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So what did we think of Nova Scotia?

We are now on a long flight across Canada, almost the same length as our flight across the Atlantic.

So what did we think of New Scotland?
The scenery is stunning, lots of little islands and coves, lakes and an awful lot of trees. Despite the weather being a bit Scottish for a couple of days it only really affected us on one day. Rather than Scotland it reminded me of Sweden, lots of bright clapperboard houses next to the water, each with a jetty and a boat moored close by.
There are lots of photogenic lighthouses, all the tourists flock to Peggy’s Cove lighthouse, we had taken so many pictures of other, similar lighthouses we thought we had better go and see this lighthouse to beat all lighthouses, two photos below one is of Peggy’s the other is on Cape Breton, no prizes for guessing which is which. Peggy’s gets 2,000 visitors a day, those in Cape Breton perhaps 30, that apart there is no difference.

There are a great many small museums run by volunteers, they are not very different from the House on Crutches which Gill supports. I was expecting the Alexander Graham Bell museum to be similar, it was a bit of a surprise to find it is huge but unless you know a bit about Bell you would miss a lot. I had read Bell's biography when preparing my book (It will Never Catch On – Still available on Amazon, order your copy now) so was able to bore Gill senseless with extra information. I can’t think of a large museum in the UK dedicated to one person, there isn’t a Brunel, a Newton or a Shakespeare museum, any suggestions?

I presume this is the case everywhere in Canada (neither of us have been before) but everyone is almost over the top polite, step close to a zebra crossing and everyone stops.

Yesterday a lady got on the bus carrying a paper cup with coffee, the driver pointed out that this was not allowed so she left it on the pavement but thanked the driver profusely for telling her! In the UK I would hope there would not be an argument but a grunt in the direction of the driver would probably be forthcoming. On the subject of buses I mentioned they are free for oldies on Tuesdays in Halifax but to try and encourage people to use them all buses are free for everyone on Fridays (the flat fare is normally £1.40).

But as you can see in the picture, not all toilets are accessible.

I have already mentioned the strength of the beer, most are over 5% some nearly 8%, in Nova Scotia there seem to be hundreds of small breweries, craft beers are a big thing.

One confusion is imperial v metric measures. All road signs are in kilometres but if you ask anyone how far it is they will tell you in miles. Wine by the carafe is either ½ or 1 litre but a glass of wine is 5oz or 8oz. Beer is sold in cans or glasses of 16oz (that’s 4/5ths of a pint for those of you too young to know what an ounce is) although in the English bar in the airport I had a proper, 20oz, pint of Guinness.

The only real disappointment has been scallops. Over the past couple of years I have developed a taste for them and Nova Scotia is supposedly renowned for their scallops, they even have scallop festivals. I have had them on four or five occasions over the past 10 days and none have been as good as those we have at home. They have been tasteless and unimaginatively cooked.

Tonight and tomorrow we are staying with Rosie and Norman, friends from Bishop's Castle who now live in Calgary, we have been promised a BBQ so I assume it isn't raining.