Today I am departing from Portland with the final destination for this afternoon being Victoria in Canada. Along the way, I will be stopping off in Seattle to transfer from train to ferry.
Portland To Seattle
The first stage of travel today takes me Portland to Seattle. The stage will be via train and leaves Portland around 8.30am. I left the hotel around 7 am, giving myself 90 minutes to get breakfast and make the train station. I only had about 10-15 minutes to spare, but end up being one of the first to board.
The trains around this area of the country are quite good, and something I have enjoyed using a few times. However, I was a little disappointed to end up with a seat facing the same side of the train again. So there was no much of a view in the end or nothing different to the other day anyway.
Seattle
The train arrived in Seattle right on time, which is personally what I was hoping would happen. The train journey took around three and a half hours. Which gave me almost exactly two and a half hours to make it to the ferry terminal for the trip to Victoria.
I took the time to get some lunch while finding my way from the train station to Pier 69 where the ferry departs. The distance was only around 2.5km so not a long walk at all in the time I had. In the end, I arrived at the pier around 1.30 pm, so about an hour until boarding.
Seattle To Victoria
The ferry trip ends up being a little bit of a disappointment for me. The first half of the trip passes through a rather beautiful area known as the Puget Sound. However, from the inside of the ferry, it is rather difficult to appreciate or even take photos through the windows covered in the water spray. But as we all know it is more about the destination than how you get there.
Victoria, BC, Canada
The ferry arrived in Victoria around 5.45 pm. It only took around 15 minutes to disembark and pass through baggage claim and customs. Then it was off to find the hotel which was a short walk of around 10 minutes.
Selecting a hotel in Victoria was not easy when I left it until quite late to book. But in the end, this is a rather good hotel and glad that I selected it. Even though it is not right in downtown, it is close to the Inner Harbour, restaurants and some stores.
I found a restaurant close to the hotel for dinner by the name of Bard & Banker. The meal I enjoyed was a lamb and rosemary sausage with cheddar mash potatoes and some greens. I made a choice for the restaurant based on their gluten free menu. While I ordered a meal to this and tried the gluten free beer, I think I can skip the beer in future.
I took a walk around the Inner Harbour on the way back to the hotel and got a couple of photos. I will be trying to make it back down here for sunset on another day while I am here in Victoria.
