Au Revoir Montreal, hello Halifax.
A blog post in multiple parts. Apologies folks it's turned into a long one.
It's Thursday and we're on the train to Halifax, an hour ago we officially crossed out of Quebec to New Brunswick. I'm a little relieved to be back in primarily English speaking Canada. Not that we struggled in Montreal, as I've said before, everyone spoke English, there was English on most of the signs etc and everyone was very lovely. It was just that it made me feel like an idiot. Someone would rattle something off to you in French and my brain would try to work out whether it knew any of the words in their sentence and therefore if I could piece together what they were saying. After a blank faced delay it took for my brain to work that out I would then have to say "Sorry I don't speak French" and I never remembered to do it in French. So yeah, I looked and felt like an idiot. So it will be nice to not have to explain I'm an idiot. People can work that one out for themselves .
Our final day in Montreal was spent out on the islands, walking a part of the Formula 1 track which was a hive of activity as they get ready for the race in about a months time.
We also wandered the parks on both islands a added to the list of animals we've seen on this trip with a groundhog, a red squirrel and a fox (some distance away). It was significantly colder yesterday than the previous days. Still bright and sunny but a distinct chill in the air. I finally had to use my big coat which I was beginning to think I shouldn't have bothered bringing.
We also returned to the underground mall for a bit and spent some time in the impressive bookshop there which included listening to a young guy play Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano that they had in store. Our final hour in the city we spent sitting in a park which was an unexpected joy as the building across from us played a Carillion for 10 minutes.
Then it was au revouir to Montreal as we got on the train for our 21 hour journey to Halifax. So I can now tick sleeping and showering on a train off my bucket list (I had to odd them to cross them off but whatever). It's a pretty rattly train, I didn't mind and slept ok, but mum struggled and the couple we sat at breakfast said the same. They've also just done the train journey I'm going to do from Toronto and said those trains were smoother and "better refurbished" so that's encouraging. The train feels a bit like I'm in an Agatha Christie novel. To add to that, at dinner last night we sat with an older lady from California and a German Catholic priest. They were both nice, but he was a little strange.
I'm not sure I'll have any good photo's to share - it's a bit difficult on a rocky train through windows, but we'll see how things go. That's enough rambling for now, it's time to read a book and stare our a window (in turns, not at the same time).
The Agatha Christie novel has gained some new characters. There's the French man with a camel coloured fedora who got off the train after breakfast with a bag that appeared to have a lettuce in it. There's the old English doctor who we met over lunch along with the cynical old Canadian government servant who seems to spend most of his life riding trains these days. He's given me some info on the next train journey - seems he knows it well. His first comment when he heard we were from New Zealand was "your Prime Minister is doing things right". Other than that the day has passed peacefully reading and finishing my second book of the trip, staring out the window and trying to get photos and videos. Friday update: non turned out fantastic, but I'm going to try and piece some of the videos together when I get home.
The end of Friday and we're now in Halifax. The train turned up late as predicted it would. We caught a taxi up the hill (luxury but a pretty cheap one) and checked in to our accommodation which is in one of the university halls of residence. This means the rooms are basic, the service like a hostel, but the buildings look stunning. We ironically had lunch at a French themed restaurant, though not French food, along with a glass of my newly discovered favorite wine. It's called Tidal Bay and it's a Nova Scotia wine. From a quick google, they seem to be blends and the Tidal Bay refers to the region.
Today was the first grey day we've had, and it even rained late in the afternoon. And oh boy it was cold. So much for Spring in Canada. If I missing colour in Montreal it's all here in Halifax. I love the houses which come in every colour, be prepared for more house pictures tomorrow. For now just enjoy the one I nicknamed the Willy Wonka house. It was huge.
We started by visiting a couple of houses that my grandfather lived in back in the 1940s.
When we were standing outside the first one a man stopped and asked if we were looking for him, when we explained he just said oh yup and wandered off. Then a woman who had just pulled out of a driveway stopped in the street and asked if there was an interesting bird about as she'd seen the cameras. When we explained she got super interested and said she had to leave but if we were still there when she got back she'd have to talk to us. We moved on as standing around in the street doing nothing seemed a bit strange and we had other things to do, but one feels like if we had stayed she would have invited us in for coffee and chatted to us for an hour about the street. That whole thing about Canadians being nice is so true. Seriously, if you look vaguely lost for 60 seconds someone will offer their help. We were standing on a street corner consulting our google maps and a guy leaned out of a car window to ask if we wanted help. We thanked them for their offer but found our own way, and caught a bus out to Fairview lawn cemetery where my great-grandparents are buried, Hylda and Henry Bloomer.
They're tucked over the back with the train tracks on one side and the ports on the other, the Captain remaining close to the busyness of the harbour which is nice. After a very rough clean of the lichen off the headstone we went to see the Titanic graves which are in the same cemetery. The paths in front of them are well worn. There's 150 of the bodies which were found buried there, about a third of which were not identified. Some have been identified more recently. including the baby that was donated a larger headstone by locals. He was identified just a few years ago.
Next up was something non-family related - the citadel which is the fortress on top of a hill overlooking the harbour. I made us visit the Warden of the North exhibit mainly because I wanted to take a photo of the front sign at the exhibition. Game of Thrones reminders have been popping up all over the place. It was very interesting though turns out Halifax was a very important location for the Brits back in the day and a great location to defend. So much so that it seems if was never attacked at all (by boat at least). We also visited the army museum with it's 1:30 scale model of the Vimy memorial. A Canadian woman was outraged that the women on the statue were topless. She tried to drag me into her outrage but I just shrugged - I don't think she's seen Roman or Greek statues before as that was the style they were in.
From there we went down to the waterfront to Cable bay wharf where they have a line of signs talking about the cable laying ships featuring my great-grandfather, thanks I believe to my great uncle Julian. I hope to remember to thank him when we see him in Toronto, it was great to see some family history turned into local history.
The final tourist stop was the Maritime museum, complete with parrot and an octopus clutching a soft toy polar bear (because why not), for exhibits on Titanic, and the Halifax explosion. I have to tell you a little about this explosion. I can't believe I didn't know anything about it before. It happened in 1917 so I guess it's place in history is hidden behind WW1. In December 1917 a Norwegian ship the Imo and French cargo ship the Mont Blanc collided in the narrows between the harbour and the Bedford basin. The Mont Blanc was loaded with explosives and caught fire, drifting towards the pier. Approximately 20 minutes later it exploded causing the biggest man made explosion until the atomic bomb. It basically turned the 320 ft ship into a gigantic bomb which sent shrapnel for miles. Almost all structures within half a mile were obliterated. It blew out windows in houses miles away. An estimated 2000 people were killed and 9000 wounded. One of the heroes of the disaster was the man that sent a telegram out telling the trains to stop so there weren't more people in the area. It also meant that the message about what happened got out really quickly so that aid and supplies could be sent that much quicker. He was killed in the blast. Massachusetts sent a whole lot of help and because of this the city still sends them a Christmas tree every year to say thank you (thank you wikipedia for filling in some of the details I hadn't retained).
Dinner was halibut, because when in Halifax you must eat fish at least once and this evening has been about laundry - that fun travelling task. Thank god for hostel style accommodation meaning cheap laundry facilities on site.
It's Thursday and we're on the train to Halifax, an hour ago we officially crossed out of Quebec to New Brunswick. I'm a little relieved to be back in primarily English speaking Canada. Not that we struggled in Montreal, as I've said before, everyone spoke English, there was English on most of the signs etc and everyone was very lovely. It was just that it made me feel like an idiot. Someone would rattle something off to you in French and my brain would try to work out whether it knew any of the words in their sentence and therefore if I could piece together what they were saying. After a blank faced delay it took for my brain to work that out I would then have to say "Sorry I don't speak French" and I never remembered to do it in French. So yeah, I looked and felt like an idiot. So it will be nice to not have to explain I'm an idiot. People can work that one out for themselves .
Our final day in Montreal was spent out on the islands, walking a part of the Formula 1 track which was a hive of activity as they get ready for the race in about a months time.
We also wandered the parks on both islands a added to the list of animals we've seen on this trip with a groundhog, a red squirrel and a fox (some distance away). It was significantly colder yesterday than the previous days. Still bright and sunny but a distinct chill in the air. I finally had to use my big coat which I was beginning to think I shouldn't have bothered bringing.
We also returned to the underground mall for a bit and spent some time in the impressive bookshop there which included listening to a young guy play Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano that they had in store. Our final hour in the city we spent sitting in a park which was an unexpected joy as the building across from us played a Carillion for 10 minutes.
Enjoy the young kid who ran through the shot to yell at some pigeons. There's more of him but the video was too long.
Then it was au revouir to Montreal as we got on the train for our 21 hour journey to Halifax. So I can now tick sleeping and showering on a train off my bucket list (I had to odd them to cross them off but whatever). It's a pretty rattly train, I didn't mind and slept ok, but mum struggled and the couple we sat at breakfast said the same. They've also just done the train journey I'm going to do from Toronto and said those trains were smoother and "better refurbished" so that's encouraging. The train feels a bit like I'm in an Agatha Christie novel. To add to that, at dinner last night we sat with an older lady from California and a German Catholic priest. They were both nice, but he was a little strange.
I'm not sure I'll have any good photo's to share - it's a bit difficult on a rocky train through windows, but we'll see how things go. That's enough rambling for now, it's time to read a book and stare our a window (in turns, not at the same time).
The end of Friday and we're now in Halifax. The train turned up late as predicted it would. We caught a taxi up the hill (luxury but a pretty cheap one) and checked in to our accommodation which is in one of the university halls of residence. This means the rooms are basic, the service like a hostel, but the buildings look stunning. We ironically had lunch at a French themed restaurant, though not French food, along with a glass of my newly discovered favorite wine. It's called Tidal Bay and it's a Nova Scotia wine. From a quick google, they seem to be blends and the Tidal Bay refers to the region.
Today was the first grey day we've had, and it even rained late in the afternoon. And oh boy it was cold. So much for Spring in Canada. If I missing colour in Montreal it's all here in Halifax. I love the houses which come in every colour, be prepared for more house pictures tomorrow. For now just enjoy the one I nicknamed the Willy Wonka house. It was huge.
We started by visiting a couple of houses that my grandfather lived in back in the 1940s.
When we were standing outside the first one a man stopped and asked if we were looking for him, when we explained he just said oh yup and wandered off. Then a woman who had just pulled out of a driveway stopped in the street and asked if there was an interesting bird about as she'd seen the cameras. When we explained she got super interested and said she had to leave but if we were still there when she got back she'd have to talk to us. We moved on as standing around in the street doing nothing seemed a bit strange and we had other things to do, but one feels like if we had stayed she would have invited us in for coffee and chatted to us for an hour about the street. That whole thing about Canadians being nice is so true. Seriously, if you look vaguely lost for 60 seconds someone will offer their help. We were standing on a street corner consulting our google maps and a guy leaned out of a car window to ask if we wanted help. We thanked them for their offer but found our own way, and caught a bus out to Fairview lawn cemetery where my great-grandparents are buried, Hylda and Henry Bloomer.
Next up was something non-family related - the citadel which is the fortress on top of a hill overlooking the harbour. I made us visit the Warden of the North exhibit mainly because I wanted to take a photo of the front sign at the exhibition. Game of Thrones reminders have been popping up all over the place. It was very interesting though turns out Halifax was a very important location for the Brits back in the day and a great location to defend. So much so that it seems if was never attacked at all (by boat at least). We also visited the army museum with it's 1:30 scale model of the Vimy memorial. A Canadian woman was outraged that the women on the statue were topless. She tried to drag me into her outrage but I just shrugged - I don't think she's seen Roman or Greek statues before as that was the style they were in.
From there we went down to the waterfront to Cable bay wharf where they have a line of signs talking about the cable laying ships featuring my great-grandfather, thanks I believe to my great uncle Julian. I hope to remember to thank him when we see him in Toronto, it was great to see some family history turned into local history.
The final tourist stop was the Maritime museum, complete with parrot and an octopus clutching a soft toy polar bear (because why not), for exhibits on Titanic, and the Halifax explosion. I have to tell you a little about this explosion. I can't believe I didn't know anything about it before. It happened in 1917 so I guess it's place in history is hidden behind WW1. In December 1917 a Norwegian ship the Imo and French cargo ship the Mont Blanc collided in the narrows between the harbour and the Bedford basin. The Mont Blanc was loaded with explosives and caught fire, drifting towards the pier. Approximately 20 minutes later it exploded causing the biggest man made explosion until the atomic bomb. It basically turned the 320 ft ship into a gigantic bomb which sent shrapnel for miles. Almost all structures within half a mile were obliterated. It blew out windows in houses miles away. An estimated 2000 people were killed and 9000 wounded. One of the heroes of the disaster was the man that sent a telegram out telling the trains to stop so there weren't more people in the area. It also meant that the message about what happened got out really quickly so that aid and supplies could be sent that much quicker. He was killed in the blast. Massachusetts sent a whole lot of help and because of this the city still sends them a Christmas tree every year to say thank you (thank you wikipedia for filling in some of the details I hadn't retained).
Dinner was halibut, because when in Halifax you must eat fish at least once and this evening has been about laundry - that fun travelling task. Thank god for hostel style accommodation meaning cheap laundry facilities on site.
How have I never heard of this?? How is that not a movie already??
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing Sandra Bullock as captain of the Mont Blanc and Keanu Reeves as the telegram hero killed in the blast
ReplyDelete