Back home!

  Our flight was not until mid-afternoon, so at last, there was time to visit the citadel, the most prominent historical sight in Halifax, as well as take  another stroll around town.   It was early, and the sign at the citadel said it opened at 9am. But, the door was opened, and I got to wander around all by myself.  It was very nice.  Probably also broke some rules….. but no one asked me any question, plus, since we have a “Parc Canada” pass, I wouldn’t need to pay to enter anyway.  So I didn’t feel guilty.   This being said, I missed the ”living history” part of it since it was not opened. Just like in Louisbourg, it provides a glimpe into the lives of 18th century men and women - but this time from the English point of view.  The citadel has defended the city and the province starting in 1749- when the English worried the French would try to take Halifax from Louisbourg.  What took down that first citadel was not the French, but the climate.  It was made out of wood and rotted out. Subsequent ones then protected the city against a possible US invasion in 1820, and they played key role in both world wars.

 

I was expecting a nice view from the top, since it is the highest point in the city, but Halifax has grown a lot and buildings are blocking the view. Indeed, to defend the city today, the old canons would first have to take down the buildings that block the view of the harbor…

In my opinion (which no one asked for…), Halifax could have used some urban planning….. For instance: From downtown, this is the only view of the citadel’s famous clock tower. Did the ScotiaBank Center (a sport arena ) really need to be that red?  

 

 

 


 

 

In its defense, Halifax was basically flattened in 1917 by a huge explosion (the largest man made explosion until Hiroshima) when a Norwegian relief ship collided with a French ammunition ship. The explosion leveled a big part of the city, and killed 1600 (more than died in the war).  So I get that there are not that many old buildings. But:  it seems that the newer building have no cohesive design at all, and do not take into account the few remaining old buildings.  

This is Saint Mary’s basilica, which dates from 1820 and is completely surrounded but new, not particularly pretty stuff.

And there is a lot of construction going on..

I did enjoy the walk around the ramparts, with as my only companion this little mowing robot - he was very cute.  

I was careful to stay away from the wild parsnip all around- I have indeed noticed a lot of it around the roads during our trip, but this is the only time I saw a warning.  

 

  

I walked down to the harbor, taking in some more of the sights. 

 It is (in spite of what I said about the random architecture), A very pleasant city, partly because of the beautiful job then have done with the boardwalk by the harbor.  It’s hard not to be pleasant with such a pretty waterfront… So i looked at some cool sculptures, and old ships (including the only remaining WWII era Corvette, used today as a living museum, and taking tourists around the harbor)

We had to checkout of the hotel at 11:00am, so arrived at the airport almost 4 hours early, which is about par for us…..  The Halifax airport is not big to start with, but we are in the US side (we clear customs and immigration here, which is nice). Which is a very small part of the airport….. so not much to do…. Oh well, at least it gave me time to blog… And also to discover that they have a WORKING pay phone there!!! $0.50 local calls. Can’t remember last time I saw one…..

On the flight home, we circled over the city, giving us a rare and beautiful view from above (that’s where the top picture, of the Statue of Liberty welcoming us home is from).

Good by for now Canada! I’ve never had a bad trip there and will be back!

We take our time making it back to Halifax

This is our last full day in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, and the only thing on our agenda was to make it back to Halifax, about 3 12 hours away.  So we took our time. 

We first detoured through farmland to Saint Peters, on the very south of Cape Breton Island, to see the canal that is the only link between the lake and the ocean, and the tidal lock that makes it possible.  

Here I am holding the lock together!  And my reflection in the water from the top of it.  

We continued on to the Canso causeway, the only way on or off the Cape Breton Island. 

We then had to go through Truro, at the very top of the bay of Fundy, on our way to Halifax. And our timing was perfect to catch the tidal bore that goes through it twice a day.  A tidal bore is a wave (bore comes of the old Norse word for wave) that is formed in areas where a strong tide is funneled through a wide bay up a river.  As the funnel narrows, the tide is pushed higher, and eventually takes over and turns the river backward. It is not unique to the bay of Fundy (in fact, the Seine river in France used to have one until the 1960’s when they dredge it), but it is particularly strong and predictable there.  Most river that drain in the bay experience it to some extend, but the Truro one is particularly strong and has a great viewing spot.  We were extremely lucky with timing: we arrived shortly after 12, the weather was really nice, and the bore was predicted for12:46pm. 

So we, and a lot of other people just enjoyed the sun until, shortly before 12:46pm, all the Canada geese upstream took off and started complaining loudly that this big wave was disturbing them (you’d thing that, since it happens twice a day, every day, they’d be used toit. But after all they have bird brains….).

You first see it coming as a thin white line upstream, and then it moves forward, again disturbing more birds (also, stupid tourist have died waiting for it to come and standing on the river bed). It is very, VERY cool, and pictures definitely do not do it justice.  Here is the full sequence.

By the time we arrived in Halifax around 3pm, it was 86 degrees. I had planned to go for a walk up to the citadel, but that’s uphill and in the sun….. So I’ll do that in the morning instead, before checking out and going to the airport.   Instead, I walked along the Halifax boardwalk again, which is very enjoyable in this weather, taking in the sights and life that happens here. 

At the end of the boardwalk, where the big cruise ships dock, is a statue of John Cunard, who basically invented modern cruising (he was born in Halifax, where his parents emigrated during the American revolution because they were royalistes).  His statue is dwarfed by one of the ships in port, but that's far from being the largest one. The one behind it (the Liberty of the seas) is so big that you really can’t even take its picture. Can you see the huge water slide on top of it?  I am both fascinated by the engineering that goes into this, and a bit repulsed by its magnitude. 

This being our last day here, we splurged and got a room right on the harbor, making it easy to enjoy one last sea food meal outside. 

The weather has been just amazing!  We have been here 10 days and have not seen a drop of rain.  On the other hand, it’s time we go home because we have run out of summer weather clothing: we packed rain gear and cold weather gear…..because Nova Scotia in septembre….. We have not used any of it!

Some history, and more beauty

 Today we explored the south side of Cape Breton, whose main attraction is the Louisbourg fortress.  It also has the biggest city in Cape Breton, Sydney, from which you can take the ferry to New Foundland. But both my travel book (Fodor) and my travel agent suggested that this was the only reason to go to Sydney.  So we bypassed it as we made our way from Baddeck, along and around the Bras d’Or Lake. 

  The Louisbourg fortress is a remarkable reconstruction of a 18th century town and fortress.  The last bastion of France’s attempt to keep control of Nova Scotia.  The town was completely  destroyed by the English during the siege of 1758, and only foundations remained of what was once a vibrant little town.  It was lovingly reconstructed, starting in the 1960’s, using archeological remains of both buildings and furniture, and is now a living museum.  

 This is how they reconstructed some of the original pottery, all of which, together with the furniture, had been imported from France. 

 They have people in costume re-enacting the various jobs and very eager to share their knowledge, in both French and English.  They all switched to French immediately upon hearing my accent - this was after all, a French town.

 The town, ramparts, governor’s palace, artillery ,furniture and furnishing are all beautifully done. It was really interesting. Here are a few pictures, in no particular order.

 

    

 

 From everywhere,you have the great view of the lighthouse across the bay. Can you see it from the dining room window of the governor’s palace? 

   

They also have very cute goats, and the white flag that was raised in 1758is still there….

 

They also have a full replica of the town, inLegos! The reconstruction only is about 20% of the town, but the Lego one covers the entire town!

  

And- that’s the least they could do- one of the building is dedicated to theMi’kmaq nation, that far predated the squabbles between the French and English.  The relationship with the early French and English was in fact quite good, but their culture was decimated by terrible government policies until the 1960’s. The government of Canada has since apologized.   Still….. a terrible story….

 
After the visit, we went to see the light house that is so prominent from the fortress. It is the first stone light house built in Noth America (not actually this one, the first one burned down).

 

And then had a picnic at the beautiful Kensington cove beach, followed by a stroll on the beach.  By then, the temperature had reached 85 degrees, and the water was just beautiful and cool (but not cold).  Oh how i wish i had brought my bathing suit ( orat least a towel, I think i would have gone in my underwear…..) 

 We drove back to Baddeck along the Bras d’or lake.   It is really hard to capture it’s breadth and beauty,in part because the coast is very irregular, with many arms and coves, and in part because it’s hard to get close to it and get a good point of view. It’s either blocked by trees, or by the house of those lucky enough to live on its shore.  

I had time to take stroll through the woods behind our hotel.  The trail is pretty and shady and,typical for a Canadian trail, very well maintained and very poorly marked. So I wandered around for a while, 

   

 

 Admiring the many mushrooms! 

  My favorite is this one which I think is a slippery jack boletus - which I had never seen before.

 We went back for dinner at the harbor and had- of course- mussels, but also some lobster crostini!