Nova Scotia - September 20/14 - Halifax

Saturday, September 20

After a quiet night in the Seaport parking lot, we were looking forward to the Saturday market, Pier 21 and seeing some of the other highlights in town, all within a short walk.

What a busy and wonderful market. 

Fall colours, only looking

Everyone seemed to be walking off with bunches of Japanese lanterns.

What a treat it was to see the Queen Mary 2 arriving. 

Such a great spot to watch it come in, right from the rooftop at the market.

A massive tanker is brought in by tugs and it dwarfs the sailboat beside it.

It was at a snail's pace to get it docked.

There was even a car show at the pier.

Time to tour Pier 21. This was the location where around 1-million immigrants landed and were cleared into Canada.

Halifax was the main harbour to enter Canada but they also used St. John, N.B. and Quebec City.

A special plaque from the Dutch Canadians of Nova Scotia was dedicated the Canadian Armed Forces for their part in helping in the liberation of the Netherlands during WWll.

Next time I'll bring less luggage.

Tour guide gave the history of Pier 21 and stories about the immigrants.

There was a display that gave the names and showed photos of all the ships
that were used during that time. I was able to spot the ship I come over on, in
1957, but not at this port. It docked in Quebec City and was the Arosa Star.

Found it!

Display of period items

Grace was able to track down the ship that her parents came over on in 1949.
It was the Aquitania.

You can just feel the emotion of leaving loved ones behind.

It was a bit of a hike to get to the Halifax Citadel, a fortress at the highest point in the city.
It was good exercise on the steep roads leading to it.

So, who doesn't fit in this scene?

There was an actual period wedding taking place at the time.
Bride is piped in.

Everyone was relieved when she finally arrived, about half an hour late. It was very windy at the time.

Quite the courtyard to have your wedding in. Everyone attending was also in costume.

The happy couple

Looking back to the harbour

The encampment of weekend re-enactors.

The past and the present meet.

Musket demonstration

Period re-enactors spent the weekend camping outside the fort walls. It wasn't much fun for them since it was
very cold, very windy and raining during the night. The tents and their traditional clothing were not
up to withstanding the elements. Not a happy bunch.

No steak here.

A very decorative display made up of plants.

The Public Garden was such a wonderful and peaceful oasis in the centre of Halifax. 

What a contrast from the busyness of the city.

Grace smelling the roses, nope, the Dahlias

Who ever would have guessed the variety of Dahlias

Having had our fix of a tranquil setting, it was time to...

.....take in the sights and sounds of the party being held back at the pier. 

A smaller scale of the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest.

Listened to a couple of bands while sipping on a few cold ones. It was fun, for a while.

One last stroll on the waterfront before calling it a day, and excellent one at that. 

All lit up

Our final treat for the night, was watching the activity on the Queen Mary 2 before it departed at 9p.m. With binoculars
I could see the officers on the bridge. After it left, it soon was lights out for us. Whew, what a full day!