Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Halifax Part 1

Well, we are back from a wonderful vacation in Halifax with very little knitting to show for it but a memory card full of pictures. Warning, the next few posts will be very picture-heavy (click to embiggen).

This picture was taken from the Citadel hill on our first night in Halifax. You can see on the left the clock tower which was built by Prince Edward in 1800. You can't tell from this picture but instead of showing "4" as "IV", it is "IIII" which apparently is more aesthetic, but it just looks strange to me.
This picture was taken looking over the downtown core and out at the harbour. Halifax has the second deepest natural harbour in the world (the deepest being Sydney). The downtown is an interesting mix of old and new buildings. Through the buildings you can see Georges Island. I'll show a better picture of it later.

Here's an artsy shot of the clock tower. The white spot in the middle of the sky is actually the moon.

Pete and I are a great team in many ways. I have a good eye for photographs but lack the skill to properly capture them. Luckily he has the eye and the skill. The last two pictures were a joint effort. I like the purple sky and the lone figure sitting on the guardrail.

On our first full day in Halifax we went to the Citadel, which has been a military defense location since approximately 1750 when Halifax was first settled. The major threats at the time were the local Natives and the French. The fort was in constant use until the second world war. Now it's a national historic site with fun recreations.
Fun fact: the uniform of the guards were chosen for their aesthetic value :)

This place is enormous!
At noon every day there is a ceremonial firing of the cannon. These guys are wheeling the cannon to the edge of the wall.

Here's Pete posing in front of one of those cannons.

After exploring the Citadel, we went to the Maritime Museum.

This jolly fellow was waiting to greet us upon our arrival.

We got to see some figureheads of old ships, including this guy who Pete decided was from the "HMS Silent Film Star".

Pete got a little carried away while exploring the exhibit on modern ships weapons.

I think that's enough for today. I'll try to put up more pictures tomorrow.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! It looks like a wonderful place to visit. Mike and I will have to get there someday! I know I have distant relatives somewhere in Nova Scotia, too.

Unknown said...

Nice pictures -- looks like it was a fun trip!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you guys had fun!

Bertha said...

Oh, this looks like it was such a great trip! I love the purpley sky photo!

Team Knit said...

Looks like it was a very fun trip!!! And happy birthday, by the way!!

- Julie

cathykong said...

Hi Miss Scarlet,
Wonderful pictures of Halifax; I agree, it's a great place to visit. I also love all your news and ideas about knitting AND I especially like the picture of your mom and cousin Judith.
Cousin Cathy in Ottawa

Unknown said...

I like Pete's sense of humor!