Monday, Day Three....Halifax, NS

 

 

An absolutely beautiful fall day in Canada.  We docked around 8:30 at the Halifax Seaport.  Had room service bring coffee and we just lolled around til 9:30 or so, then went up for breakfast,  ate, then left the ship.  There was a small internet cafe across the street a block or two from the ship and made for a perfect place to publish my last two days.  Got that done in 30 minutes and then proceeded to WALK.

 

We strolled along the Boardwalk in the Harbor area and enjoyed the interesting historical features.  Halifax Harbor was a major immigration port up until the 1970's for immigrants coming  over from Europe.  It was also instrumental in the relocation of the Acadiens in the 1600's and 1700's.  We did a lot of research on that subject last year while visiting Nova Scotia and visited the area where they have "resurrected" in another area (L'Acadie). 

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From the Boardwalk area, we headed uphill....way uphill..to the Halifax Citadel, a fort built in 1749 and has a view overlooking the entire harbor.  For the past two hundred years, the cannon has been fired at noon everyday.

 

A Video of the Changing of the Guard was supposed to be here, but will not upload...

 

 

 

We were there at noon.  The cannon fired, everybody jumped and then we watched the changing of the guards.  We decided against going inside the fort....have been in many, many forts.

 

We asked a local guard/attendant on the hill at  the Citadel for directions to a grocery store and he told us they were all closed today in honor of Canada's Thanksgiving..  He said, "you are honoring Columbus Day today, right?".  We said yes and then he commented about everything being shut down or  something about the mess we have "back home".   We all laughed at the sad situation.   He also commented....you should throw them all out.  We agreed and said we're helpless....what can we do???  ... EVERYBODY has the same opinion.  But he laughed and said all the politicians in Canada were arguing also.  What a mess this world has become....nobody gets along with anybody. He said the best politicians were the drunks...give them a bottle of whiskey and they got along with everybody.

View from The Citadel of the Halifax Harbor

 

Downtown Halifax---turn left to go UP

Hockey Rink

We then headed back downhill (lots easier walking) towards the waterfront.  Went by the rink  where the hockey team plays in Halifax....can't remember the name of the team.

 

A leisurely walk back to the ship.  There was another cruise ship in dock ...an NCL, but the crowds were not bad at all.  A lot got on tour buses and then the rest just scattered out walking around town. 

Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk

 

Back on the ship and Ronnie's laying flat inside reading and I'm sitting on the balcony blogging....about 2:30 p.m. and it's nice. 

 

Later......not much else happened of any interest.  Ronnie was interested in the acupuncture seminar and visited with the "doctor" to see if it would help his neck pain --constant since he had surgery to "fix" it 13 years ago.  It's quite expensive...$500 for 3 treatments and an herbal oil.  He's debating.

 

 Afterwards, we went to dinner.  A confusing affair.  We do the anytime dining and it's in a separate dining room from the traditional.  As usual, we asked for a table for two, but as none were available and there were 34 on the waiting list, we said we'd share....lots of talking among the maitre'd , wait staff....questions to us...table for 4? table for 5? just a minute...got on phone....ended up walking upstairs to the traditional dining room and were placed at a table for 6 who, of course, had already ordered.  Confusing.....felt like we'd been evicted.  I'm not sure they knew what they were doing or why.  No one seemed to understand each other.  But we did get to eat.

 

Then to the show..a comedian who was good.  We laughed a lot.  Of course, he finally got to the political jokes and according to the booing and clapping, this ship is tilting very, very far to the right.....99% (my estimate) was NOT happy  with our President Obama.  This audience was made up of people from all over the USA, UK and Canada and elsewhere.  And the ship originated from NYC.

 

There was a 50's and 60's "sock hop" in one of the lounges last night.  Very, very good band.  We danced a bit, but the floor got quite crowded so we left.  Went to the Horizon Court buffet and got some fruit for a snack, went to the room and Ronnie watched the ballgame for a bit.  We did  a 2 1/2 hour walk today (lots of uphill) and were very tired.

 

Tomorrow we'll be in Saint John, New Brunswick.  And will try to find  WiFi service somewhere.

 

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