Thursday, 20 December

Halifax

Actually we spent very little of today in Halifax. Our Airbnb host took us for a long drive down the coast along the lighthouse trail. The first stop was Peggy’s Cove, where we did see a picturesque lighthouse.

We continued on thorough numerous little coves and inlets with quaint houses and a number of magnificent ones. The scenery was stunning all the way, topped off by a cloudless blue sky and no
wind - perfect weather. Fishing is the main industry all along this coastline and we saw fishing shacks and fishing boats and even a couple of fishing eagles.

Had a cuppa at Hubbards, stopped for a look around and a little shopping at Mahone Bay and finally reached Lunenburg, the end point of our journey and the home of Laurie’s cousin and friends who met us there. Lunenburg is a World Heritage town and a major fishing port. We saw a dory, a tough little fishing boat that is very stable and we visited a rum distillery with a beautiful copper still.

A short walk through town and then drinks and a meal at a little pub. Terry, Laurie’s friend encouraged me to indulge in an Acadian Cajun Seafood Stew. I did, and I’m glad. We left home at 8.00 and returned at 7.00.

Wednesday, 19 December

Halifax

Bright sunshine today, making the snow quite glary. Glad I had my sunglasses. We walked our legs off today, first to the hydrastone area. After the Halifax Explosion they wanted to make houses more fireproof so many were built of hydrastone, which is really just cement with gravel in it. What we found was a historic row of shops made of this material. There was a gift shop with a cute Christmas tree that had snow falling on it and a nice French bakery where we enjoyed morning tea.

We chatted to a couple of nice ladies in the cafe and they told us about the memorial to the explosion, which was just around the corner and up the hill. Off we went to see it. It is also made of hydrastone and has a carillon which rings every hour (not while we were there).

Then we headed back into the city, had lunch at the same cafe as yesterday and continued on around the waterfront to the Immigration Museum. On the way I saw a beautiful lighthouse across the water on George Island.

The Immigration museum told a similar story to our own, though the history goes back further than ours. It was interesting and well presented.

By now it was getting late, so we went back along the harbour walk until we came to “Salty’s”, a fish restaurant recommended by our host, Laurie. This was the meal I’ve been waiting for since we arrived ... lobster! The other two girls kindly accommodated my wish and found something on the menu to satisfy their appetites. I am a happy camper and will go to sleep with a smile on my face.

Tuesday, 18 December

Halifax

When I opened my blinds this morning the world had turned white and it was softly and silently snowing. I rushed around the house looking out of every window, making glad little cries of delight.

As we left the house we made the first footprints in the snow down our steps and across to the footpath. We walked into town, past the hospital, beside a very cold looking graveyard and through a park which reminded us of Narnia. All that was missing was the lamppost and Mr Tumnus.

We had a bite of lunch at Coffee Cabin and were pleased that we were given real cups and plates. It was all disposable in the US.

It was still snowing as we made our way to the waterfront and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. There were some lovely yachts and models but the main display was of the Halifax Explosion which happened in 1917. There was a collision of two ships, one of which was loaded with ammunition for the war, in the Halifax harbour area. The burning ammunition ship drifted over to the dock, where people had come out to see what was happening. When it blew up, the magnitude of the explosion was second only to Hiroshima, a whole section of the town was obliterated and there was even a tidal wave. Thousands were killed and injured and the shock was felt as much as 500 km away.

This happened just a few years after the Titanic disaster, which is also featured in the museum. Ships from Halifax were dispatched to pick up bodies that were floating in the sea and many of those who lost their lives are buried in cemeteries around the town.

After all learning so much about disasters it was nice to pop into a pub around the corner for a little liquid refreshment. Then it was back to our local supermarket (by taxi as we’d had enough of walking in the snow and the dark) to buy supplies for dinner.

My turn to cook and I made spaghetti with clams and scallops in honour of this lovely fishing port. 

Monday, 17 December

Boston to Halifax

Hooray! We are now in Canada. First impression: the toilet paper here is way better, even in the airport. It was an easy one and a half hour flight, and as we came in to land there was snow on the ground. Unfortunately it was also raining lightly and has been all afternoon,  it’s no matter as we have coats and hoods and boots.

We caught a taxi from the airport to our Airbnb house, where Karyn was able to get us in and out of the rain in no time. It’s a very comfortable place.. we are on the ground floor and there’s another residence above.

A short walk took us to a cuppa and then a supermarket, where we stocked up on a few items. We had no sooner arrived back when Laurie, our host, popped in to say hello and check that everything was all right. He gave us some great suggestions for places to visit.

Then it was time for pre dinner nibbles and a delicious chicken dinner cooked by Karyn.
I’ve just ventured to the basement to put on a load of washing so fingers crossed that I did it right.

Looking forward to exploring Halifax tomorrow.

Sunday, 16 December

Boston
The underground (and over) rail system has been very useful for getting around but the trains are more like our trams. Some are very short but today’s train to Harvard was on the red line and it was as long as one of ours.

We spent the morning wandering through the grounds of the University and I kept thinking of Frasier, who was so proud of being a Harvard man. They are on their winter holiday break now so not many people about.

However there were squirrels!

It was drizzly by the time we stopped for a hot chocolate in the student building and it was nice to sit in the warm and watch the passers by.

Our next stop was the Museum of Fine Arts, a good place to spend a rainy afternoon. We saw a lovely exhibition of French pastels, which included some beautiful Degas and Renoir works.

The museum has a terrific collection of Monets, some of which were very familiar, having visited Melbourne recently.

Lastly, we decided that we should look at some of the American art, including John Singer Sargeant and some of the local heroes like Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. There was a very long queue for coats when it was time to go.

It was very wet by the time we got off the train and walked home, so when we went out for dinner we stopped at the first restaurant we came to. Of course it was Italian, because that’s all there is around here. We had a lovely, but quite expensive, meal. Karyn and I had a veal chop stuffed with mozzarella and spinach. It was enormous! No room left for dessert ... damn!

Saturday, 15 December

Boston

A very relaxed start to the day today. (Didn’t think our jaunterings last night were that exhausting!) We got going in time to stroll down Salem St to the Boston Market for brunch. There was an outdoor produce market as well as the indoor one today. They had beautiful asparagus - 3 enormous bunches for $1 or a box for $2. It seemed a shame not to buy any. On the footpath at the market we found some fantastic art embedded in the pavement. It was all the detritus you’d find on the ground at the end of the day, but cast in bronze. I restrained myself and only took a couple of photos.

After the market we headed across to Faneuil Hall. Stopped to have a look at the holocaust memorial on the way and then found some very entertaining street performers out the front of the hall.

Today we were able to go inside. There was a citizenship ceremony there the other day and we could only see the visitor centre. We are really brushing up on American history on this trip as so many important events happened here.

A bit more history to explore on our walk to the harbour where the famous tea party took place. 342 chests of tea were tossed into the sea as a protest against unfair British taxes which favoured the East India Company. This escalated into the American Revolution.

Stopped for a drink and snack before heading home. As we passed the many little Italian restaurants in our neighbourhood we were shocked to see queues outside nearly every one. We had already rejected a bar that someone had recommended because there was a queue to get into it too. Fortunately we have other options!

Friday, 14 December

Boston

There’s a lot more to Salem than witches. We discovered this when we caught a train there today. It’s about a half hour journey by train and another town that is easy to explore on foot.

As we stood on a corner considering which way to go a very nice man stopped and offered to help us. He knew EVERYTHING about Salem’s history and the places to visit. We think he must be a tour guide who was on his day off or recently retired.

On his advice we turned right and walked to the Witch House, the home of one of the judges who tried those unfortunate people in 1692. From there it was a block to Chestnut St, one of the great residential streets of America, according to our friend. And there were some lovely old homes, mostly built in the late 1800s, with money from Salem’s thriving sea trade.

One of the houses, Hamilton House, was open to visitors so we went in for a look around. Tomorrow night there is a dance in the ballroom, an annual event run by the patronesses and a very exclusive affair from what we could make out.

Our next stop was the information centre where we watched a short film about the witch trials. Karyn and I reminisced about reading “The crucible” in form 6. We have added “The scarlet letter” to our reading list as Nathaniel Hawthorne came from Salem. His grandfather was one of the judges in the trials.

Down the road was a memorial to the 20 or so who were hanged (and one man was pressed to death!).

We found the waterfront which had a nice marina with boats wrapped in plastic for the winter. There were lots of touristy shops and once again we were glad to be visiting in the off season. It must be packed in summer!

Our nice man from the corner had recommended a local fish restaurant for lunch, telling us that they had very special Nantucket scallops. It also happens to be the building where Alexander Graham Bell did his first public test of the telephone. Of course we tried the scallops and they were delicious!

Back to the train for the half hour ride to Boston, a 10 minute walk to our house, with a quick stop at an Italian bakery, and a well-earned cuppa and biscuit.

The icing on the cake of a lovely day was the concert we attended this evening. Performed by the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, it was titled “Brass & Bows & Boys”. Their performance was of a very high standard with a terrific variety of Christmas music, including a choral version of “The night before Christmas”.