Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Quebec to Florida, by Sea (2019)
Sydney Pub Tour
In
a move that represented a 'first' for me, we had ordered breakfast
to be delivered to our stateroom between 0800 and 0830. As it
appeared just two minutes into our 'slot', it was just as well that
we had thrown on our bathrobes minutes earlier. Watching our
approach to Sydney, Nova Scotia, both out of the window and on the
TV 'bridge cam' channel, provided a suitable diversion during
breakfast. We opened the balcony door a couple of times and it was
distinctly chilly (6C) out there. I was intrigued by this destination as
it would be my first time in one of the Canadian maritime provinces,
and of course this particular one had a name that meant 'New
Scotland'.
Sydney is located inland from the southern part of the east-facing coast of Cape Breton Island. The town is accessed via the Sydney River. It has a population of around 30,000 and is a former city, having gained city status in 1904 and subsequently lost it in 1995. Earlier still, it was once regarded as the capital of Cape Breton Island, until that colony was merged into Nova Scotia in 1820.
Our only booked activity was a Sydney Pub Tour at 1050, so there was
plenty of time for each of us to shower and relax further. In due
course, we walked off the ship to the small pier and joined the rest
of the group that had booked this popular tour. Our guide Nick was wearing a
kilt and soon informed us that more Scottish Gaelic (pronounced
'gah-lic' in Scotland and 'gay-lic' in Ireland) is spoken in
Nova Scotia than in Scotland. This didn't really surprise me as in
my native land, the language is nowadays confined to the sparsely
populated West Highlands and Western Isles, and it only reaches
'majority first language' status in the population of the Outer
Hebrides. To the best of my knowledge, Cape Breton Island is the only other place in the world where the
language is used.
But back to the tour: the venues called at (and the beers sampled) were as follows:
| - Governors (Seven Years IPA; Big Spruce Red Irish) |
| - Daniel's Alehouse (Rickard's Red) |
| - The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse (Black Angus IPA) |
At venues 2 and 3, we had a good natter with
Bill and Beth, a friendly couple from Texas who also described
themselves as liberals. I forgot to ask if they
were officially recognised on the Endangered Species
register!
(Actually, I have been to Austin, so I know that the Lone Star State
has at least one liberal oasis.) In due course, we returned to the ship for a light soup-and-sandwich
lunch, followed by a snooze.
Caribbean
Princess left Sydney at 1800, bound for Halifax. This evening's
cocktails were
at Crooners and dinner was in the Palm dining
room. Neither venue was particularly crowded on this occasion. Later,
we went to see a very busy show in the Princess Theater. From
Bach to Bocelli was a rapid-fire and frequently clever whirlwind tour of
musical styles by Branden & James, a well established act in the
'classical crossover' field. Branden is a tenor from the USA and
James is a cellist from Australia, but both played piano as well and
James joined in some of the singing. All in all, an entertaining
performance by two very talented guys.
