Sunday, November 18, 2018

I heart Halifax

**photos courtesy of my Halifax friend


No, the van didn’t drive to Halifax. In fact, Mike currently has it down in Colorado. He is trying to catch up on blogging his adventures on Vancouver Island and in Golden, BC from back in October but if you want to know what he is doing now, I would suggest following him on Facebook to see biking and hiking adventures with Dawson in the US.

So what the heck was I doing in Halifax? A really great friend invited me to come visit so I flew out to the maritimes and lived in an apartment suite with running water, a shower, a bed, a kitchen, hangars for my clothes and a washer/dryer. Oh and did I mention the building was right downtown. And my friend’s apartment was down the hall. I was a long way from that van.

But back to Halifax itself which, if you haven’t been, is an incredibly fun city. The weather is warmer than northwestern Ontario at this time of year which means there are always people out of the streets going to bars or cafes or just walking and biking to their jobs and homes. It was +14 when I got there on November 6 and the coldest it got was +4 (although that wind was biting pretty good the day we drove out to Peggy’s Cove). If you have the opportunity to stay downtown when you visit (even for just 1-2 nights), take is as it is worth it. You can literally walk EVERYWHERE (well maybe not to Peggy’s Cove) but pretty much everything I describe visiting in the next paragraph is downtown and within walking distance. There is also a bus that runs from the airport to downtown every hour ($3.50 one way) and it is about a 45 minute ride. Super convenient.

Peggy's Cove
So staying downtown and being in Halifax for a week really meant I got to see and experience many of the toursity activities. The Maritime Museum of Atlantic Canada, the Citadel, the Art Gallery, Neptune Theatre, The Canadian Museum of Immigration (at Pier 21), the Discovery Centre, The Museum of Natural History and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame (which could probably just be called the Sidney Crosby exhibit). I also attended an author talk at the Halifax Library (unlike any library I have ever been in), went to the Wild Leek (a yummy vegan restaurant), checked out their recently opened refill store (The Tare Shop) and took the ferry over to Dartmouth to eat a chocolate croissant at Two If By Sea Cafe (thanks to a Thunder Bay friend who had recently been to Halifax and recommended it).

Dalhousie University
It is a different sort of adventure when you are not living in a van for what you think is going to be a year, on a relatively strict budget with 2 dogs. Traveling in the van and moving pretty much daily means that a lot of energy and time is spent looking at maps to decide where we are going next, where we are going to stay the night, where are there public washrooms and where is a good place to walk the dogs. Add to that the weekly needs of trying to find clean showers, grocery stores, a laundrymat and wifi. So to compare that to my week in Halifax, (being settled in one place with all the amenities), I really only needed to focus on what I was going to do that day and had plenty of time for rest and relaxation and visiting too.

My highlights of the touristy activities:
1. feeling humbled and grateful in the refugee exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Immigration.
2. being moved to tears by Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice exhibit at the art gallery.
3. seeing the courage of Haligonians at the Maritime Museum who picked up the pieces after the Halifax explosion.
4. being transported to a 1940’s Nazi concentration camp to experience the world of imprisoned gay men at Neptune Theatre’s production of “Kamp”.
5. being wow’d by the craziest lego creations of world famous buildings at the Discovery Centre (no they weren’t as tall as those buildings but the attention to detail was incredible)
6. Meeting Gus at the Natural Museum of history. Gus is a 96 year old tortoise who goes for daily walks around the exhibits so we can all say hi.


Lego replicas at the Discovery Centre


But the moments I will treasure the most from this trip was my friend’s generosity in having me there (I was week 5 of 5 weeks of visitors) and spending time with her beautiful loving family who welcomed me into their routines of daily walks around Halifax, drives to Peggy’s cove and movie nights. I got to build sandcastles, dance in the living room (check out the Greatest Showman and you will find yourself dancing too), sing songs in the car, and laugh. I did a lot of laughing. I am so grateful to have been able to reconnect with my friend and discuss the challenges and joys of our lives. And even though my list of places I went to on my own was long, it really didn’t matter where my friend and I went (although being outside on a warm fall day with golden leaves still on the tree at the Halifax Public Gardens was a great backdrop), it was filling my social cup with a good friend that was the activity (and something I had really missed in the van).


Building a sandcastle at Sir tanford Fleming Park
Halifax Public Gardens


So to be honest, I am glad the van didn’t drive to Halifax. This was my week to have a different kind of adventure. One filled with both introspection and education but more importantly with laughter and love.

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