Joined to the sea and the sky

Driving round Halifax doesnt really give you much of an idea of what Nova Scotia is like, sure 40% of the province's population lives here but its not the NS you see on the TV or pictures.

We drove out to the coast to see the SS Atlantic Centre, Al is really the steamship fan but, you know me, anything impressive and engineered is good to look at.

The SS Atlantic was a White Star line steamship sailing from Liverpool, that ran aground in 1873 off the coast with the loss of 562 of the 920 people on board, no women or children survived and THIS is the pivotal moment in maritime history, the "women and children first" has been used ever since this accident to ensure that those who are less strong get a chance at survival too.

I saw a sign on the way there to Peggys Cove and we headed there- without knowing it was one of the most photographed sites in Canada and one of the most touristy, coachloads of people packed into a town with a winter population of 35!

Al and I had lunch at the restaurant, still with no real idea whether we were paying a little or a lot, neither of us had looked up the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar before we came. 2 meals and drinks came to $CAD 36.
 The table next to use were indulging in the North american obsession with seafood, massacring a lobster whilst wearing a plastic bib and taking copious photos........dont ask me, in all y trips to the continent I have never worked it out, why the seafood thing is so important.
I had the buffet once in Harrahs in Atlantic City, yes, its a casino, No, I dont gamble but I went along for the experience, and take some photos, anyway, you got your salad and then handed it over to a chef lady who chopped it for you and handed it back, there was a pile of crab legs, the long spider crabs they catch on Deadliest Catch, people were piling their plates high and pouring ladles of melted butter over them. I took a couple and back at the table tried to get into the meat, the legs were not hard and easy to crack like Cromer Crabs, they were the consistency of a fingernail and a nightmare to open. Once inside the tiny bit of meat was frankly not worth the effort at all. So much for the fishermen risking life and limb on the Baring sea!

On the way back we stopped at the memorial for Swissair flight 111, I vaguely remember something in the news  from 1998 about a plane crashing into the sea whilst dumping fuel to land, all 229 people died in the accident. The memorial is 2 huge rocks, one dedicated to the people who died and one to those who helped in the recovery operation.
There is something profoundly humbling about looking out to sea and realising that fellow travellers, set off on a flight from New York and ended their journey in this stretch of water.

view out to sea from the memorial

Anyway, I got back and checked the exchange rate
$CDN 36 is £20  Bargain lunch after all!