Sidney by the Sea (British Columbia)

I had bad memories from Victoria, Vancouver Island in general and Sidney (also known as Sidney by the Sea) thanks to my ex (who hails from North Saanich). However, I had the chance to spend a few days on the island with my close friend J, so I decided to re-create my memories and build new (and happier) ones.

So we started off our visit with Sidney. We arrived late during the day so we had to basically do a walk around and then eat lunch. The place where we had lunch (Cafe Med) is very cute and the service was really nice. Brunch wasn't really expensive at all. I personally love everything about Sidney. Even though it appears as though it's almost a retirement community (lots of seniors), the shoreline has changed and there are new buildings right across from the Cannery.

I was reading that Sidney used to be a farming community, but I can't really see how. Renowned for whale-watching and its mineral museum, Sidney is the quintessential small town in Canada. You can walk it in less than an hour. I could work there given that within the first two minutes of walking around, I found an environmental services firm. I also found a nice mix of residential and commercial land uses. And being there just brought good memories to me, as well as allowed me to re-create new beautiful ones.

We walked around the Fisherman's Wharf, and had a nice stroll on the Sidney dock. We didn't get to have dinner at Bistro Suisse, which would've been really nice, but I guess that'll have to wait until next time we visit. The advantage is that it's very near to the Victoria Airport.

And for all of us, urban planners/environmental folks, this is so cool! It's a complete socio-economic and demographic analysis of Sidney. I will save the PDF file for my future reference should I decide to move there.

Restaurant review - Rosie's Diner (Victoria BC)

Since Sodas Diner has transformed itself into The Dunbar, J and I have lost our 50s diner where we have always headed to get burgers and fries. The food at The Dunbar is still good, but the decor is not 50's anymore. Thus, I wasn't that surprised that J looked for a 50s diner while we visited Victoria.

And he found one... Rosie's Diner. Located in the beautiful Cook Street Village, Rosie's Diner is simply outstanding. The food is very Canadian, I would say. I had a turkey dinner (turkey meat with mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce) and J had a Montecristo sandwich. Really inexpensive, and their home-made strawberry cheesecake was to-die-for.

I doubt that we'll be coming to Victoria *just* for the experience of having dinner at a 50's style diner, but I would definitely bring friends or loved ones to Rosie's Diner just because it's a great experience. You can see a photo here.

Beautiful Victoria, British Columbia

So I have spent the last three days in Victoria, one of the prettiest cities I've been to. The weather has been rather cold (zero degrees right now) but it's been sunny. At night, the scenic view of the inner harbour is amazing. The Parliament buildings are well lit at night (with energy-saving light bulbs) and the skies have been so clear it's been a great experience. Plus hanging out with a close friend is always nice.

I had a chance to walk around the city, particularly near Market Square and the Village. Actually the Village looks like it's been frozen in time. We had dinner at a cute little 50s diner called Rosie's Diner (on Cook), and then had a coffee at the Moka Cafe near by. If I could, I'd probably move to this area of town. It does have everything you could possibly need.

I also noticed that the prices for dinner, breakfast and lunch are much cheaper than in Vancouver. This leads me to believe that I would probably be much happier here as it would be cheaper to dine out (which I do quite often). However, I probably would exhaust the places for dinner/brunch quite soon :) considering how often I go out!

All in all, I love Victoria.