This is not a science related article per se. Rather travel experience to a knowledge city, Halifax, Canada. Halifax is home to one of the old universities in the world, Dalhousie University. In addition, International Ocean Institute, a renowned non-profit organization devoted to the sustainable development as well as the management and conservation of the world's oceans is based at Halifax. So this article is not totally out of place!
I had read about Canada's bountiful natural recourses and its Maple Leaf flag during our school days. So I was truly overjoyed, when I got an opportunity to visit the second largest country in the world. I had to go to Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia province, which is one of the maritime provinces of Canada. The name Nova Scotia is derived from Latin, meaning New Scotland.
Halifax is one of the preferred tourist destinations in Atlantic Canada with its multicultural, multiethnic and friendly people as well as rich cultural heritage and the scenic landscape of the city. It has one of the world's finest natural harbours. On the opposite side of the Halifax harbor, another city called Dartmouth is strategically placed. These twin cities, Halifax and Dartmouth, are known for business, education and rich cultural heritage in Maritime Canada. This Metropolitan area is a good educational and research hub with one of the oldest universities in the world, the Dalhousie University and the famous Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO).
Halifax and Dartmouth are connected by two bridges and also a ferry transport system is in operation, which is said to be the oldest in North America. We used to prefer ferry ride from Halifax to Dartmouth, instead of a bus journey. An integrated ticket for travel in bus and ferry could be bought either in bus or at ferry terminals. Trip in ferry used to be very pleasant with cool breeze from the sea caressing and spray of cold sea water sprinkling over the body, while standing on the deck.
The heart of Halifax city has tree-lined avenues, restaurants, galleries, libraries and museums. The historic downtown waterfront areas of Halifax were very nice to explore on foot. It is one of the favorite places for tourists with its stimulating entertainment, fascinating places and impressive displays and dockside historic ships at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Here visitors can also have a boat tour of the harbour and enjoy exciting entertainment. We enjoyed our stroll in the downtown area of the city, which was pulsating with the rhythms of music as well as shopping malls and pubs. In the Spring Garden Road of the city a pub with a peculiar name called "Your Fathers Moustache" drew our attention.
There are many well managed lakes in and around Halifax. During summer one could enjoy boating in these lakes, while in winter one could take pleasure in skating over the lakes as they freeze completely.
Farmers’ Market
Another interesting place that we visited was Farmers' Market at the historic Keith's Brewery Building in the Lower Water Street of the city. It is open on Saturdays between 7am to 1pm. direct sale of farm products from producers to consumers is the specialty of this market. A variety of products such as fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, plants & flowers, bakery products and beverages as well as woolen material, art & crafts, artifacts etc. are put on sale. In addition, fast food counters in the market serve freshly prepared veg and non-veg food items, including Indian cuisine.
Multicultural Festival
As a testimony to multicultural ethos that Nova Scotia espouses, Multicultural Festival is organised in Halifax every year around the last week of June. It was a sheer coincidence that we visited Halifax during that time. Multicultural Festival was an exciting event with music, dance performances, children's activities, workshops and displays of variety of arts & crafts. It is said to be the biggest event of such kind, which attracted people in droves. Indian delicacies such as somosa, chicken kebab, tikka etc were served in Indian restaurants, which were jostling with visitors. Musical troupes from India, Brazil, Thailand, Greece, USA, Japan etc. performed in the festival. It was nice to listen to popular hindi songs from Indian troupe on a foreign land.
Nearby Halifax there are good tourist spots. Among them, an idyllic fishing village called Peggy's Cove is the most preferred tourist destinations with its splendid rocky beach that offers good spots for photography. It is around 40 km from Halifax. The granite boulders and rocky out crops create a land scape of sea – carved beauty. The graceful light house at Peggy’s cove sits high upon the smooth warn – worn granite of the coast. Now, it does the duty as post office with special stamp cancellation facility. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Peggy's cove.
Visit to Halifax was truly a unique experience with its scenic land scape, historic sites, sea food delicacies such as lobsters, and more than anything friendly attitude of multicultural population. While saying good bye to Canada, one shouldn't forget to bring a bottle of maple syrup as souvenir!
by
Ramesh, A M
