The flight from Vancouver to Halifax takes about 6 hours - via Montreal - and I try to get some sleep, but as usual I can't. I don't like flying. I like night flights even less. This surprises people, since I'm generally known as someone who travels a lot, but there you go.
Anyhoo, I'm tired when the plane touches ground in Halifax. I follow fellow passengers to the exit, and when I go down the escalators I can see Krista waiting for me.
It's funny to finally meet someone in real life and see that they're not exactly what one's expected; even though she's said she was about my height, I somehow always imagined her taller. And demure *lol*
It doesn't take me long to realize Krista's anything but demure, and then I know my time in Halifax would be a good one. Krista takes this picture of us before exiting the airport. Can you tell I'm jetlagged?
After picking up my backpack from the luggage belt we drive to downtown Halifax for some food (I skipped breakfast, so I was hungry). Krista takes me to a little place called Paper Chase, which is a place where one can pick up newspapers or magazines but has a little eatery on the second floor. I can't exactly remember what I had (I think Krista and I ordered the same thing, but she coffee with hers and I had tea with mine), but I do remember that it was good.
While we're enjoying the food Krista's greeted by friends (I think they're mostly people she knows through Dalhousie University). After we finishing our food we join a bunch of her friends at adjacing tables. All nice people, but I soon find myself struggling to stay awake; like a little child I was rubbing my eyes - as if that helps...
Krista picks it up and after exchanging tickets she had for a play we're driving to her place. I still can't get over the fact she drives such a wicked vehicle: a Jeep :)
At home we're greeted by her cat Sheba. She looks like a blow dryer exploded in front of her, but she's such a sweetie. The apartment is nicely furnished and has a homely feel to it. I put my stuff in the guest room and make sure Sheba doesn't follow me into the bedroom. It's a curse to like pets, but be allergic to them *sigh*
After a power nap and a shower I'm all set to go and venture Halifax. Krista, however, had something else in mind. Something way more fun: she grabs my butt to see the September Classic in Lunenburg (it's a bit of an illegal race...) organized by Krista's friends Tom and Edward. By the time we leave the race has already started, so we decide to go to the afterparty. Sounds rock star like, doesn't it? Well, if rock stars were sailors and pirates this is how a party could be like :) Loads of alcohol (rum's the main ingredient) and food. The food isn't bad, and Krista's friend Brian "the pilot" Penney is noticed first (by me) by the brown paper wrapped bottle in the pocket of the coat he's wearing *lol* It turns out he got himself a bottle of red wine, which he ends up sharing with me.
Also, upon entering the party Krista introduces me to another friend of hers, who is a resident of McNabs Island. (I feel silly now I can't remember his name.) One of the first things he says to me is that I have a twin. Say what? I almost blurt out "male or female?" but I don't. Interesting, though... I also have a twin in Ottawa, ON. Long story :p
Last year, Krista got drunk enough to go to her Jeep and sleep through the infamous Tiki Torch Race. This year, she had me (Goody Two Shoes, she calls me) at her side and the good thing that came out of it: she actually witnessed the entire race from beginning to end :) I can tell you that race is crazy fun. I certainly had a very good time!
I'm tired after that, and so Krista and I sort of sneak out.
Krista let me sleep in (sweet isn't it? I really needed that.) and I got an intro to Cat Psychology 101: Sheba, who by the way is the demure one, was at my door asking to be let in. She did that in such an endearing way (not the usual annoying "Meow!") that I had a hard time ignoring her. Krista explained that Sheba's usually not interested in the guestroom at all, but since the door is closed the kittie thinks there's a great party going on and wants to join. Curiosity... Killed the cat. Pun intended. Basically, she's like a little kid, eh?
It's nice and sunny outside as Krista and I drive to "The word on the street" book fair. Three words: I. Love. Books. And I have the hardest time refraining myself from buying books. Two things help: I have limited cash in my wallet and limited space in my backpack. I end up getting a few.
We head back home for a quick nap (well, Krista naps, I play ball with Sheba, update my travel journal a bit and go online) before visiting Krista's mom; we're invited for dinner. Once we get there we find out she's cooked a delicious meal: clam soup and ham. Seafood and pork both go not well with me, so we decide to go back to Krista's place. How unfortunate. (No sarcasm intended.)
Krista cooks us a nice pasta meal and we watch Monsters Inc. *G* Initially, Krista doesn't want to drive back to her mom's place but I remind her it's the last night her uncle and aunt from Alberta are here.
Here's a picture Krista took of me and her family (me, Cecil, Krista's mom, her aunt Phyllis and her uncle Eldred):
They're all really nice. And her uncle Eldred's funny.
Krista and I get up early on Monday morning. This is the only day during my visit she has to work (which is totally fine with me) and we agreed on communting to the
university together the previous night. Krista gives me a quick tour before speeding off to a meeting and I set off to the Public Gardens. It's still early in the morning and it's nice and quiet in the park, and most ducks are still sleeping :)
I take a couple of pictures in the gardens. A cute chica walks up to me and asks me if I'm part of the group. Huh? I think she's looking for a photography class or something.
From there on I walk to
Citadel Hill and do the tour. It's very windy up there and it's the first time since I got there that I get the feeling I'm freezing my butt off. I make a mental note to buy a heavy sweater...
After my visit to the fort I go to the ticket office to try and get tickets to a performance called "DRUM!". Unfortunately, there's no show on Monday.
By that time - nearing noon - I am hungry and decide to look for a place to eat. After walking around for a bit I find a place called "
Satisfaction Feast". The menu looks absolutely yummie! I have a BLT and a banana soymilk smoothie, and it is indeed very tasty :)
Then I visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. There's some stuff that's from the Titanic, an exhibit on Sable Island (which Krista has visited shortly before my visit), stuff about the big Halifax explosion... And Merlin the talking parrot. Funny bird that is! Cracked me up a couple of times.
I meet Krista's friend Lara, who has a production company (Topsail Productions? I think...) and she tells us the most hilarious and disgusting story I have ever heard. Honestly! When she starts to say she's seen something that grossed her out completely, her jaw dropped, both Krista and I are thinking "Bring it on." But nothing prepares us for a human version of Shrek. Really.
Imagine a guy behind the wheel digging into his ear... To put the "contents" of it into his mouth. Ew-ew-eww! Krista and I don't know whether to cringe or to howl with laughter, but the way Lara tells it ("Delicious!") cracks us up. OMG! She's right; she needs to try and write that into a script. Talking about a lasting impression, eh?
Krista's warned me she doesn't like shopping - that's ok, I don't either; I mostly wear my clothes till they're faded and holes appear. Visibly... (And then I HAVE to go and buy me something decent.) So imagine the look on my face when she anounced she'd take me to the "
Shoe Shop". Whaaat?! Krista saw the look on my face and explained it isn't an actual shop *exhale sigh of relief... LOL*
Anyhoo, the food was good and we had an interesting conversation...
Another early rise on Tuesday: we have to leave the place before the cleaners arrive. And we do. We also go in search for food for Sheba (she's on a special diet). Now that's like going on a quest! (Really, we had no idea it was so hard to come by. Oops.)
Krista takes me to a breakfast place. I forgot the name (it's a chain), but I remember the chickens. They were everywhere: on the wallpaper, on the place mats, on shelves... The food was good (I had a spinach and cheese pancake, Krista had something equally delish).
Later that morning Krista and I go to Pier 21, which is the port where all the immigrants came through upon entering Canada, way back when. Krista insists of getting me a "girly" present (wait till she sees my collection of stuffed animals - Elmo's not alone!): a cute little moose. Then we hurry to the Neptune Theater to see a play called "The Miracle Worker"... Only to find out there's no 4pm show, but an 8pm show *lol*
It's not a bad thing, actually: it gives us time to drive out to Peggy's Cove. Krista initially didn't want to go, but her friend Lara also recommended it, so :)
I actually like the landscape that so vastly differs from the sceneries I've seen the previous days. Huge boulders, left behind by glaciers.
We have dinner at the Sou'Wester Restaurant; I have a veggie patty with a salad, while Krista goes for a simple pasta dish. I'm very disappointed by what is called "salad"... Then we trundle through the giftshop, especially Krista ;) Even though she said we need to go back to make it on time for the play. It was time for a little payback: I'm always hot (unless I'm sick and/or suffering from serious lack of sleep) and so at one point during my stay I said "I'm hot", to which Krista replied "Yes, you are." It took a split second, but when my mind registered what she was saying, that remark shut me up. And made me blush. Heh. (My friends who know me and who read this are probably roaring with laughter right now...)
Anyhoo, payback time ;) Krista's watching stuff and hangs around that shop a little too long for my taste, so I dryly say (bear in mind we watched Monsters Inc): "Googely Bear, we gotta motor." And with a "Oh, yea, right," she follows me out the store. The - priceless - look on the face of the woman looking at trinkets in our vicinity *lol*
The Miracle Worker is a great play (I'm so glad Krista's not really into musicals either) and I really enjoy it. The Miracle Worker is about Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. The lead actresses are great! At home Krista shows me pictures of the house and the actual water pump, and then some *G*
All too soon my last day in Halifax arrives. Krista's thoughtful to let me sleep in, given the fact I have a long journey ahead of me later that day. We're glad we put off boating till the very last day; it's 27C outside and nice and sunny :) We are greeted by Krista's friendly neighbour, as we set out to take off the top of the Jeep. When Krista and I arrived at her place on my first day, a friend of hers was sitting in a chair next to her, which so reminded me of Waldorf and Stattler (of The Muppet Show - in a good way, though).
We drop off two rolls of film at WalMart before driving to Krista's mom's place to pick up the boat. I take a couple of quick snaps of Mrs. Olmstead and Cecil (I think they turned out nicely) and soon we're driving back to Halifax.
It's lovely out on the water. The thing that strikes me immediately is that the view from the water is so different from the view I'm used to. I like it very much. Krista take me to McNabs Island where, as Krista puts it, "time melts away". That is so very true. Krista shows me around a bit, points out stuff and time does fly. If I hadn't slept in and we were at McNabs at the break of dawn, we might have spotted Bambi (or: deer, in general), but I've taken a rain check on that :) I did see a seal!
Then it's time to boat back to the mainland, drive the boat back and drive to Anie. Anie is another friend of Krista, who has invited us over for a BBQ. Since we're running late, I quickly fresh up at Krista's mom's place (I needed to rinse off all the dried up salty water, and I hope I haven't made a mess in there).
Krista'd told me a few things about Anie (all good), preparing me for her welcome (or, as Krista puts it: "She's French"). Still when the door opens and I'm pulled into a warm embrace (and greeted avec une bisou) I find myself blinking like a freshly scrubbed puppy. Wow. Her friend Nancy greets me with equal zest.
It soon turns out Anie and Nancy have their own petting zoo at home. And I have come without any anti-histamines *gasp* Thankgawd, Nancy hooks me up with some Benadryl :p (Her dog - looks like a cross between a Lab and a Border Collie - is such a sweetie, gently leaning its head against my knee as I pet it.)
In the meantime Anie tries to fire up the Q for the steaks, but for some unknown reason it isn't functioning. Night is slowly falling and it's getting chillier, so we all move back indoors. Anie decides to throw the steaks in a pan... Because of an overload of pets, my body starts to riot. To my surprise Anie recognizes my cough and offers me her puffer. The thing is I know it's probably better to take meds so I can breathe easier, but I refuse. I've been doing alright without them all my life and I don't want to start to rely on them now... Yup; I'm stubborn.
Anyhoo, I like them. They're cool. They're funny. Nancy's an army lady (I really hope she doesn't get shipped off to Afghanistan), but she doesn't want to take me on. She asks me to flex my biceps, but as soon as she gets a glimpse she backs off entirely. I still think she can actually take me on; I'm not really strong (although I think Krista will disagree), just incredibly clumsy.
The food is very good, the company excellent. I am having such a good time, I lose track of time and almost miss my plane.
To me that meant I could finally resume reading. Yay! After that we went to Golden Gate Park (because I wanted to see the Japanese Tea Garden) and strolled through a rose garden. I was able to take a few close ups with my cell phone. (And they're pretty decent.) Trevor and I drank Jasmine tea, and I was slightly amused and annoyed at the same time by the Cantonese women running the tea stand. I told Trevor if they'd been Japanese ladies, customers would be treated with utter respect.
When we got t o the one advertised Trevor spotted another Indonesian restaurant, right on the corner of the next block! I quickly scanned the menu of Indonesian Restaurant; it wasn't exactly food I'd have people eat if they're having Indonesian food for the first time. Heck, it's not exactly the type of dishes that make my mouth water either. So, we walked on to the next one called "Borobudur", and lo and behold: those were the popular dishes. 
Photo courtesy of Trevor V.
) Trevor and I went for a walk at the end of the day; he wanted to show me the sea lions. Unfortunately, we spotted only two.
We drove into San Francisco, and the closer we got to Broadway and Kearny the more stripclubs we saw. Naughteh. We joked about it (AJ, I wonder why you recommended it, is it right up your alley?) and on the prowl for a parking spot I suddenly spotted... "Is that a rat?" Sarah lost it and cracked up; she was paying attention to the traffic in front of her she hadn't noticed. (It was a rat, by the way. And I'm not talking about the human kind!) Anyhoo, they helped me get settled (I currently reside in a large room in a quiet side street off Broadway called Bartol) and I was glad Trevor was with me. My muscle man. I could not have managed without him. And thank you, Sarah, for driving the crazy traffic. By the time I got settled in nicely, we all were hungry, so we drove to 
