Last stop - Halifax!

At Halifax train station

And before we knew it, we arrived at our last destination – Halifax. As we started to make our way through the city, I couldn’t help but think, “This is Atlantic Vancouver!” While there are definitely similarities between the two cities, maybe it was just me missing Vancouver. Either way, Halifax felt like a very pleasant and welcoming city.

The next day started the right way – with some juicy flavourful Halifax donairs! Everybody knows and has eaten a donair but have you tried a Halifax (or Haligonian) donair? The ingredients are simple: thin slices of very well spiced and roasted beef, served with tomatoes, onions, sweet garlic sauce, all wrapped in a warm and soft pita. Now the official food of Halifax, the creation of the recipe is dated to the 1970s. “It’s just a donair,” I shrugged before we headed to Tony’s Famous Donair, but little did I know that I was going to love it from the first bite and miss it months after. After the first donair stop, we then went on to King Of Donair. Both were delicious.

I don’t have a picture of the donairs so I stole one from the King of Donair’s website

Audience and beautiful sky during The Wizard of Oz musical

The rest of the day was spent in long walks in the city, including Halifax Public Gardens – where we enjoyed a free open air concert – Waterfront, and Point Pleasant Park. I don’t remember how exactly I found out about it, but we ended up going to Shakespeare by the Sea’s musical adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz – an open air show, admission by donation. I really really enjoyed the musical and acting and songs and actor-crowd interaction and just the atmosphere in general. I really hope that one day I will find their original songs on Spotify. We were so inspired by The Wizard of Oz that the next day we bought tickets to another musical Cinderella at Halifax’s Neptune Theatre. The crowd at the theatre seemed quite easily entertainable but I’d say the show was just O.K.

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

If you image search Nova Scotia, you’ll inevitably see pictures of Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse – a widely recognized landmark and probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. We rented a car to visit Peggy’s Cove and to drive along the lighthouse route and see other lighthouses. Despite the expected crowd at Peggy’s Cove, we were not disappointed: a beautiful view, magnificent waves, and very delicious ice cream!

A couple at Peggy’s Cove (I would personally not recommend to come this close to the water. It’s dangerous and there are signs telling you not to)

Continuing on our route, we saw a few people heading to a beach, so we stopped by to check it out. Apparently, we were at Bayswater Beach. White so-hot-it-almost-burns sand and cold water made a great combination. And though I had to protect my skin with layers of sunscreen, it was worth it!

We continued on to the lighthouse route – an uneventful drive but a beautiful view. Near the end of the route we got hungry, so I hopped on Google maps and started searching for food places. I don’t know why, but since the very beginning of our trip, even before we ever left Vancouver, we had this idea of eating lobster poutine in Halifax. Although you can definitely find it in Halifax, it didn’t seem to be a thing. Lobster rolls - yes, lobster poutine - meh. I searched for lobster poutine on the map and came across this place called “Oh My Cod!” not far from where we were. Seemed legit, so off we went. We got lobster poutine, seafood chowder, and a piece of haddock. And, OH MY COD! That was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The quality of food blew our minds. Hands down, one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. Who would have thought that we will find the poutine of our dreams while driving in the middle of nowhere in Nova Scotia? This place deserves more customers and more recognition but unfortunately, unless you live in or near Mahone Bay it is not that easy to get to.

OH! MY! COD!

We didn’t plan to go to the Bayswater Beach and swim in the Atlantic. And definitely didn’t plan Oh My Cod! And what a perfect ending to our two-months long cross-Canada adventure! We still had another day in Halifax but we spent it mostly at home. We had a chance to explore the city earlier, and now that we’d had the perfect lobster poutine, there was no good reason not to stay home, explore our hosts’ board game collection, and rest before we travel back to Ontario, where we’d stay for the time being.

Happy me :)

Today, one year ago, Amon and I boarded our first VIA Rail train to Jasper. Thinking back to our train adventure, my mind is flooded with memories and nostalgia. That trip was wonderful, full of happy moments. and definitely something to remember for years to come (and hopefully this blog will be helpful in filling in some memory gaps)! To whomever reads my blog, thanks for staying with me! These Canada trip posts are coming to an end soon, but not just yet. Cheers and stay safe wherever you are!

Throwback to the Jasper train