The day does get better. I arrive at the Waterfront and buy a ticket on the Hop-On Hop-Off tour. $90+ !!! Ninety! Okey doke, inflation.
The tour was so-so. Obviously the tour company cannot help the weather, so the damp seats and fogged windows in the pouring rain were not their fault. The tour guide was very upbeat & chatty, and I do prefer a live tour guide to the audio-headphone style. But, I felt his content focus was a tad off. Lots about the Titanic – check. Lots about the 1917 Harbour Explosion – check. Some info about Africville and the black diaspora – I found that very interesting, as I had assumed most of the black history of Nova Scotia was as a result of the Underground Railroad; I hadn’t heard of the black Loyalists who moved there after the American Revolution (and who were subsequently treated dreadfully by the local settlers). Lots about the various traffic intersections and round-abouts and what Haligonians thought of them – odd. Next to nothing (and I do mean NOTHING) about the Citadel – disappointing. We drove up to it at 11:58 and the tour guide told us to plug our ears because of the noon time cannon (windows of buses have been blown out if they park too close to the cannon!). We never did hear the boom (guide thinks we were upwind) and at 12:03 we left the Citadel and he hadn’t said one word about it – that seems wrong.
The tour was 75 minutes long and I really don’t think it was worth it. It reminded me a little of the Hop-On Hop-Off in Reykjavik – over $70CAD, 90 minutes long, and at three of the stops we just sat for 10 minutes before moving on. I mean, what is there to say about smaller cities like Halifax, Reykjavik, etc…. It’s like trying to imagine a 2-hour bus tour of Guelph. Ah well.
The waterfront was great and I walked one end to the other in spite of the rain. Checked out the Basilica, and had a fab lunch at The Bicycle Thief.
So the day ended much better than it started.