Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Today I am visiting Halifax in Nova Scotia. Even the sound of it is romantic and exciting!
Halifax is a harbour city, it’s the second largest ice-free harbour in the world, only beaten by Sydney.
It’s a walky-walky city, where about half the residents walk to work. It snows in winter and is generally mild in summer.
Here are the Beetles walking to work in Halifax.
Halifax is dominated by the hilltop Citadel, the star shaped in the middle of the lawn is a massive fort.
As a Friends' School old sholar, I don’t really believe in fighting (although, to my shame, I love laser tag) so warrish places are never really of interest to me. But Halifax, you made a good fort!
They love a kilt and a bagpipe at the citadel but don’t be confused and think this is Scotland.
The clue is in the very large Canadian flag.
The Citadel has lots of tours – including a ghost tour. Led by a ghost. Or a murderer. Or a murdering ghost…
Like many people who live in cold climate cities, when the weather warms up, Halifaxions love eating outside. In fact, there are more pubs per capita than any other city in Canada.
As mentioned, Halifaxers love a good walk so they have built a walk alongside the harbour. It’s a 4km walk called the Harbourside Walk.
The board walk winds its way amongst old buildings and the harbour….
…until it ends at Canadian Museum of Immigration. This museum is supposed to be unmissable. It’s located where the first point of entry was for immigrants who arrived between 1928 and 1971.
Unlike 20% of Canadians, my migrant relatives didn’t arrive at pier 22 and I don’t feel much connection with the Immigration museum.
I think the Halifax Maritime Museum of the Atlantic might be more my style.
I could say “Hello” to Merlin the Macaw.
I don’t think he’s stuffed. But he certainly has a whiff of taxidermy about him…
When the Titanic sunk, Halifax was the closest port so all the salvaged goods, artifacts and deadun’s were sent here. And some are at the museum. And some are not.
They weren’t fans of pirates in Halifax. And the Royal Navy regularly hung baddies at the nearby Point (un?)Pleasant Park. You can see a dead one at the museum. Now these pair have definitely visited the Taxidermist…
No longer plagued by the smell of hung pirate, Pleasant Point Park looks very pleasant.
Point Pleasant Park has 37 kilometres of walking tracks in its 75 hectares.
Park Point Pleasant doesn’t belong to Canada – Nova Scotia rents it from the British Government for 10 cents a year. It has a 999 year lease and the tenants don’t look like moving on any time soon.
In downtown Halifax you can visit the Public Gardens.
Give a bride a sniff of rotunda or a bridge and they’ll race to get their wedding photos here.
There is a ferry service linking Halifax and nearby Darmouth. It’s the oldest continually running saltwater ferry service ever in the history of the world. Or something…
Just 40km away from Halifax is Peggys’ Cove. Peggy’s Cove is a popular spot for visitors and Halifractioners. And it should be, it’s very beautiful.
Legend has it that a schooner was shipwrecked on the shores in this area in the 1800’s with the sole survivor being a lady named Margaret. Obviously they prefer things informal in Halifax...
Peggy’s got herself a very impressive lighthouse, lovely pretty buildings and a formidable shoreline.
The rocky foreshore is covered in inukshuks. And here’s me calling them rock towers. Blush.
Here’s more things I never knew about Hallifax:
· Halifax is closer to Dublin than Victoria, BC.
· In 1917 there was a very bad explosion in Halifax. The worst man-made explosion to that point. A naval ship full of wartime explosives collided with another ship. And boom. As I am frightened of loud noises, I am not going to discuss this in my blog, except to show you this picture of the windows of St Pauls church which has one of the bishops faces allegedly etched into the glass from the heat of the blast. Yeowzers!
Now I chose Halifax because of that show. Remember that show? I think I liked it…. Wasn’t it about a detective or a cop or a mystery? Embarrassingly, it turns out that I have married Halifax F P (set in Sydney) and Last Tango in Halifax (set in Yorkshire). I also got my Nova Scotia's and New Foundlands a little bit mixed up with my Nantuckets.
I’m happy very happy I did because I really like Halifax.
