Quarterly Review #1, Part 1: June 2010

It's been three months since I moved to Halifax. Can you believe it? I can't. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was travelling across Canada on a train. That's not the case though, and so it's time then to take a look back on the summer of '010 that was and remember some of my favourite festivals, points of interest, and statues that made me glad to have moved here, and you think "dang, I wish I was in Halifax too."

June 2010:

June was the month of my favourite summer festival to date, the 400th Anniversary of the baptism of Grand Chief "Henry" (renamed after King Henry) Membertou. The Mi'kmaq people and the Acadians shared 150 years of peace and friendship after this until the British came along and messed everything up for the next 250. This festival included the largest pow-wow ever in Atlantic Canada and a free concert by Buffy St. Marie. It was deemed a huge success by everyone involved, and I felt very happy for the Mi'kmaq people who had organized such a great event.

June also played host to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Visit to Halifax. If I never travel again in my life (not likely), I will at least always be able to impress my grandchildren or nephews (who likely won't care) with the story of how I waited in the rain for two hours to see the Queen's hat.

My favourite Interesting Person of June was definitely Chang-geun Lee. Using a second hand bike he purchased from a seller on Kijiji, this Korean ESL student, who had been studying in Toronto, rode on a 59 day journey from Toronto, through Quebec, around the Maritimes, and then down through New England and back to Toronto via New York. He later went on a tour with his friends of the western US, including Yellowstone National Park. We still keep in contact, and I feel it's safe to say that Chang-geun's trip was the inspiration for my own EP Bike trip series that would appear in July.

Nova Scotia National Historic Site #4: The Citadel

Citadel Hill is an 80 metre tall glacial drumlin with a commanding view of Halifax Harbour. Citadel Hill's strategic value was the primary reason the British chose to maintain a military base on the east side of Nova Scotia. The current star-shape fortress currently atop Citadel Hill, formerly known as Fort George, is actually the fourth fortress design to occupy the hill, and took 28 years to build.

It took so long to build, because the entire fortress had to be set into the hill so that only the parapet was in view from the base of the hill. Should an enemy soldier miraculously escape having his head blown off at the bottom of the hill, from well inside the range of the British rifles, he would be met with the precursor to land mines just outside the base of the wall. Should he pass that, he would fall off the edge of the wall into the hidden ditch, roughly 10 metres in depth, where if his legs or neck were not broken, he would be pelted with "balls of spikes attached with chains meant for taking down ship masts" from the cannons. Or he may be lucky and merely hit in the back of the head by the sharp shooters hiding inside the secret tunnels behind him and aiming through the slits in the wall.

The wall was designed to be, and in fact was, the most technologically advanced fortress of its time. Its construction was ordered because of fear of an impending American attack. Ironically, the largest threat the Americans ever posed to the British at Halifax was during the War of 1812, when US President James Madison declared his intentions to claim what would later become Canada, for America. The War of 1812 ended in 1814, before construction of Fort George had even begun.

Today, Fort George (The Citadel) is a National Historic Site managed by Parks Canada. Costumed actors bring life at the fort in 1869 alive for the numerous visitors, and many rooms are open for guests to tour at their leisure. Even the secret tunnel in the outer wall is open.

There are numerous demonstrations that take place during the day, and the highlight of any visit is the firing of the "noon gun". Overall the fortress is in remarkably good condition, and it is my strong opinion that any trip to Halifax should definitely include a visit to this fabulous living museum.

(Rifle firing demo.)

(Getting ready to fire the noon gun.)

(Ceremonial cutting of the cake for Parks Canada's 125th birthday on July 17, 2010. I had four pieces.)

(The Pipes and Drums of the 78th Highlanders. The pipers have green coats because they were not paid by the military like the drummers or brass band members, but rather by the officers personally. Having a personal pipes regiment was a sign of prestige for British officers, and so an officer would dress his pipers with extra brass and more regal colours to show off how rich he was.)

(Changing of the guard.)

(The new recruits practice loading a cannon.)

(Military drill demonstration. Look at how tightly they walk together.)

(A special treat: this is the actual cloak that the legendary General James Wolfe was wearing when he was shot and killed on the Plains of Abraham, in 1758. Wolfe's Adjutant General and friend, Isaac Barre, saved the cloak for posterity. It currently belongs to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and is on loan to the Army Museum at The Citadel.)

(Closing up the gates.)

Royal Visit: June 28-29, 2010

Born on 21 April 1926 in London, to The Duke and Duchess of York (who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), Elizabeth Alexandra Mary married the Greek Prince, Lietenant Philip Mountbatten on 20 November 1947. After becoming Queen of England on 6 February 1952, she did some other stuff. Then finally, on 28 July 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II came to Canada for the 22nd time, and I was there to see her.

While the weather the day before had been wonderful, God decided to frown upon Nova Scotia this day, and it seemed as though a hurricane was trying to blow through Halifax. Undaunted, I braved the torrential down pour, and gale force winds, to stand on a soggy hillside with the other "unworthies", as we waited for our chance to catch a glimpse of the ever present security guards huddled around Her Majesty The Queen.

Finally, after two hours of shivering, and a live interview on SRC television, I finally got my "once-in-a-lifetime" chance to wave at her from afar. And boy was it worth it. She spoke French and English better than Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and she was a model of grace and class, which we would all do well to copy. She truly loves Canada, and works tirelessly for the Empire, essentially for free (contrary to popular ignorance, "your tax dollars" do not go to Britain or The Queen).

(The pipes and drums of the 78th Highlanders enter the grounds.)

(Military band playing O Canada, while shots from the 21-gun salute continue to fire.)

(A Mi'kmaq elder greeting Her Majesty with a prayer. I apologize for the out of focus camera work. However, I can guarantee you won't see footage like this on CBC any time soon.)

(Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomes Her Majesty to Canada. He even tries to says "Canadar" like a British person. Am I the only person who thinks this speech makes it sound like neither English or French is a first language for the PM?)

(Her Majesty The Queen gives a moving speech to those courageous and freezing souls who braved the elements to hear her speak.)

(Her Majesty, in the yellow hat, greeting visitors.)

(Her Majesty handing flowers to an aide, who in turn will hand them to a second aide. This is the only clear shot of The Queen's face I managed to capture.)

(Members of the Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers taking their horses out to go poop on the side-walks.)