Day 1: Our adventures to Nova Scotia began shortly after work Wednesday August 18, 2010 as we needed to pick up our booked rental car from Enterprise. A group of my boyfriend's MBA class needed to go to Halifax to write their CAPM examination. Most of the group were International students and needed a way to get there, so we decided to offer our driving abilities.
With that being said, first thing Thursday morning (at around 6am) all eight of us hopped in the two cars and pointed them for Nova Scotia. It was not an overly interesting drive, apart from a small hiccup with directions so we made it to Halifax safe and sound around 11am.
One of our travellers was booked in to write his exam in the afternoon on Thursday so while he was studying the rest of us set out to find somewhere to eat. Before we knew it the time had come to take our friend to his exam, so a few of us decided to get lunch after dropping him off.
We were all wiped from the early morning and long drive so we all ventured to our bedrooms for a nap. Our bedrooms consisted of the dorm rooms at Dalhousie University. They rent it out during the summer to anyone just like a hotel would. When we awoke I got ready to head off to meet my Aunt and Uncle, who live in Halifax, and who I have not seen in a long time. I met them at the campus library where we talked prior to heading out for a bite to eat. After we all ate (I had seafood chowder) mmmm!, I got a personal tour, from the locals, around the Halifax harbour and peninsula. My boyfriend had to stay back at Dalhousie, as he was (just like the rest of the group) studying for his CAPM exam.
When I arrived back at the dorms later in the evening we set out to find a phone so that we could order Chinese food. To order for a group it's very difficult to gage how much we need and how much we will eat, so we ended up with wayyyy more Chinese food than was necessary. Oh-well. After that, it was time for bed.
Day 2: Friday started off fairly early as well, as we had to get four people some food prior to them writing their exam at 9am. I took the crew to McDonald's and then over the the exam centre so that we didn't have to pay for parking. Once I dropped them off I headed off for an hour of pampering where I got my nails done at a salon :)!
When I was done, I headed back to the test centre and picked up everyone. After a short nap we headed out to investigate Halifax...and oh boy did we find lots! Our first stop was to find lunch. This is how I ended up at Annie's Place Cafe eating a curry lental burger. I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but take my word...it was delicious!!!!
Mmmm..Curry Lental Burger...
Also, I am happy to announce that everyone who we took to Halifax who was writing the CAPM test passed. Congratulations to all of my friends!!
Not far down the road we found more things to admire including the Basilica, Saint Matthew's Church, and a very, very old burial ground. (Click on the link
Nova Scotia to look at all these pics!...and more!)
One of the somewhat minor details on our list of things to do in Halifax was to find a MEC (
Mountain Equipment Co-op). My boyfriend wanted to desperately buy some toe shoes and I wanted to desperately buy one of those one shoulder baggy things that you see so, so, so many people using! Luckily, it just happened to be really close to where we were, so off we went...
When we got their toe shoes were, like always, unfortunately out of stock. On the bright side, one shoulder baggy things were not, so I have now acquired another new item for myself!
From MEC we headed out to Pier 21-- Canada's Immigration Museum that pays tribute to 1.5 million immigrants, war brides, displaced people, evacuee children and Canadian military personnel who passed through there between 1928 and 1971.
Pier 21
Halifax's downtown has an amazing view, right onto the harbour. With that being said, it gives tourists the opportunity to walk along the boardwalk and see the spectacular view across the water to Dartmouth. So, that is what we did!
With very short notice we booked a sunset cruise around the harbour, so before we knew it all eight of us were on a ferry from Halifax to Dartmouth so that we could get on another boat.
It was a very quick decision, but well worth it. We got to see Halifax at night, from the water...and it is a spectacular sight to see...!
When we got back to Halifax we all went our separate ways, on the search for food. My boyfriend and I found this spectacular restaurant on waterfront that served us an amazing meal! He had battered seafood (haddock, shrimp and scallops) and fries, while I had lobster ravioli. As an appetizer we shared proscuitto wrapped scallops and mmmmm! was it good!
Day 3: Saturday was to be our last full day in Halifax so we took full advantage of it! Our first stop took us to the Halifax City Market where we enjoyed a stroll around vendors and some breakfast to start our day.
From there we went to the Maritime Museum where we looked around numerous exhibits and galleries that filled us in about Maritime history. We found stuff pertaining to Titanic, like this old chair...
It's actually pretty comfy...
From there we went to the C.S.S Acadia and then to the Sackville, a navy ship that is docked for viewing in Halifax Harbour.
From there, we had a look around the inside of the Basilica, which, I might add is a very busy place.
As we continued our tour of Halifax we found ourselves at the Halifax Citadel, one of the most impressive forts I've seen, and one that was never, ever been attacked.
From an aerial view it looks like this:
And from a few other angles it looks like this:
Once we were done Halifax Citadel our legs and feet felt like they were about to fall off and our energy level was less than we had had on the trip...ever. With that being said we knew it was almost time to call it quits for the day, the last stop on our list of places we really wanted to see was the Halifax Public Gardens. They were on our way back to Dalhousie University so it worked out quite well.
Following a long nap at the dorms my boyfriend and I decided we had better investigate around Dalhousie itself, as it is one of the oldest universities in Canada. So off we went...
By then our stomachs were grumbling, so we jumped on public transit and headed back downtown to a Chinese buffet we had heard was very good. Once again, we were not proved wrong, and we decided that cuisine in Halifax is one of a kind.
Our tummy's were filled to the max with all kinds of Chinese food and so we headed to bed, our last night in Halifax.
Day 4: Sunday was intended to be the least strenuous of all of them and it was. We started late-ish as we didn't have to be checked out until 10am. When we were all ready to go we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed down the highway to Peggy's Cove.
Our first stop was to get ice-cream, and then we investigated near and around the famous lighthouse itself, wandering the rocks.
And then we went home...
