Halifax, Nova Scotia

Beautiful Nova Scotia. Always wanted to visit here...always wanted to make the connection between my Louisiana roots and Atlantic Canada. I am a little surprised with what I found...that the French Acadians were ousted from Nova Scotia when they refused to pledge support for the British flag...after all...they were French! They migrated to several locations, but mostly Louisiana, because the Acadians mistakenly thought that it was a French territory. Alas...Louisiana was secretly sold to Spain..but with the Catholic religion as a common thread...the Spaniards and French lived together and Acadians came to be known as "Cajuns". Hence, my heritage... And...now I know why there are so many Cajuns with the last name of Ortega!
I love history, can you tell? A N D...since Nova Scotia was controlled by the British...that explains why only HALF of the population speaks French here...the other half...English, of course...with that hard to miss Canadian accent, eh?
Kels and I visited the beautiful Public Gardens...amazing poppys bigger than my head (and I have a big head) - gorgeous ponds and many people just reading and sipping coffee...what a beautiful place!
We ventured down to the waterfront and did the tourist thing...took that amphibious (sp) tour bus which turns into a boat...just had to do it...and it was a hoot - we had a fabulous lobster salad and coconut shrimp lunch overlooking the water. I rarely drink soda, but couldn't resist a diet coke in an old fashioned glass bottle, isn't it cute?
Tommorrow we are going to visit the Maritime Museum which holds artifacts from the Titanic disaster. The victims where brought to Halifax and the survivors were taken to New York. There are 3 graveyards of Titanic victims here, many with no names...just now DNA is helping with possible identifications...
Monday night is the parent reception on board the ship, then they leave on Tuesday morning for their adventure at sea. How exciting!!! Wish I were going too!xxooshari