A-Z #Gratitude: #Thanks for #Victoria and #Vancouver Island

Day 22 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge and the letter V.

Thanks for Victoria and Vancouver Island.

Out cycling along the seafront today, I got off and walked awhile and chatted with a woman from Estonia.  She was resting on a bench, her walking poles propped beside her.

“What’s the best place?” she asked.

“The best place?”

“Yes, the best place in the world?”

I stood and looked out across the Salish Sea to Port Angeles and the Olympic Mountains.  The cool sea breeze, fresh on my skin and in my lungs; the sun warm on my face.

“I asked because someone asked me that this morning,” she said.

“What did you say?” I asked, a knowing smile on my face.

“Here. Victoria,” she said.

“Yes,” I replied, “I came back here after 17 years away, the last 10, in Europe.  It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

Related articles

• Eyes turn to the sky for bluebirds’ return to Vancouver Island (timescolonist.com)
• Missile train spotted on Vancouver Island turns out to be Godzilla movie prop (news.nationalpost.com)
• First Nations woman to run Vancouver Island to raise awareness of youth suicide (metronews.ca)