Day 6: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Source: novascotia.com

It's my habit to get up early, go out to the balcony and snap a couple of photos of our arrive to whatever port is next on the itinerary.  This particular morning I did no such thing and have to resort to plucking a photo for the internet. What you see above is Citadel Hill, which we visited on our stay in Halifax.

As before, we walked off the ship and went directly to the Tourist Information Kiosk at the pier.  The nice lady unfolded a map and pointed out items of interest on our walk. Halifax is home to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery where Titanic passengers are buried.  With my interest in all things graveyard, you'd have thought I'd have made sure to get us there.  Unfortunately, it's a daunting walk from the pier and I had no cell service to look up another form of transportation (Canadian Uber?), so it was off our list of things-to-do.

Instead, we simply followed the map toward the Public Gardens and on to the Citadel, which was a perfect way to spend the day.  We passed a few points of interest...

Government House, home to the Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor.

Danish Embassy

Eventually we found our way to the Public Gardens which were, well, gardens. We didn't spend much time there, just walked through and made a bee line for the Citadel National Historic Site.

Public Gardens

The Citadel started out as a guard house situated on a hill overlooking Halifax and the harbor.  The site offers tours, reenactments, guard changes, a museum and free admission.  We managed to visit the museum, which is spectacular and not to be missed. Americans seem to have this idea that Canadians don't send their troops into harm's way.  SO not true!  These brave men and women have been securing peace since the late 1800's, when the country took over it's military protection from the British. The Canadian Army has seen action in World Wars I and II, the Korean War and Afghanistan, to name just a few of the well-known wars of our time.

Citadel sentry

View from Citadel Hill

We spent a good 90 minutes at the Citadel and by this time donuts and coffee were calling.  Tim Horton's is a Canadian donut shop famous for its coffee and I was on a mission to find this pot of gold at the end of the Halifax rainbow.  I'd spotted pedestrians with to-go cups of Horton's coffee around the city and with any luck we'd find a shop on our own.

Walking east on George Street we eventually found the Sea Bridge, a floating bridge surrounding oceanside restaurants and attractions.  It was here I found my Tim Horton's mother load. Thankfully, the shop accepted US dollars and returned Canadian currency in change. The coffee was hot, strong and tasted great with my half of the cruller and Bavarian cream donuts.

When finished with our coffee break, we walked along the boardwalk and Sea Bridge before returning to the ship.

 CSS Acadia was used for chart making and for transporting troops to war in the early 1900s.

Just before we cast off and while hanging out in our stateroom, I was excited to hear bagpipes from outside.  A lone bagpiper had arrived and was playing beautifully on the pier below.  I'd show you the short video of his performance, but I can't because of my stupid computer!