31 Candles

I've decided that my dirty 30s are going to be the decade of international birthday celebrations. This year's festivities involved a lot less travel than last year, but it still required a passport so I say it counts. My mom and I took a ferry over to Victoria, BC for a weekend getaway. We stayed at a nice hotel just off the water with a great view of the inner harbor (and they were running a dine and stay deal where they gave us money back to eat in the hotel. Score!) We had high tea the first day in the hotel and it was delicious! The best herbal peppermint tea I've ever had.

We spent the day wandering around town and checking out the old tourist haunts. We used to come here a lot when I was a teenager and it was funny how few things had really changed (although a lot of places had moved further away from the water, cheaper rent perhaps?) I was sad to see the Wax museum was closed while the building was being renovated. I can't even tell you how many times I'd been through that place.

(wax museum reflecting off the water, with our hotel in the background)

While Victoria is only separated from PA by 15 miles of water it is worlds apart in culture! We did our best to make the most of it. We did some shopping at the Bay (sort of like Dillards) and I scored some majorly cute, cheap finds. Our hotel also had a gym attached to it and we got to take a water aerobics class that was super fun. We also watched "It's kind of a funny story", which I thought was sweet (and starred Zach Galifinakis which didn't hurt either).

The weekend was full of delicious food. We had some yummy dim sum in our hotel after a trip to the spa (massage for mom, facial and reflexology for me). Other musts if you ever make it to Victoria: Reef for delicious Caribbean food and cheap virgin mojitos; Fiamo Italian Kitchen where I had squid ink pasta for the first time. Sounds nasty, but I'm a total fan.

The weather cooperated and it turned out to be a great, relaxing birthday trip. Thanks Mom for coming along and making it such a good time!

(Parliament Building all lit up)

Next year I'm thinking of a long weekend in Reykjavik. Who's coming with me?