Saturday June 25, 2022

Dartmouth

Today we had another nice sleep-in.  I'm not sure if we're still on BC time or what is going on, but we stay up late and sleep in whenever possible.

We spotted Ikea on our way in yesterday and decided to head over there for a gander and some Swedish meatballs.  It is just over 2 kilometers away and we haven't been in a very long time.  We took lots of photos and got some ideas for things we might want to do in the future (light fixtures, mirrors, etc.).

Flowers and bee butts on our walk.  I think we are done with sightseeing, so the number of photos has dropped off drastically.

There are numbers of children running up and down the hall yelling and screaming.  I pity anyone trying to get a baby to sleep, take a nap or who isn't feeling well.  I opened the door and gave them the stink eye once, to no avail.  There is a massive sports facility with multiple fields right across the road, but their parents feel they should run screaming around the hotel instead.  It finally stopped at 11:00 pm.

Friday June 24, 2022

Truro to Dartmouth

Checked out of our hotel at 11 and took a cab to the bus depot.  The train only runs back to Halifax every second day, and today is not it.  We left our luggage at the depot and walked next door to Tim’s in the pouring rain.

The bus was due to leave at 12:50 but was running…late.  We finally left at 1:55 and got into Dartmouth at about 3:15.  Why Dartmouth you ask?  Because it's cheaper than Halifax!  Another cab to the Holiday Inn Express, which is very new and spacious, if a bit out of the way.

While waiting at the bus depot in Truro, there was a woman filming a couple.  Brad said it was for the Amazing Race, which I scoffed at.  Well, he turned out to be right.  They are filming the UK version and they’ve been in Canada for 7 weeks starting in Haida Gwaii.  The man has a bit of a northern accent, and his wife is Scottish.  They have the camerawoman (English) who also seems to be producer (she is always telling them what to say), a sound tech (Irish) and another technician (never heard him speak).

After getting settled in this hotel, we walked through the fog to Moxie's for a nice dinner.

I spent the rest of the evening posting 3 days worth of blog.  I just might get caught up tomorrow.

Thursday June 23, 2022

Truro

Our hotel is a ways out of town, so we can't really do much exploring.  For the longest time, we could not get a rental car anywhere in Nova Scotia.  Then a few became available just before we left, but they wanted $1,000.00 for four days.  We checked again mid-way through our trip and the price had increased to $1,600.00 for four days.  Apparently there is a shortage of new vehicles due to a computer chip shortage, so the rental companies cannot replace cars in their fleets.

Luckily there are laundry facilities at the hotel.  We spent a leisurely day doing laundry and blogging.  Brad's aunt Carol and her husband Michael picked us up later in the afternoon and we had a nice dinner out with them, and another nice visit.

This is the only picture either of us took all day.  Brad really likes this motorcycle trailer.

Wednesday June 22, 2022

Halifax to Truro

Today we had a sleep-in.  Our tour is officially over.  We checked out of our hotel at 11 and walked to the train station.  The train for Truro actually left on time at 1:00.

Port of Halifax.

I hardly took any photos today.  The weather was nice and the train was comfortable.  Brad's birth dad's cousin Ray and his wife Sandra picked us up at the train station and we went for a coffee with them.  We had a nice visit, and then they drove us to our hotel.  We walked down the street to grab a fast food dinner and called it a night.

Tuesday June 21, 2022

Halifax

We were picked up by our driver Charlie at 9:30 am for a 6 hour driving tour.  Today is chilly and a bit drizzly.  We drove around Halifax first and saw the Citadel, the Public Gardens, historic buildings and beautiful old houses.  Halifax mixes the old with the new.

One third of a naval ship.  They build them in thirds under cover then move each piece out into the open.  This is the stern.

We drove through Fairview Lawn Cemetery, where 150 Titanic victims are buried.

The landscape on the way to Peggy's Cove.

Peggy’s Cove will be known as the place where Donna fell.  I sprained my wrist and it hurts to sit down, but now I know that my bone density must still be pretty good since nothing broke.

We took the shore road further east, then headed back to Halifax to buy our train ticket for tomorrow.  The ticket booth was closed so we were advised to buy online.  Charlie took us back to our hotel an hour early – 5 hours was plenty of time for the tour.

We had a really nice dinner at a restaurant called The Bicycle Thief, which is on the Halifax boardwalk.  The weather cleared up for the evening so we had a leisurely walk along the 4 kilometre long boardwalk - lots of art, history and information along the way.

HMCS Sackville, an escort ship during WWII, now a museum.

Monday June 20, 2022

Quebec City to Halifax

I definitely have a cold.  No fever, just no voice, and the occasional tickle in my throat.

We travelled up the St. Lawrence to the Gaspé Peninsula while we slept, then cut across to Campbellton, New Brunswick.

We had airline type food for breakfast and lunch.  The staff in the dining car are run off their feet.  They have several employees fresh out of training, and they were not expecting to be so busy on this run.  They did a great job and were so friendly.  We sat with a couple from Vancouver for lunch, they both work in health care.

Miramichi, New Brunswick.

First glimpse of the Bay of Fundy in the distance.

One of the furthest reaches of the Bay.

Wind farm.

We got in to Halifax at 7:30, only an hour and a half late.

We had a tasty dinner in the hotel bar with Glen and Lisa, then off to bed fairly early.

Sunday June 19, 2022

Quebec City

The day dawned clear with no sign of rain.  Brad brought a Starbucks breakfast to the room.  We had a walking tour of the city scheduled for 10:00 with Pierre.

Then we headed down to the Lower Town.

This is part of a mural called the Fresque des Québécois.  According to quebec-cite.com "Noteworthy historical figures from different periods of Québec City's past are juxtaposed with several elements associated with architecture, geography, the seasons and cultural communities".  The detail is fascinating.

This band was tuning up next to the mural.  We didn't get to hear them play, but the man with the fiddle was step dancing as he sat.  Québécois music and dance is very similar to that of Cape Breton.

Another mural, this one called Fresque du Petit-Champlain, is a history of the men and women of the working class waterfront neighbourhood of Quebec City.

We went back to the hotel to have a nap, since we are getting picked up at 9:00 this evening.  We missed dinner, but enjoyed another gorgeous sunset.

We got to the Ste Foy train station long before our 10:50 departure time.  It is in the middle of nowhere with only vending machine food, which was not appetizing.  By the time we got on the train and left at 11:00 we and a whole bunch of other people were hungry, so our steward rustled up some sandwiches and drinks.  Went to bed in our tiny bunks and had a pretty good sleep.