I lived in Nova Scotia for 12 years - from 1986 to 1998. My children were born here. We didn't live in the city but north of it in a rural community, in a house we built on Grand Lake. We rarely visited the city. Later, I lived in Halifax for about 2 years. It was a difficult time in my life - post divorce - and all I remember is being depressed and disliking the place. Summers are okay, but winter, like anywhere, are miserable. Not so much extreme cold like in Alberta, but cold enough and wet and slushy.
But I am enjoying being here now. The sheer green-ness and lushness of the plants and trees in the older sections of the city. The Victorian clapboard houses with intricate and well-tended gardens. The waterfront boardwalk. The vibrant downtown with one or two streets in particular, lined with outdoor cafes and pubs.
The house we are staying in for $35 a night is an old Victorian, semi-renovated, with lots of quirky-ness. It's like a warren of rooms, hallways and staircases. We have two flights of narrow stairs to navigate to get up to our attic bedroom - and the bathroom is one flight down. Its kind of funky, but also pretty much empty of people except ourselves. The two nice (and energetic) young women who live here right now are always out working or with their boyfriends, and both are away for the weekend right now. We have the place to ourselves.
Today, we are taking Blanche to a movie matinee and then meeting up for dinner with Andy, our programmer, who is in town after a four-month trek in his camper-van up the east coast of the US and Canada, making his way back across Canada to home in Alberta. He just arrived in Nova Scotia/Halifax yesterday. Should be fun.
