Last Port

 What a glorious sunny day we were awakened to when we sailed into the harbor of Halifax.  Although Halifax is a very walkable city, we chose to start off with the Hop On - Hop Off bus to get the lay of the land.  The narration as we rode along provided a great backdrop.

Who knew Halifax has one of the largest and deepest ice-free harbours in the world?  Because of this, Halifax is one of the most important Canadian commercial ports on the Atlantic.

December 6, 1917 was “a day that will live in infamy” for the people of Halifax.  As WWI waged, the IMO, a Norwegian steamship, carrying supplies for a relief organization headed out of the harbor when the Mont-Blanc, a French steamship collided with it.  No one except the crew knew the Mont-Blanc was carrying tons of explosives destined for the French war effort.  The explosives caught fire and despite all the crew’s efforts, the Mont-Blanc exploded.  We were told the explosion was only second to the atom bomb as the devastation hit the entire city of Halifax.  Every window in the city was blown out, thousands of lives were lost, 9,000 people injured, 1,600 building were destroyed and 12,000 were damaged as the explosion set off a tsunami.  As if things weren’t bad enough, the next day a blizzard arrived bringing 16” of snow, further hampering rescue efforts.

The governor of Massachusetts heard of this disaster and mobilized the state’s national guard, Boston’s best trained doctors and nurses, the Red Cross, etc to get to Halifax to aid in every way possible.

The people of Halifax have never forgotten what the Bostonians did for them.  To this day, over 100 years later, every December Halifax sends the city of Boston a huge Christmas tree that is displayed in Boston Commons.  We met a gentleman on our harbor walk, a retired school superintendent.  He was a wealth of information.  He told us what a big deal the Christmas tree is; how it’s chosen and then put on a train to be transported to Boston.  The children of the city get involved, tracking the progress of the tree, etc.

Not 5 years before this disaster, Halifax was the scene of the recovery of bodies from the sinking of the Titanic.  The company that owned the Titanic chartered 4 boats to recover bodies that were floating wearing life preservers.  306 bodies were recovered; some were buried at sea, 59 were delivered to families & 150 are buried in 3 cemeteries in Halifax.  

On a happier note, Halifax has a Public Garden with the most beautiful display of flowers I have ever seen, especially the display of dahlias.  Our friendly school superintendent told us to be sure to check them out and they did not disappoint.

There is no smoking, no bike riding, no camping, etc. allowed in the Public Garden, making it a serene place for all to enjoy.  We even saw a huge yoga class being conducted.

Enjoy a couple of photos I took on our walk:

Tomorrow is our last day at sea as we make our way to the Boston harbor and then board a flight to NY.  

This has been a vacation that took us to places I never dreamed of going.  We’ve learned so much about the cultures and life styles so far removed from our every day lives in some of the most remote places.  We’ve loved our adventures and hope you enjoyed reading about them.  I’m flattered that so many of you ask me if I plan to blog whenever we take these trips and have said you feel a part of our adventures.