Halifax has such a rich history--and a rather squabbly one, it seems to me. There were squabbles with the natives, the Mi'kmaqs (I don't know how you pronounce that apostrophe), with the French, of course, and with the U.S. I guess that sounds pretty much like our own history.
But Halifax settled down and played a huge role in the two world wars. It was mostly because the Halifax harbor is one of the greatest in the world (along with Sydney, Australia). It is very deep at low tide, ice free in winter, is very sheltered, and is close to Europe. Thus it became crucial during both wars for sending supplies and troops to Europe and also for sheltering convoys.
We left Halifax around noon and drove north on highway 104 to Antigonish, a small town on the coast across from Prince Edward Island. To pronounce Antigonish, just slur over the first three syllables and come down hard on "nish." I think you've got it! We are staying at the Antigonish Victorian Inn, in the Garden Room. I'll take a picture tomorrow. It's raining now.
We ate supper in the garden, between showers. Getting tired of restaurants, we stopped at the grocery store for some veggies, fruit and a jar of pickled herring. Yum! On the way we were confused by a blinking green traffic light. We wanted to turn left but didn't dare because all the other cars stopped and we didn't know who should go first. We asked someone at the store and were told that a blinking green light is like a green arrow. It means everybody else has to stop and let you turn. They are very polite drivers here.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of the drive today. There were beautiful thick green forests along the entire route. So very green. A mixture of hard and softwoods. We saw very few houses along the way, but the few we saw were very well kept. It's the same in the towns--all neat and tidy.
I'll leave you with a picture of the hostas at the Halifax Public Gardens.
Pretty hostas! I didn't know that Halifax played an important part in the world wars. I'll add that to our list of essay topics. Some of our students with Canadian ties like to write about Canada's contribution to the war effort.
ReplyDeleteAnd keep an eye out for our Viking ancestors. Anyone carrying a double headed ax around town is a candidate.