I adore Halifax. This is about the third (fourth?) time I have been here off a ship. The first time was in 2010 with Noah as we did a transatlantic crossing on Costa Altantica. We hiked the city, went to the fort, saw the Maritime Museum and otherwise had a decent time.

Last fall when Carmen and I came through here I wandered the city, saw several other museums and otherwise enjoyed the nice weather.

Today, well we have sunshine for the first day since leaving home over a week ago.

So I am sitting in Uncommon Grounds, a lovely coffee shop with truly high speed wifi for a short time before taking a hike around the city. I wish I could say things were warm, but it is only 14° C today.  Still, walking in the sun feels great, especially when I have enough sense to stay out of the wind.

None the less, I am off to hike part of the city, enjoy the sun and not shop.  There is as ports rally to avoid, a Citadel to see again, a harbor to hike and a map store to explore.  With any luck I can manage to stay out of both the craft and yarn stores.   Music, now I could stand to find music….

The Ship

I am continuing with the good and the bad. Lattes – nothing wrong with lattes whenever or unlimited access to really decent shampoo, conditioner and a non-pay laundry room.
The downside – did I mention smokers? Perhaps it will change as the smoking population ages out, but right now there are still way too many smoking in their cabins and some of the lounges.

There were over 200 passengers who disembarked this morning.  I have the feeling that the ship is going to be even quieter for the next few days as I did not see a line up of passengers waiting to board.

Oh, yes. There is NO bingo. There is a marked absence of art auctions. There are zero unnecessary tranny announcements. Passenger clearance for going ashore, departure notice from the captain and a daily update. That is all. The cruise director is nice, efficient and doesn’t seem to be in live with hearing his voice over the speakers.

Always a balance, isn’t there?