Day 22: Halifax, NS
Mon 1 Jul 2024
Miles ridden today: 0
What a fun Canada day wandering about Halifax!
I've heard about Halifax, but like other largerish cities (San Antonio, Kansas City, Winnipeg, Spokane) I can't really say anything about it other than "it's on the water". That changed today.
First off, on seeing the city up close is that it's not at all on barren granite rock, with tundra mixed in for effect. Oh no, it felt as green as Eugene, Oregon, that bright lime green that screams "temperate climate" despite its northern location. Maybe I was thinking it was set in a location like Peggy's Cove just to the south--rugged coastline with rugged lobestermen and stately lighthouses. Nope nope nope. And there's a nice large harbor too down the hill from the hotel. Time to explore!
The Maritime Museum was great, learned a lot of tidbits--many Titanic drownees ended up in city cemeteries, the big nasty Halifax explosion killed a few thousand--but more than those little bits, it put Halifax in its strategic place. England founded it to counter the French and eventually kick them out, then as a counterweight to those uppity Americans, then a period of peace with lots of transatlantic passengers, and then Canada needed a navy and WWII U-boats were blowing shipping up so convoys needed a safe harbor.
And for a city that's kinda small (half a million), there's feels like there's more than a few big things that came out of Halifax, like the Cunard cruise ship lines and banks banks banks and (again) the Canadian Navy and the 700,000 immigrants that passed through the city after World War II.
So hm, I was surprised. After the Maritime Museum I walked far south to Pier 21 and the Canadian Museum of Immigration. That was a bit more emotional for me for whatever reason, particularly the 10 foot by 10 foot boxes that Dutch families crammed all their possessions into when they emigrated after WWII. "Here's your life, take all your gear." I just repacked the motorcycle luggage last night and it had a very similar feeling of "whelp, this is all you need right now", with the big exception that I'll be going home again. I watched a 20 minute long video where immigrants discussed their welcome into Canada--a Columbian under death squad threats, a stateless Palestinian wrestler, a gay Pakistani man--and got a little teary eyed that they were able to find a place to make a home for them and their loved ones.
Canada is basically one big DEI initiative isn't it? And it mostly works pretty well.
Lunch was a donair. A bit too cloyingly sweet, yet tasty.
A nap then up the hill to the Citadel overlooking downtown. It was interesting finding that Halifax is a strategically located: founded by the British to push out the French, then to harrass the Americans in the War of 1812, then the two 20th century World Wars.
... then back through a small natural history museum where the 101 year old tortoise named Gus was out on his daily walk and wanted my shoes.
From the Natural History Museum, a stroll through the city's Public Gardens where I saw mature American chestnut trees (very rare now)... and then a random directed walk back to the hotel past the library.
Packed up my luggage to get on the road to Cape Breton tomorrow early. Then got an alert late that water is unsafe to drink. Really, OK, brushed my teeth with water from the back of the bike, and as I was finishing the teeth brushing the hotel came by and dropped off bottled water. Very kind.