Let's Go Places: Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Friends, today is bittersweet.  We have reached the final 24 hours of the Great Maritimes Bender.  It's going to be sad to leave, but there are still a few more adventures to be had.

When we last left off the saga, I had reluctantly said goodbye to Elisabeth & Fam, and I was on the road to Halifax.  I pulled into the parking lot of an old historic building that was my home for the night.

Let's Rate the Airbnb!

The unit was a one bedroom apartment.

Pros: nothing wrong with it, everything was nice and in working order.  Prime location close to downtown and the waterfront.

Cons: Three flights of stairs (I wondered why several of the reviews mentioned the stairs and now I knew why).

Sunday Evening - Let's Explore

After settling into the Airbnb, I went out on the town.  It was a little before 4:00, and I headed for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which closes at 4:30.  I'm very fast in museums, so I figured that 30 minutes would be more than enough.  It was, and because of my late arrival the museum let me in for free.

After the museum, I wandered around the waterfront.

I enjoyed people watching and the food scene.

 

These guys were enjoying the food scene as well.

After I had my fill of the waterfront, I went in search of dinner.  John had suggested getting a donair kebab, which is something that I've heard about that doesn't exist back home.

I stopped by my neighborhood donair place.  It's similar to a gyro, but the seasoning is different and the sauce is sweet.  It's different, but a good different.

Monday Morning - Let's Go to the Citadel

There is a big ol' hill in Halifax, which is the site of the Citadel.  Back in the 1700s when the Brits arrived, they knew that others might like Halifax just as much as they did and try to take it over.  Naturally they set up a military fort on the hill so that they could keep an eye on things.  Their plan worked so well that Halifax was never attacked.  The biggest challenge was designing a structure that could stand up to the harsh winters, and they rebuilt the fort four times over the next 100 years until they got it right.

The fort stayed in service through WWII and was then restored to the way it was in the 1800s and opened as a historic site.

There were lots of kilts on the premises.  The purpose of the big feathered hats was to make the soldiers look larger and more intimidating.

We got the 4-1-1 on sporrans.  The word sporran translates to purse, and they have a small pouch for that purpose.  But the main reason sporrans were worn was as a counterweight to keep the kilts from flying up on the battlefield.  You may have heard the saying that the only thing that a Scotsman wears under his kilt is his shoes.

The tour took us (myself and another couple who arrived at the same time) though the fort and showed what the soldiers' daily life was like.

Shoes were made to go on either foot, so that if anyone lost a shoe they only had to replace one shoe instead of the pair.

We went thought the ammo house, where we learned that the barrels had to be rolled on a regular basis to maintain the gunpowder (I forget the technical reason and Google is not helping but there was a very good reason why they had to roll the barrels on a regular basis).  Being on barrel rolling duty was a tough gig.

The fort was fascinating but the best part was walking around and taking in the views.

Sigh, something new to worry about every day...

The story with the big clock is that most folks didn't have clocks back in the day.  One of the bigwigs wanted people to be on time instead of showing up when it felt like time to start work, so he had a ginormous clock installed so that the entire town knew what time it was.

Before we leave the Citadel, let's do some flag trivia!  What county is this flag from?

If you answered Canada, you are correct!  Originally Canada flew the British flag, but as the country grew they reached the point where they needed their own flag.  They shrunk the Union Jack and added the Canada coat of arms.  How do you know it's the Canada coat of arms?  Duh, by the maple leaves at the bottom!  In the 1950s there was a push for Canada to have a more unique flag so that their troops wouldn't be confused with the Brits on the battlefield.   In the end the big maple leaf was chosen and has been the official flag since 1965.  That's longer than I've been on the planet but still not that long.

Monday Afternoon - It's Time to Go Home

I left the Citadel and headed for the car.  It was finally time to go home.

The only downside to Halifax's small airport is that there is only one security line for international flights, and no special privileges.  Everyone has to take their shoes off and take their laptops out of their bags.  However once we were through the first security line there was a special screening line for Global Entry so I got the smug satisfaction of being able to sail through that.

The next thing I knew, we were up in the air.

Hello Newark!

And hello home!

Until next time, Maritimes!