Halifax
Trip Start
Jul 22, 2007
1
5
9
Trip End
Jul 30, 2007
Halifax,
Nova Scotia,
Canada
Thursday, July 26, 2007
While having breakfast at the UPEI's residence cafeteria, we run into Judy Ryan who used to work for Paul Menton Centre as the Administrative Assistant. She now works for Recruitment and Admission Services. Talk about six degree of separation! Judy and her son, Blake (and his girlfriend) are also embarking on a similar road trip. They also endured the 14 hour drive from Ottawa, and are planning to leave for Halifax today. Maybe, we will run into them again in Halifax!
Loaded up on breakfast and coffee, Mike and I re-assumed our road trip at 9:30. The destination is Halifax. While driving from Charlottetown to New Brunswick border, we stopped by the road side to purchase a bag of locally grown new potatoes
Self Serve New Potatoes
. These potato stands along the highway are entirely self service, which is based on an honour system of payment. I bet some of the rural people in PEI don't even lock their doors! Rural PEI is really pretty (in the pastoral sense). The landscape is dotted with white steeple churches, black and white dairy cows grazing in the fields, wild flowers, and rows and rows of potato crops.
Mike and I really enjoyed our 2-day stay in P.E.I. - great food and accommodation, and the people are friendly and thoughtful (especially about the needs of tourists). Most of all, we will missed our air-conditioned residence suite equipped with TV, Internet access, kitchen, and free parking!
Halifax (Jul 26)
We arrived in Halifax at 1:00 p.m. By the time we reached Halifax, the temperature had already reached a scorching 31 degree Celsius, this is not even factoring in the 75% humidity index! We have booked accommodation at St. Mary's University Residence, but they would not let us check in until 3:00 p.m. Furthermore, parking is where ever you can find space. Great!
Not wanting to sit around in a car and bake ourselves silly, we ventured downtown to find the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, which was not an easy task
White Church in PEI
. Finding parking during the middle of the weekday in downtown Halifax is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Good luck! After circling around like a mad dog trying to chase it own tail, we finally forked out big bucks to pay for parking in a shopping mall parking garage. After an hour or so, we finally arrived at the nicely air-conditioned Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. As the guy from the ING commercial would say "save your money", don't bother going to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia ($12 for regular admission and $15 for special exhibit). For lack of a better expression, their collections and exhibits suck! They have these donor collections given to them by rich people who had no idea of what constitutes good art. The best thing about the Gallery was the Cheapside Café, which does not look cheap at all.
We finally checked in at the SMU Residence at 6:00. The room they gave me is hardly accessible (very small and cramped). The shared toilet bathroom is barely accessible, and the shower/bathtub room is not accessible at all. They have grab bars for these bathrooms, but you can't get into them. Where is the logic? Furthermore, there is no Internet access, the rooms are hot, parking is where ever you can find it, and the campus is far from the downtown harbour area, which is where all the actions are
Field of Potato Crop in PEI
. I don't recommend anyone staying here! Tomorrow, we are checking out of here, and checking into the Dalhousie Residence (bigger and cooler rooms, accessible shower stall and toilet on each floor, Internet access and parking at $4.00 per day, and about four blocks from the harbour front area). If you want to stay at some place el cheapo, this is probably the best option. However, I would recommend staying at one of the hotels near the harbour front if you can afford it. Had dinner at this place called Trinity, a fusion of Asian/Moroccan/Maritime food. Friendly service, and reasonable prices. Our first choice was the Curry Village, which is located across the street from Trinity; however, it was not accessible. After dinner, we wandered down to the harbour front, and stopped by the Market for souvenir browsing, people watching and a yummy cup of chai café latte. Last stop for the night was at the Casino for some gambling.
Tomorrow, we are avoiding the heat, hassle, and chaos of downtown Halifax, and heading to the tranquility and breeze of Peggy's Cove.
