Late on Saturday afternoon after a leisurely drive around the south-western coast of Nova Scotia, I burst into the town of Dartmouth. Dartmouth and Halifax make up one great metropolis (or what passes for a great metropolis around here) and I can say without fear of contradiction that it is the metropolis that is my favourite city in the whole of North America. The only other places on the Continent that might put its position on my list under any pressure are Santa Fe in New Mexico and the city of Quebec .

I've been to Halifax twice before, on New Year's Eve 2001 and in early December 2003 and on both those occasions I was struggling along with a couple of various kinds of illnesses. However, in October 2010 here I am in the rudest of health, "rude" of course definitely being the word, and fighting fit and I'm going to make the most of it.

And make the most of it I certainly did. In fact at one stage in the proceedings I mentioned that I had "walked my chips off", and you will see exactly what I mean if you follow my journey around.

What surprised me was that in respect of my two previous visits I struggled to write a couple of paragraphs of notes. Obviously these days I have nothing better to do because in 2010 I managed to take 98 photographs and write about two dictaphones-full of notes, and that's BEFORE I went off and did some further research. You'll be getting your money's worth this time, I can assure you.

Anyway I've sorted out all of my notes into various pages, listed below, to give you some little bite-sized ... "you must have a big mouth" - ed ... pages full of information. You will see how it develops from there.

It only remains for me to say "enjoy your journey".

 i.......Arrival in Halifax
 ii......Halifax by Night
 iii.....The Bedford Basin
 iv.....Halifax Waterfront
 v......Halifax South side
 vi.....Historical Halifax
 vii....Halifax Citadel
 viii...Disappearing Halifax
 ix.....The Ferry to Dartmouth
 x......The Angus L MacDonald Bridge
 xi.....The Great Halifax Explosion

And that's not all of Halifax either, by any means. There's still a great deal more to see.

One of the most important places that I had wanted to visit was Fairview Cemetery, where many of the bodies recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic were buried, but I ran out of time. I had planned to finish my tour of the city at 16:00 but it's well after 17:00 right now and we are going to start having lighting issues before much longer.

But not to worry. Halifax is my most favourite city in the whole of North America, as you can tell from these pages and an opinion that you will probably share after having read them. It's without any doubt at all that I shall be back here again. If you live in Halifax, I'd sell up now if I were you before property prices collapse.

back to top

next page