I dragged my letlagged ass to work this morning, and the longer the morning wore on the worse I felt. I was tired, had trouble staying focused and something triggered a headache (good thing the vertigo wasn't bad).
People asked me about my vacation and the more I talked about it, the more I felt like taking the first plane back to Canada - just like I thought I would *sigh*
Anyhoo, I still have the last part of my trip to recount.
Canada Day starts early (with Krista waking up even before I do): we wanted to be early for the free pancake breakfast at the Grand Parade. Our friend Kelly was supposed to come along as well, but since her boyfriend left in the wee hours of the morning she let us know she'll sleep in and meet us later.
Halifax mayor Peter Kelly was at the Grand Parade handing out sweets, all dressed up for the day, and doing a short (but good) speech after a choir sang the national anthem. And the pancake breakfast? I prefer my friend Amanda's who makes killer pancake breakfasts!
It was drizzling throughout the breakfast, and after that Krista and I headed to the boat club... And ended up catching up on some sleep. Then it was time to go back and head for the Citadel for the 21 gun salute. Despite the fog, or maybe because of it, the shots rang out loudly through the harbor as well. How could I have missed those all this time? (They traditionally shoot the canons at noon.) After that we have a bite at Mexicali Rosa's, where Kelly joins us. Then it's on to Pier 21, where one of the guides I meet turns out to be Dutch. He and I talk a bit about heritage and the Netherlands... Kelly suggested we try Bannock, a kind of indigenous bread. People were invited to take a little piece of dough, roll it out and add a little filling to it (I picked coconut and butterscotch) before putting it on a big skillet. Bannock is simple, tastes good, and is very filling. I have to say that between the multicultural festival (where the concert at Alderney Landing took place) and this I had sampled some interesting new foods.
We headed back to the boat after that and went for another boat ride; woo-hoo!
By the time the fog started to drift inland again, we had docked Foxglove and were driving home. We ended up missing the fireworks (better next time, eh?), and watching Empire Records instead.
The next day was to be my last in Halifax. Krista and I had planned on meeting one of her friends for lunch (she dressed up for it 'specially - in what she calls her trailer trash outfit. I'm fashion impaired, but it didn't look too tacky to me...) but he texted her he couldn't make it. We had a bite at a pub called Durty Nelly's. The food was good (my dish was a generous portion, and Krista ended up finishing my salad *LOL*), the ladies room even better. Even though I generally try to avoid public toilets this one was a treat with screens mounted into the walls next to the sinks, enabling the ladies to check out music videos instead of their mirror images (the super vain aside). When I went in I definitely felt like dancing, despite the Scissor Sisters singing about the opposite.
And besides Krista picking up volume 13 of Terry Moore's ECHO and picking up the last of my developed film at the photo lab, the rest is pretty much a blur. The day seemed to pass way to fast, and before I knew it Krista drove me to the airport. It was pretty foggy when we left the apartment, and it was foggy when we reached the airport. I did not want to leave, and Krista joked she could turn the car around. (I was wishing the fog would be too dense no planes would be able to fly out.) Although extremely tempting, I decided to be good and get on that frickin plane.
In Amsterdam I'm surprised to find my brother waiting at the gate - with my mom. I knew my mom was coming to pick my up from Schiphol airport, but I hadn't expected my brother, too. Yay!
On Sunday my brother Arnold and I drive to Stellendam for a navigation course. It was an introduction really, but really interesting!
That's what I did on the very last day of my vacation.
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