1:30 flight to Halifax from New York and then 30 minutes into town. The temperature is 30 degrees lower here and I hope not to have to worry about nuclear fallout over the July Fourth weekend. An $8 (USD) bus ride or a $28 taxi; the bus leaves every 45 minutes. First meal at The 5 Fishermen, a good restaurant right on the Grand Parade which is at the center of town. Another good restaurant is Ryan Duffy’s on Spring Garden Road (the main shopping street). This is a steak house with good fish and deserts; they weigh and cut the steak at the tables here. Halibut and salmon are the fish here, no cod as cod-fishing is banned due to lack of cod after years of overfishing. Four Points Sheraton good value and excellent location; I paid $120 a night on the concierge floor. Breakfast a weak point in this hotel and you can forget it if you are looking for a bagel and Nova Scotia lox (nobody here goes for that). The Westin Hotel is nice but out of the way location. Very foggy the first 24 hours. Harbour Hopper Tours is a good one hour orientation; an amphibious transport vehicle takes you on the streets and on the water in the harbor. Casino is located on the water; skip the lunch buffet. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic tells you history of ships and Halifax from a sea perspective. The explosion of Halifax in the 1910’s was the largest explosion outside of the nuclear blasts in Japan. Food court in the Historic Properties development by the harbor is excellent. All of Halifax downtown is within 10 minutes walk of anything and it is all neatly gridded and signage is excellent.
This weekend there is a Jazz Festival, Scottish Festival and International Tattoo. I thought I wouldn’t find anything to do for 3 days; I wound up keeping quite busy till the very end. Consider starting these weekend getaways on Thursday evening so you can scout out the town and get tickets before everybody else arrives Friday afternoon (which is what I did). I attended the opening gala of the Jazz Festival, simulcast live on Radio Canada, and surprisingly it is not difficult to get tickets here to things and prices are quite reasonable. Tatoo is a military jamboree with participants from several countries doing a stage show in the city’s convention center. 2,000 performers in a 3 hour spectacle filled with bands, athletics and family fun. I missed the fireworks over the Harbor but certainly didn’t feel cheated. They saluted 9/11 New York; many pipes and drums to give it a Scottish feel (Nova Scotia means New Scotland); people here reacted strongly when the American flag was marched in and they are proud of their militaries. You don’t see much of this in a place like New York.
Pedestrian walkways link many buildings which is good in the winter. For a view atop the city, ride the elevator to the top of MTT Tower just behind the Four Points Sheraton hotel. Few tall buildings in center city to preserve the view from the Citadel. The Citadel and the Clock Tower are just beyond downtown and overlook the city. Citadel is an interesting tourist site (old English fort) and there is a 50 minute film there about city history. The city is very much a military and naval-minded place and has a strong place in history as a port city along the North Atlantic; Halifax is the closest mainland airport west of Heathrow on this side of the Atlantic. The Coast Guard had a ship in the Harbour for people to board, the Japanese navy just sent in a destroyer with crews for training and their sailors were everywhere. Never mind that the Citadel was never attacked. It’s a small town; you know that when you keep seeing the same Japanese sailors. I met a few on a tour and kept seeing them everywhere. Halifax has many students and at least 5 universities. More immigrants coming in from Europe; the Germans are buying properties.
Day trip to Peggy’s Cove, about 45 minutes from the city and to Lunenberg, about 45 minutes further. Lots of interesting rock formations and a lighthouse on the shores with pretty fishing village all carefully historically preserved. Area as a whole looks similar to Jersey and Ireland coast or even New England. Not surprising; all this area was the same land mass 350 million years ago before the Teutonic plates split up. Lunenberg is a UNESCO listed historical site and has a good Fisheries Museum. If you walk around town, be sure to see the Academy at the top of the hill. Look at the day trip as a day to be laid back and not worry about rushing anywhere. Sunset is after 9pm and the first few hours of the day tend to be cloudy with fog.
Good infrastructure (ie: roads and water). Some street people but harmless. Canada is fairly tolerant and polite; I saw some Muslims with veils walking around several places and nobody notices it. Some of the street scenes and performances are innovative with a Canadian attitude: Some guy made a homemade percussion set and was drumming away with a dog at his side who, on cue, would bark when he rapped: “Who Let the Dog Out?” New York Times is sold at 2pm (gone by 3pm) at Perks right at the center of the Harbourfront area. No matter; Canadian newspapers are excellent; more literate people supporting more quality newspapers per capita here than in the US. Visited Pier 21 Museum dedicated to immigration to Canada at the place where people landed from their ships. A very good film there gives a realistic account of how immigrants felt when they arrived. Pier 21 is behind the Westin and near the railroad station (where most immigrants went after they arrived). There is no Sunday shopping in Halifax but restaurants are open and a cruise ship had docked. In the Public Gardens (very pretty) there is a 2pm band concert on Sundays on a 100 year old bandstand. Museum of Art also worthwhile with a local flavor; visited a naval warship and the only thing I missed out on was some local ice cream cause there were too many people on line and I had to leave.
Airport had only one security checkpoint for the entire place; although this is probably a temporary problem due to construction. I flew 5pm to Ottawa and then to Newark because I saved $300 by taking the stopover and had a full day in town; the nonstop left at 2pm. And you pick up an hour on the way back because Halifax is an hour ahead of East Coast US time. Ottawa is an excellent transfer airport; very small and it’s only 55 minute flight from there to Newark. The CRJ (Canadian Regional Jet) is a great quiet smallish plane you hardly feel. Canada is friendly to tourists; airport cashier didn’t care that I was $1 short on my dinner bill when I was trying to get rid of the rest of my money. In other airports, I’d be stuck with $5 being returned because I was short a penny. Canada has excellent exchange rate against the dollar but it doesn’t really matter; the prices are about the same by the time you pay the 15% sales tax in Canada. I applied for a refund of the sales tax on my hotel bill; you can do this. To do this, get an application from your hotel, save your original receipt and boarding pass. In about 3-4 weeks, you get a check made out to you in US funds that refunds the tax.
