Happy birthday Canada.

Perfect Timing! The sun came out and it's hot, cloudless and not humid. July 1 is the day the nation celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the country of Canada. I went to the Citadel on the hill in Halifax, the old fort that was built to defend the city when it was founded in 1749. Well, actually the present citadel is about 150 years old. The 78th Highlanders (student summer jobs) man the fort, do drills and shows for the public. Today there were pipe and drums, an artillery drill, the Stadacona Band which is a brass band made of members of the Navy, and a choir that is performing at the Nova Scotia Tattoo this week. I poked around the Army museum for a bit to get out of the sun. Lots of interesting things in there and i didn't really do it justice. I watched the opening ceremonies and watched the pipe and drum band before heading down the hill just in time to catch a short parade of Tattoo performers go past.

From there i walked to Spring Garden Road and got a bagel and bottle of water. I downed that in about 10 minutes. All that time out in the sun and i was parched. Ran into a friend and we chatted for a few minutes then i went to the public Gardens but the music there really wasn't to my liking so i figured by this time, nearly 5 hours out in the sun, it was time to get home. Only the busses are on Holiday schedule (dumb idea, Metro Transit! Yes it's a holiday but you would think you'd need public transportation to get people around to the events wouldn't you? Yes you would!) My bus was late and as a result, just missed the connection on the other side of the harbour. Busses... one an hour!! Not even another bus that could get me close for an hour so the taxi driver got my money.
I'm just going to settle down with a hot cuppa in one hand and a cold drink in the other. The photos i took are Here but ...

( A few photos )