Spent the day in and around (and around) Halifax

Halifax, Canada

After some chores and shopping I had a lovely lunch with long time political friends in Bedford today. We got caught up on what’s going on in our personal and various political worlds and solved the world’s problems over lunch. It was great to see Chris in Canada since the last couple of times we’ve crossed paths was in Kiev, Ukraine on Election Observation Missions.

Then I spent a delightful afternoon along the waterfront in downtown Halifax and a lovely evening spent in my camping site. Given that it’s the weekend, the campground has filled up to overflowing and the voices of children riding bikes, playing sports and hide and seek are bringing back a flood of memories from my own youth.

It was the nicest day, weather-wise, since I left home – sunny and 25 and the Halifax waterfront was hopping this afternoon. How pleasant to stroll along and people watch, enjoy the various musicians, check out the shops and stop for an afternoon tea and cookie break in a perfect green space next to the ferry terminal. How could someone from Vancouver not feel an affinity for a city that has people ferries coming into the downtown core? And they have Beavertails in Halifax! Who knew?!

Ottawanians could learn something about the use of waterfront from many cities, and after visiting it again today, I’m reminded that Halifax should be at the top of the list to study. I know there are many tourist attractions in our Nation’s Capital related to it being the capital, but one of the things I’ve been quite vocal about (I know you find this shocking!) is that there needs to be more imagination put into the use of the multiple green and blue spaces. I wouldn’t want to see them all overcome by enterprise or even activity and many of the parkways along the rivers and canal are great for outdoor and exercise enthusiasts. But too many of the waterways are dead zones. Sorry, this is supposed to be a travel blog, not a soapbox. I’ll get down off it now.

I had not been in Halifax since Pier 21 (Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21) was opened so I headed there in time to take the last guided tour of the afternoon. I learned a lot about not only the facility, but about the evolution of our various government’s immigration policies. And even learned that, according to our guide, Halifax is the second deepest port in the world after Sydney, Australia. Over a million new Canadians arrived through the gates at Pier 21 from 1928 – 1971 and there was one fellow on the tour whose father had when he immigrated from England. For him it was a particularly emotional experience. They had a picture of the ship that his Dad came over on among those on the wall. It was a rather spartan museum compared to most, by design. As they explained, it’s all about the stories of the immigrants, before and after they arrived and their journey to get here. And they had various vignettes and recordings of some of the individual stories.

You can check it out at http://www.pier21.ca/

The sun has gone down and the mosquitos have found me, so I’m going to sign off now before I get eaten alive.

PS – the reference to “and around” in the title refers to the many wrong turns and circuitous routes I took to get places today. I find it a particularly confusing city to get around in.