Friday, April 4, 2014

Back on the Ship

The book has been sent to the contest. My last art club session was yesterday. Tomorrow we leave for Spain. But first, one last post about the cruise on St. Lawrence River, which continues to be quite a highlight in our travels.

Greeters to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
(I personally love the sound of
bagpipes. They always sound so . . .
eerie and haunting, full of "story".
Our bus driver and tour
guide. Unfortunately, I
didn't get his name.



Our fourth day out, we docked at Halifax, Nova Scotia and were immediately reminded of Nova Scotia's Scottish connection. Bagpipes and kilts everywhere. Even the tour guides met us in kilts, as two busloads set off for Peggy's Cove.
Peggy's Cove seemed a wild and desolate place. I've always been captivated by fog and mist, no doubt to stories I read when I was younger. Mysterious and magical things happened in foggy locations. I love Lighthouses, too, so this one captured my imagination completely:

A wild an desolate place.

Desolate, yes, but beautiful.

A magical place where anything
might happen. 

And a warning of what could happen!

And there was an official greeter to the cove as well, complete with kilts and bagpipe:

Official bagpipe greeter.
I did think it was a cold job
on a foggy day like that.

But he kindly consented to
a photograph with me.
And then it was time to board the bus again and travel to Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Why a cemetery? A whole section of it contains graves of 120 to 150 of the unfortunate passengers on the ill-fated Titanic. (The numbers vary from report to report.) I've seen several movies through the years about the Titanic, but nothing quite prepared me for the rows upon rows of markers. Some had only a number, since the body could not be identified. You can read more about the Titanic HERE and HERE), but here are some of the pictures we took at the cemetery: (Though many of the passengers were never recovered; just "buried at sea".

Entry to the cemetery.

Directions to that section
And this is what met our eyes:
there were rows and rows like this!

Some inscription were so
 moving, like this one.

And this one, too.

But this onemoved me the most.









There were so many like this.

Just numbers. Heart braking!





           







After that, we returned to the ship for eats and socializing and various leisure activities. The following day we went to Bar Harbor, Maine, but that will have to wait for another day, as the next few posts are going to be from Spain and Portugal. 

I was never particularly a cruise person before, but this one converted me. Of course, we were iin great company, as well as seeing great sights. And when I get back to posting about Bar Harbor, I'll include a recap with pictures of the great crowd of friends we traveled with.

Meanwhile, I hope you have enjoyed the bits and pieces of this cruise so far. And if you know any special facts about the Titanic, I hope you will share them. That is an event that continues to have such a grip on my conssciousness, and the public's as well.


10 comments:

  1. Very interesting! The funniest tune I ever heard was "Too Sexy for my Shirt" played in bagpipe.

    A couple of your pictures remind me of Hawaii of all things. In Kauai, near Queen's Bath, there is a plaque about how the dangers of the ocean there, and the number of people who have died from getting too close to the surf. Also in Kauai, one gorgeous hunk of a young, scantily clad (in historic, native dress)male Hawaiian posed for pictures, similar to this older, trim bagpiper.

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  2. Hi, Cathy, I can't even imagine that tune! I think it's amazing, though, that the pictures reminded you of Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii. Someday I will have to go there.

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  3. Thank you for this virtual tour.
    The pictures are fascinating.
    They carried me away.

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  4. Wow. I had no idea this Titanic grave existed. I love the stories about your travels, makes me long to visit each place for very magical reasons.

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  5. What an interesting trip that must have been. I love the foggy pictures of Peggy's Cove. I, too, am a fan of that kind of weather.

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  6. Julia, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It certainly was an interesting tour. I felt like I learned so much history.

    Tanya, I was surprised by the Titanic grave, too. I've read several fictional accounts about the Titanic, but they usually ended with the disaster and the survivors. I hadn't thought previously about burial places. I'm glad you like the travel posts.

    Hi, Rosi, yes there is something magical about fog that has always appealed to my imagination. It seems like anything could happen in the mist.

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  7. I love going on your tours with you through your posts. This sounds like a really nice trip. I love bagpipes and foggy/misty mornings - there is something eerie and fascinating about it. :)

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  8. Hi, Kimberly, glad you like the tours. More are coming up, on Spain, since we are now in Galicia. And, to my delight, we get foggy/misty mornings here, too. But then, they have bagpipes and a Celtic history here! :-)

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  9. Good luck with the contest Elizabeth. Enjoying your blog posts about your tours.

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