Hello from Sydney, Nova Scotia

Hello from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nova Scotia is a maritime eastern province of Canada.  It was settled in 1785 by Englishmen seeking a better life and disbanded soldiers fleeing the Revolution in Colonial America.

The weather today is cool, a little windy, clear skies and lots of sunshine.  We were greeted by a (handsome according to MA) bagpiper.

In 1785 through the early 1800's, fifty thousand Scottish immigrants arrived in Nova Scotia. This whole area is known as Cape Breton and it is the only place in North America where Gaelic is still spoken. The local music, dancing and storytelling have remained a legacy of those who immigrated from the Scottish highlands.

As we walked off the ship the first thing we saw was a display of English motor cars right there on the pier parked in front of a huge fiddle. If you find MA in the violin picture above you'll get a sense of how tall it is. Anyhow, my favorite of the cars was a 1946 MG Roadster.

We hoped to find a hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus but they told us this area was too small for those types of tours. The only other tour available was for a 3-hour bus drive around town for $120.....we passed.

Anglican Church

Instead we walked around the town on our own.  It was cool but we were both comfortable with sweaters and a jacket.  We found an old Catholic church, Sacred Heart Church, that had been "decommissioned", meaning that the dioceses was reorganized and it would no longer be used as a church.  (See picture below.)

The parishioners we spoke with said that they paid all the bills and the church was well attended but the higher ups wanted them to come to another church on the other side of town.  Clearly they were saddened by what had happened to their beloved church. They even took the crucifix away explained one 81-year old gentleman whose job it was to greet the visitors.

We found a large arts and craft show at the back of the Anglican church. Mostly they sold hand-knitted scarves and baby blankets, neither of which are we in the market for.  We then walked to the edge of downtown and turned back toward the ship for a hot cup of coffee.  And thus was our stay in Sydney.  MA logged 2500 steps on her Fitbit! Really proud of her, she's averaging about 7000 steps a day. Goal is 10,000!

Checking in with local law enforcement!

This was not an English sports car.....but a caddy parked on the street all painted up.

Inside Sacred Heart Church (Decommissioned)