We were supposed to make port at 9 a.m. this morning. As always, today's schedule was set with detailed onboard activities plus all logistics in place for those who had booked excursions for today. But at 9 a.m. we were nowhere near land. Finally the captain came on with a general announcement apologizing and saying that there had been a “technical” issue and we wouldn’t be making port until 12:30.
This has never happened before, and right away passengers began speculating as to why/ Fog? Pilot error taking us off course? Engine trouble? We don't know yet what the "technical" issue was. Anyway, it means less time in port, but they did add 2 extra hours on the re-boarding time, so there was still plenty of time to do whatever one wants to do.
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| late arrival in Halifax |
I can’t say another word before posting last night’s sunset. Yesterday was a bit weird in that part of the day was so foggy we couldn’t see a thing, yet the sun would come out and the sky would be bright and clear, then later it was back to fog. It was still foggy last evening as the sun was setting at 8:45 p.m. I happened to look out just as the sun was about to dip below the horizon and this is what I saw! I grabbed my phone and snapped a few photos; however, they aren't nearly as beautiful as the real thing. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything more beautiful than a sunset in fog over the ocean!
Below was our balcony view as we sailed into Halifax Harbor this morning. The weather was absolutely perfect, although it did get warm later in the day (high of 74 but it felt hotter than that). I shouldn’t complain, given the temperatures we’ll find at home soon.
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| Georges Island Lighthouse |
Ronnie was again able to run off ship in Point Pleasant Park this morning which made him very happy. While he was out running, I walked perhaps 15 minutes away to a large grocery store to pick up snacks and goodies for our room stewards.
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| Administration Building, Point Pleasant Park (photo credit: Ronnie) |
While we were sitting in The Wave eating lunch, this party boat went by so I snapped a quick photo of it. We considered going to a movie, but it was already 2:30 p.m. so we decided not to try to go anywhere in the 3 hours before boarding.
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| a different kind of party boat |
Ronnie also took a picture of these bagpipers who were playing inside the terminal. I was in the room and missed getting to hear them. The heavy Scottish influence can be seen in the stores around the port. Tartan shows up in ties, kilts, gloves, caps, throws, socks, scarves, tote bags and all kinds of locally crafted souvenirs.
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| bag pipers at port |
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| men's kilts for sale |
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| kilt vs skirt (if I wore underwear...) |
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| 100% lambswool throws |
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| tartan scarves |
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| tartan coasters |
A few facts about Halifax and Nova Scotia –
* Nova Scotia literally translates from Latin to "New Scotland".
*Scottish baronet Sir William Alexander was granted the land by King James in 1621 to create a Scottish colony, cementing the name "New Scotland".
*Halifax is the capital city of Nova Scotia, a province of Canada.
*Halifax boasts the second largest natural harbor in the world.
*Its 250 year old history has been shaped by its maritime past and it is now the busiest seaport on the east coast of the Atlantic.
*Halifax is considered the cultural center of Nova Scotia and Canada’s headquarters for finance, scientific research, health care, military, government and higher education.
*It is home to a large number of colleges and universities and has the highest ratio of educational facilities per capita of any city in North America – impressive!
*It also has over 4,600 miles of coastline and 1,000 lakes and over 150 lighthouses!
This evening while having dinner with friends from Iowa, we learned that we won’t sail until midnight. Perhaps we would have planned something else had we known earlier. But honestly, we're just as happy to stay in. I do hope this means that the crew will get to go out and enjoy themselves tonight. They aren't allowed to get off the ship at many of the ports because they have to stay behind and work.
Below is another ship we spotted at dinner tonight. I thought it was pretty so I walked out on the deck to grab this shot. Good night, Halifax!
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| sailboat carries visitors past Georges Island Lighthouse in Halifax Harbor |
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