Halifax - July 17th & 18th

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So much to do and so little time. I am determined to come away from Halifax with not only some understanding of the town, but also an understanding of how I felt about it. Is it a place I would like to visit again? What does it do for me inside? Are the people here really different from other cities in Canada? Does it excite me photgraphically? Whew, a pretty tall order for two and half days, but you need to start somewhere.

There were funny sensations going on inside as I walked the sometimes steep streets. With the moist air, fog, old buildings, university right downtown, old apartment buildings fairly well maintained, lots of students wandering around, and a collection of strange characters, it created a feeling like the South Kensington area of London did for me in the sixties.

I need to describe the Halliburton House Hotel. It is set up in three historic buildings close to the Dalhousie University and even closer to the Nova Scotia School of Technology. Thjis sets it near lots of good coffee houses, pubs and cheap places to eat. The hotel itself is not cheap. The owners have named it a boutique hotel and I think that is a good discription. My room was one of the smaller ones, according to them, but for me it was spacious. Everthing is first class and some of the furniture is authentic, refurbished antique. The walls are the thick stone of the old building and so it is very quiet. Out in the back is a little, hidden courtyard where they serve coffee in the morning, wine in the afternoon, and meals at night. The resturant in the hotel is top class with incredible food. The clothes I had didn't fit the ambiance of the resturant so I never ate there, but I heard other patrons rave about it. It was not exactly runningshoe cuisine.

Breakfast was part of the price of a room. It was served in the resturant and was supub every morning. Their coffee was so good I didn't have to go looking for a special coffee place in the morning.

What put the place over the top for me was the intelligent and eager staff. I always put this down to the owner's ability to pick the right people when they hire. The owner does have a bit of an advantage here, he has an abundant number of university students to pick from, especially in the summer months.

Every noon the VIA Train leaves from this, its eastern terminus. The Halifax station still looks like a real train station and not some panelled box that looks like any other warehouse along the tracks. Wooden benches looking like oversized church pews set in a hall with a high vaulted ceiling, some wood paneling, a wall with ticket wickets and windows through which the light from outside gives the whole place a muted grey tone, all created the ambiance of the time when train travel was common. People were sitting around waiting for departure. Some showing anticipation and looking around, wondering who will be on board for the duration of the longer trip and who they would like to talk with as the train grinds out the many miles across this country of ours. Others looked like they did a shorter trip out of Halifax on a regular basis and had more of a look of resolve on their faces. There were families with beaming parents looking forward to a much dreamed of trip across Canada offset by the children who looked like they had finally figured out they were about to be severly constrained for several days.

Down on the waterfront I visited Pier 21 where so many new Canadians arrived to start their life in Canada. It didn't hold any immediate family interst for me, but the HMCS Sackville down the way did. It was on another corvette like the Sackville that Les's Dad, Jim, served on during the war. I had a good look around and several things came to mind. The boat is small and during a storm it must have been pretty exciting or frightening, depending on your point of view. Back in those days, there was limited remote control systems, so the wheel in the pilot house didn't actually steer the ship, but only set a remote indicator to a poor sod who actually steered the boat from a dank hold under the rear deck. No windows, no light, and no insulation on the hull would make for one of the place to work I could imagine, especially in a storm. Anyone working there would need to be able to handle any motion without getting seasick. Awful.

Jim's location as the Coder was a lot better. He had his own office down the corridor from the Captian, an office that was out of bounds to everyone else on the ship. It would have been nice to have Jim there to talk about all the features of the ship.

Here's a little unique observation. I've never been in a liquor store where the background music was Ave Maria, but there is one in Halifax. What is more, one of the staff was whistling along with the music.

The Citidal is a fascinating place. I've never designed a fort before, but as I walked around and tried to think of ways to attack it, it was clear that the place was well thought out. There are always lots of activities going on in the Citidal, including the firing of the noon cannon, but, completely by coincidence to my visit, the celbration of the Changing of the Guard was taking place. In 1906, the British Military marched out of the Citidal and onto a waiting Bristish ship, after turning over all responsibilities for the defence of Canada to the Canadian Military. I was going to miss the actual ceremony on the following Sunday, but I did get in on a pipe band march by and a military brass band concert in the Citidal. After the concert there was the flag lowering ceremony accompanied by the music, Sunset. The flag flying this week from the Citidal is the Union Jack. I presume that will be changed to the Candian Flag, ceremoniously, on Sunday when the British troops leave. The evening finished with some fireworks of the type that would have been available in 1906. They looked pretty good to me.

This place has a long history and present influence of the military. It is not hard to sense. It is also firmly rooted in English and Scottish culture. Al could wear his kilt here any day he wished and no one would question why. I noticed that when the Canadian soldiers were killed in Afganastan this past week there was no discussion of flying flags half mast in this city - they all were.

During my first two days in Halifax I must have done the equivalent of a good hike in the mountains. I was out walking for at least four hours everyday. Every time you start hiking away from the water, you climb and a pretty steep climb it is.

I didn't do much talking to anyone unique. I did speak with a lot of different people and most were very nice and helpful. I met different people each morning at breakfast. They were nice, but their stories don't warrent space on this page.

I had a very good experience with the motorcycle shop where I had my oil changed. They squeezed me in and, when I asked the mechanic to take it for a ride and report any concerns, he didn't hesitate. Thankfully, I got a good report. The shop reminded me of what Bow Cycle (Motor) in Bowness use to be 5 years ago.

Now, about those questions I had. Will I visit here again, absolutely and with Les. Does it make me feel good? It was a great place for me. I felt comfortable and somewhat at home in a culture that seemed familiar. Are the people here different from others in Canada? Individually there are different characters everywhere, each with their own approach to life for them in their hometown. From a macro point of view, I found myself remembering what Calgary was like at 300,000 people. It all seemed very familiar. Did it excite me photographically? Absolutely it did. This is one of the only places where I put my film camera to work and also the only place, so far that I have taken some black and white shots.

Clearly, two and a half days isn't an appropriate time to permit me to comment very much more. I guess the key indicator for me is that it is the only place up to now that I would want to come back to. Hopefully that will happen one day.

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Photos

St. Paul's Anglican
Of course, originally C of E, and had the first bishop outside of England.

Evening sky over the Union Jack
I don't think I've ever seen this sort of sky in Calgary. I was staring at it as the band was playing. When I took a picture of it I had everyone around me looking to see what I saw. I don't think they got it.

Pipeband at City Hall
What would Halifax be without a pipe band.

Jim's Office on a Corvette
Just on the right is the Coder's office. It is closed in this picture, so it isn't too distinct. Jim would have had to move back and forth to the radio room which was up in the wheel house, close to the antennas.

My Hotel
The Halliburton House Inn - a great place.