It was a beautiful day today!
We got an early start and walked to the Citadel. The Citadel is a star-shaped fortress on top of a hill overlooking the harbour. It was built by the British in 17___. This is one of the better forts we have visited in terms of state of preservation and what there is to do and see. Part of this is because a non-profit group is dedicated to preserving and operating the fort. Inside there is a military museum, a shop, a cafe, and a number of exhibits related to the fort. Uniformed Highland soldiers stand guard at the gate. Apparently it is also possible to rent out a room for parties. I saw a mother come in with two children and presents and she told the guard they were there for the birthday parties. At noon every day a cannon is fired and it can be heard all over Halifax.
There are guided tours every hour. We arrived just in time for an English guided tour. Our guide was "Private Hall." She was a college student and she did a terrific job.
Our first stop was the guard room. Guards had shifts of two hours on and 4 hours off, but they hd to stay in the guard room for 24 hours in order to be ready to respond immediately.
The fort was very well fortified. There were two walls around the perimeter. In between was "The Trench". Guns and cannons could easily be aimed at the Trench to eliminate any invaders. Inside the outer wall ws a narrow passage way that led to several gun embrasures.
A gun embrasure
Tents in the Trench
These small re-enactors were having lots of fun
This happened to be a really good day to visit the Citadel. An encampment was taking place and there were re-enactors everywhere. They were happy to show off for tourists. They were going to have a battle at 1 pm, but that didn't fit with our schedule. I'm not sure whether there were ever any actual battles here.
That is NOT Ken, but it really looks like him.
We got some humorous phtos of re-enactors - unintentionally:
After the Citadel we were supposed to take a Segway tour. We walked down to the Harbourwalk and found the Segway trailer. The owner showed us an instructional and safety video and explained that we would be practicing nearby and then take a trial run on the boardwalk. The instructions were a lot more complicated than I as expecting. In every case when the person in the video did not follow the directins, he ended up falling and cracking his head on the sidewalk. I might have been willing to try this in an empty parking lot, but the boardwalk was very crowded with people and dogs. I had already spent 14 days with some of these people, and they do not know how to get out of your way. I told the owner I really didn't feel comfortable with the Segway and he was very, very nice about it.
All that worryig about falling off a Segway made hungry, so we walked back down the Harbourwalk to a little collection of food stands. We stopped at Smoke's Poutinerie and tried out some "standard" poutine; french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. It was a lot better than it looked.
We washed the poutine down with a cinnamon Beaver Tail.
The sunshine felt so good we dawdled on the Harbourwalk just to soak it in. we eventually returned to the ship via the Farmer's Market.
Right before we sailed, the ship had a real treat for us - the RCMP Pipe and Drum Band.
Shortly after the show ended the Caribean Princess sailed off into the sunset . . . er, there was sun here a little while ago. I hope they put the foghorn on . . . soon.
Would I look good in red?
Finally, a show by Tony Tillman, Princess' 2nd annual Entertainer of the Year. He entertained The Greatest Generation, not the Baby Boomers. I am just not into the Rat Pack.
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