Day 9, Monday 29 September

This was not really the sort of day that Ian and I would have chosen as we are not city people. It later transpired that Grand American Adventures had added in the free day in Halifax at the suggestion of previous participants, but the weather was a bit grey and chilly.
After the best breakfast so far, most of us went into the city in the van, quite early. On the way, Chad took us to the cemetery where a number of victims of the Titanic disaster are buried, including the inspiration for "Jack" in the film.   Ian and I decided to take the little ferry across to Dartmouth to be able to see the Halifax waterfront from the sea. There was a bit of a Starbucks wait first, which was fine and then the quick and very cheap crossing. All we did there was walk round a block, past the oldest houses in the town, which were closed for the winter. A rather annoying young man picked on us for a conversation and then a request for money...
The Halifax skyline was not particularly interesting - brown and boxy, but the older buildings were attractive. Encouraged by Radhika's rhapsodising about the Titanic, I had a silly Jack moment on the boat.
We walked up to the Citadel, past the clock tower, surrounded by Japanese. I read in a local paper that the first Japan Airlines plane had landed at Halifax airport the day before, bringing 250 people to see Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and experience the Anne phenomenon.
We were a bit early for the noon cannon fire, so walked a bit further round, then sat and looked out over the city. Still too early, we made our way down to the public garden which was absolutely beautiful. The cannon went off as we were on our way.
Several sources suggested that a good lunch might be found at the farmers' market, but on our way down, we met Monica, who had not been impressed with it. Down on the quayside, we bought a wrap and sat at a table near a tall ship. Four rugged young chaps turned up, perched on the railings and sang sea shanties - making my day. They were fresh in from Toronto, on their first visit to Nova Scotia and were advertising themselves and a concert later in the week.
"Pudding" was a shared beaver tail, fried pastry covered in maple syrup flavoured icing. Not a great idea.
By now, Alan had found us and we went off together to look round the Maritime Museum. At the entrance was a talking macaw, which was fun. The museum was very good with lots of models of boats and real boats. There is a section about the Titanic and another quite upsetting exhibition about an explosion which devastated a huge area of the town when a ship carrying explosives crashed into the jetty. It was the biggest explosion ever, apart from the Japan atomic bombs. We found Radhika who invited us to join her and others for dinner.
Ian and I decided to go to do some useful shopping which was a bit of a trudge but necessary. Back down at the harbour, we sought the others in a pub and had dinner there before finding the van for the lift back to the hotel.