting in the beginning, then quickly became really boring).  We ended up arriving later at another port (the Miltenberg port is under construction), and we were bused to the town where we had a guided tour of the buildings and squares.  Unfortunately it was pouring during the tour...we even saw a bit of hail, but it was overall pretty cool to see the medieval architecture in the town.  

Miltenberg & some of the copious amounts of food we've been consuming

Overnight we sailed into Würzburg and were bused into the city after an early breakfast.  The first thing on our schedule was a walking tour of the famous Würzburg residence (which is a UNESCO Heritage site).  Oh my goodness, the building was gorgeous, each room we went into was even more spectacular than the last.  The ceiling fresco in the main staircase is actually the largest painted fresco in the world, and my favourite room (the mirror room) was decked out in the most gold I've ever seen.  Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures in the building, but we had a chance to explore the gardens and city after our tour!  



Going through the locks really highlights how massive the boat is.  Andddd next stop: Bamberg!



-M

Cologne and Rüdesheim: Avalon Waterways (Illumination)

So from Amsterdam we headed to Cologne overnight and the day was mostly spent on the boat.  We ate way too much food and hung out on the ship visiting the gym every so often.  At around three in the afternoon, we arrived in Cologne where we were greeted by a local tour guide.  The tour guide showed us around town and he w as hilarious!  He was German, and he was actually completely fluent in Chinese which was pretty awesome xD  .

After we got back on board and had a tasting dinner with small portions of different foods as the ship left the dock towards Rüdesheim overnight.

In the morning we continued along the river to Rüdesheim which was an incredibly scenic morning with castles, vineyards and statutes along the shore of the river.  Our guide provided commentary over the speaker system talking about the history of the area.  We arrived in Rüdesheim after lunch and went on a tour of a musical instrument museum and had a Rüdesheimer Kaffee tasting (aka a LOT of brandy with coffee).  We spent about two hours in the city before boarding the ship again...onwards to Miltenberg!

Cologne

On the way to Rüdesheim 

-M