A Life, Lived: Halifax

May 30, 2016

Halifax

It was a short flight from Sydney to Halifax - less than an hour I think. My luggage was the first off of the plane so I was first in the line up for a cab. The Halifax airport is a good distance form the city - enough for a $70 cab ride.

The only wrinkle in my travel day was arriving at the wrong hotel. There are two Delta hotels in Halifax - I wanted the Delta Halifax on Barrington Street but ended up on the Delta Barrington. Oh well, it was a 5 minute walk to the other hotel.

When I finally arrived my room had a great view of the harbour.

I quickly got settled and headed out to explore a bit.

The first order of business was to get something to eat - I hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast.

There were a number of kiosks selling food along the waterfront. One specialized in lobster rolls. MMMMM

After walking the waterfront a bit I decided to head back to the hotel for a nap.

ON the way I ended up on the Grand Parade - The Grand Parade is an historic military parade square dating from the founding of Halifax in 1749. At the north end of the Grand Parade is the Halifax City Hall, the seat of municipal government in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.

At the south end is St. Paul's Church. In the middle of Grand Parade is the cenotaph built originally to commemorate the soldiers who served in World War I.

St. Paul's Church is the first Protestant Church built in Canada and the oldest building in Halifax. Founded in 1749, the first service held on 2 September 1750. It is the oldest still-standing Anglican church in Canada. It is based on the ground plan of the Gibbs church of St. Peter's, Vere Street in London, with later additions such as a larger tower. For many decades it was one of the only places of worship in Halifax, and other denominations would thus hold services in the building.

During the Halifax Explosion of 1917, a piece of wooden window frame from another building was lodged into the wall of St. Paul's Church, where it remains today.

A recent addition to the Grand Parade was a memorial to peace officers. The concrete arch was unveiled on October 17, 2010 as a memorial to peace officers killed in the line of duty. It is inscribed with the names of 21 fallen Nova Scotia peace officers.

The city has done a great job of making the Grand Parade more open and accessible to the public - even placing brightly coloured tables and chairs throughout so that people could gather and relax.