The Cutest. City. Ever

My tenure in Victoria started this week. The vegan food forays are successful so far; my only fault is excitement. I have to keep reminding myself that I am here for two months. Accordingly, I do not have to try everything on the very first day.

So far, I have:
--settled into my apartment in the James Bay neighbourhood, including figuring out a Murphy bed,
--gone for a run and gotten rather lost,
--bought groceries at Thrifty's, the big grocery store down the street from me,
--acquired a loaner bike from a co-worker who happens to live a few blocks from me,
--bought (vegan) cupcakes at Pink Sugar (Sin-a-mint and Toasted Coconut; I have only tried the former and it was yummy, will report on the latter...later)
--discovered my local Lush store, mere minutes from my office
--tried a spin class at the Y (which was less than successful, though I attempt again Saturday morning)
--bought some locally-roasted coffee for my morning caffeine buzz, which I will try tomorrow morning and report back.

My initial observation is mostly that Victoria is really, really cute. Maybe it's just the neighbourhood I've been in so far, but the city seems mostly comprised of cute little bungalows with cute little gardens and cute little friendly cats. Really forking cute. And cute parks. And cute crosswalks at intersections, instead of stoplights. Even the city on a map--it looks like it's big and spread out, but really, it's small. Small and CUTE.

Should I find any non-cuteness--waitstaff who swear like truckers? a traffic jam of more than 3 vehicles? pets that aren't sweet-faced and fuzzy? Or, god forbid, a little old lady who makes cookies from a mix--I will advise you immediately.