WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2020 -- SOUTH AFRICA
What to do with a gap between two travel adventures - the end of our thrilling Kenyan safari and the start of an exotic cruise from Cape Town? What else but explore another of the world’s iconic wine regions. Since we met three decades ago, whenever possible, my husband and I seek out wine country pleasures - bucolic views, charming inns, leisurely tastings and casual fine dining. If trips bring us near vineyards - Virginia to Oregon, France to Australia, we visit for an afternoon or several days. This time our wine country destination was South Africa, one of the oldest wine-making regions outside of Europe, where Dutch and French settlers began tending vines in the mid-1600s. For a week, including Valentine’s Day when we celebrated our 31st anniversary, we explored the stunningly beautiful Winelands of the western cape, less than an hour drive from Cape Town.
What to do with a gap between two travel adventures - the end of our thrilling Kenyan safari and the start of an exotic cruise from Cape Town? What else but explore another of the world’s iconic wine regions. Since we met three decades ago, whenever possible, my husband and I seek out wine country pleasures - bucolic views, charming inns, leisurely tastings and casual fine dining. If trips bring us near vineyards - Virginia to Oregon, France to Australia, we visit for an afternoon or several days. This time our wine country destination was South Africa, one of the oldest wine-making regions outside of Europe, where Dutch and French settlers began tending vines in the mid-1600s. For a week, including Valentine’s Day when we celebrated our 31st anniversary, we explored the stunningly beautiful Winelands of the western cape, less than an hour drive from Cape Town.
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Victoria’s Chinatown is the second oldest in
North America after San Francisco’s. The main
artery here is Fisgard Street where you’ll find Fan
Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in
North America at just 3 feet wide in places; as well
as Dragon Alley where little shops line the narrow
corridor topped with festive lights.
But what drew me the most to this region are its
gardens, forests and parks.
Known as The Garden City, Victoria is home to
dozens of gardens and parks, including some of
Canada’s most famous. The city’s annual hanging
basket tradition to welcome summer dates back
75 years.
That most famous of gardens is The Butchart
Gardens which lie about an hour’s drive north of
the city. For this excursion, I rented a car for the
day from Budget, which has a facility just a few
blocks behind the Empress downtown.
The Butchart Gardens are magnificent any time
of year. When I was there on Halloween, the fall
colors were still putting on their fabulous show.
This gorgeous attraction began in 1904 when
Robert and Jennie Butchart moved from Ontario
to Vancouver Island to build a cement plant on a
rich limestone deposit. By 1912, cement production
exhausted the limestone deposits so Jennie
began moving top soil by horse and cart to transform
the area into a grand garden.
By 1929, they had created the Japanese Garden
on the seaside, the Italian Garden on their former
tennis court and the fragrant Rose Garden. By
1939, when grandson Ian Ross was gifted the gar-
Top: Victoria’s Chinatown is second
oldest on the West Coast to San
Francisco’s.second oldest on the
West Coast to San Francisco’s.
Left: The grand Torii gate marks the
entrance to the Japanese Garden at
Butchart Gardens, where the beech
trees are festooned with lighted
globes.
Right:The fall colors were abundant
in the beautiful Beacon Hill Park in
Victoria.
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WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020
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