Post Halifax

Rob and I both liked Halifax. We enjoyed walking around the downtown area which is right by the harbour where our ship docked. The harbour itself is a beautiful natural harbor with very deep water and lots of room. Two Carnival Cruise ships carring 3,000 plus passengers came in while we were there. We have fewer than 1,000 passengers counting, students, faculty and Semester at Sea staff. We all agrreed, we prefer our smaller ship.
The harbour is the sight of the worlds worst man-made disaster until the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in World War II. Two ships, one loaded with explosives for World War I collided in the narrow part of Halifax Harbour in 1917. Over 1,100 people were killed, over 16,000 were injured, and 100,000 were left homeless.
Right now I am engrossed in Robert McNeil's novel, The Burden of Desire, which takes place in Halifax just before and after the actual explosion. In 1917 Halifax was a town of 50,000. Now the population is 100,000.
As we left the port of Halifax, we were piped out to sea from Novia Scotia (New Scotland) by the same bagpipers, again if full Scottish Regalia. Many parents who were shipping off their children, to be our college students as we continue our voyage around the world, were waving from the dock. Many of the parents had been students themselves on Semester at Sea, as have many of the faculty, staff, and Lifelong Learners.
We have been on the ship almost a week and I feel right at home here. I love sitting in our cabin, which feels very cozy to me, reading my Halifax book. I love being out on the stern of Deck 6, where we have chosen to have all of our meals, but one, so far. We have shared tables with lots of faculty and now a few students. I went up to the pool on Deck 7 with a book for the first time today. The pool had no water until after Halifax. They fill it with fresh sea water after we leave each port. The sea water here in the North Atlantic is 64 degrees. The pool is, of course, small--too small to really swim my laps--three strokes turn, three strokes, turn again... A few children got into the pool..no grown-ups..not even college students. We shall see if the water warms up. In the mean time, the deck surrounding the pool was packed with college students--hundreds of them. Not as thick as on Virginia Beach in summer, but you get the idea.
So, for now, I prefer our balcony for my deck time. I saw a dolphin in the ocean about 75 feet from the ship today. We have seen seaweed--all the way out here. At noon today we were 600 nautical miles from Halifax. Tonight we get very close to the location of the Titanic. No igebergs this time of year, so we have no worries about a shipwreck of our own.
I also love the ocean view from our room. At night we see the moon, almost half full, shining down on the sea, like a bright spotlight.
Today we had an unexpected rogue wave bobble our ship. Things fell off of shelves. A plastic bottle of Witch Hazel flew off the top shelf of Rob's closet causing the plastic bottle cap to break, so we had a little Witch Hazel to clean up. Not really a problem. A faculty couple who are now on their second trip around the world said that incidents such as that wave are unusual, and when they happen we are warned ahead of time to put all bottles and such on the floor.
Today is Sunday. Friday we arrive in Cadiz, Spain.