Travel Saga: Halifax

we’re a little out of order here since we started in halifax but PEI was just so fresh in my mind. Halifax. what a great little city. we were staying in a friend’s apartment that was vacant for the summer hence no Halifax b&b stories.

since we were only spending one full day in the city, we were pretty happy that we were staying close enough that we could walk everywhere. I read through the tourist booklet and saw that there was a big national historic site in Halifax that looked pretty interesting and when I consulted my map, it showed that it was in point pleasant park which was about a couple kilometers from our place. so off we headed on foot. we got to the entrance of the park and there were no signs for this apparently huge site. we walked through trails and trails trying to find the water. tim’s saying, “it’s a little strange that there hasn’t been any signs for this – usually a national historic site has major government signage.” “oh I’m sure it’s close…” when we finally hit the water – still no signs. we sat down on a bench and I checked the tourist book/map. it read, “the citadel sits atop a hill overlooking the city.” we looked around. we couldn’t see the city…and we were not on a hill. oops. it’s not in point pleasant park. it’s the opposite direction in the middle of the city. see Travel Saga: Map Reading.

the harbour is obviously a central area to hang out. so after our jaunt in point pleaant, we headed to the harbour. we had fish and chips on the water – and it wasn’t the white rock $12 – 15 for a 2 piece. it was $7.99 and we shared it. so great. and so much fish underneath that batter. we listened to buskers, we took photos of boats, and we watched the fog roll in.
from the harbour, we could see the “hill overlooking the city” which is where we wanted to be. we headed up the hill for the Halifax citadel. the citadel is the fort that was prepared to defend Halifax from a land attack – there were other places protecting the harbour. (point pleasant being one of them) but the fort was never attacked and stands in pretty similar condition as when it was built. we were given a tour from a Scottish soldier in a kilt serving in the mid-1800’s british army…aka. random “blue nose” teenager. (100 points to the person who knows why I called him blue nose) but it was a good tour.

Ode to Halifax:
your harbour is strong and your forts, they are stronger
you have so much history but your grocery hours could be longer
point pleasant is just that – we’d choose it to jog
we’re impressed that your fishermen can navigate the fog.
the work you’ve put into your tourism was splendid
when we go back to BC, we’ll be sure to recommend it.

(this one is for rach and dallas)

our "scottish" guide talking to some british soldiers (they might look like bellboys but that's because these soldier uniforms were sold to a hotel chain and the look caught on)