Hey guys!! I’m back with another AG Travel Diaries and this time it’s all about Canada!! This will be a 3 part series since I stayed in Canada for 2 and half weeks so I’ll dedicate a post to week 1, week 2 and then the city break we experienced at the end of the holiday in Toronto. We stayed in th eastern part of Canada in Nova Scotia and toured around a variety of different properties and hotels in different locations during the two weeks. The main reason for our visit was because my Auntie Katie was getting married to her partner of 4 years, Damion and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to explore Nova Scotia all over again. Strangely enough, we visited Canada 10 years ago exactly for my Uncle Doug and Auntie Amanda’s wedding so this was my second trip out to Canada and I loved every single second of it. So in today’s post, I’m going to outline the events of our first week in Canada for you.
Monday 23rd July
We started off travelling from Hull to London Kings Cross station by train. Honestly, it was one of the worst train rides I’ve ever had to endure since there was no air con working throughout pretty much all the carriages of the train and it was about 30° C outside making it nearly unbearably hot within the train. I was glad when the two and a half hour train journey was over but that certainly wasn’t where our travels ended for the day. After that, we journeyed across London to Heathrow by tube and then finally, we used the bus service available to reach the hotel we were residing at for the night called the Park Inn.
Tuesday 24th July
Tuesday was the big day!! After months of waiting, we were finally flying out to Canada with an airline called Air Canada. Our journey to boarding the airplane went fairly smoothly and we flew out at around 11. The 6 hour flight practically flew by and once I’d watched Avengers: Age of Ultron and binge watched some of Riverdale, we’d landed in Halifax which is the capital of Nova Scotia. My great Auntie Jane and great Uncle Pete met us off our flight and we all headed off to my Auntie Katie and Uncle Damien’s house for a spot of tea. They were happy to report that preparations for the wedding were so far going well and they were both excited for the wedding on Saturday. My Auntie Danica also stopped by at my Auntie Katie’s house and we spent several hours laughing together and catching up before we decided to head off to our accommodation for the next few days. We’d booked in to stay at the Lord Nelson Hotel in central Halifax and I fell in love with it at first sight. Everything about it was incredibly grand with a marble polished floor, a beautiful grand piano on the balcony overlooking the reception and even several glittering chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. Our room was amazing too with two double beds with pearly white bed sheets, a silky curtain drawn across the windows and gold ink art work adorning the walls. Before retiring to our comfy beds, we decided to wander down to Halifax waterfront which had some beautiful views and a great selection of food places. We were all worn out from two full days of travelling and the 4 hour time difference so we crashed straight into bed upon arriving back.
Wednesday 25th July
We headed out for breakfast at Tim Horton’s, one of Canada’s leading coffee shops and I chose a delicious blueberry muffin. After that, we drove down to Peggy’s Cove, one of the most aesthetically pleasing places I’ve ever visited in my life. Everything about it was picturesque from the multi coloured houses dotted around and the lighthouse protected in a bed of rocks to the incredible views out onto the water. I could’ve spent days there just snapping millions of pictures. For lunch, we ate at the Sou’wester restaurant which I could vaguely remember from last time we visited Canada. I devoured a delicious seafood chowder which I would’ve loved to eat all again because it tasted so amazing. There was a slightly salty hint to it and it was filled with every seafood you could ever imagine. After spending a fair few hours at Peggy’s Cove, we travelled back to Halifax and after freshening up, we met up with my Auntie Amanda, Uncle Doug and their children Eko and Kaia for tea at the Rock Bottom pub. Eko and Kaia are seriously some of the cutest children ever and I really enjoyed playing with them and seeing their little faces light up as they caked my skin with slime (don’t worry it all came off really easily.) I savoured a yummy peanut butter bottom burger and I had a really fun night with them all.
Thursday 26th July
Our day started with breakfast at Cora’s. They had a wide range of breakfast choices and it was really hard to decide but in the end, I ordered French toast with strawberry sauce and strawberries which was delicious. In the morning, we explored all the way along the waterfront of Halifax. There was a cute little boutique alleyway which we investigated first and it hosted some lovely independent shops. We stopped at Subway for a quick lunch and headed off again for a beautiful walk all the way along the waterfront. Right at the end of the waterfront was the Discovery Centre where we were meeting Auntie Amanda, Eko and Kaia. The centre was spread out over four different floors so we started up top and worked our way down. On the top floor, there was the children’s gallery with lots of different toys and areas for kids to play in. Me and my sister Eloise had fun playing with Eko and Kaia up there. On the second floor, there were galleries dedicated to flight, health and energy. I found them all really interesting but particularly the health gallery which had lots of interactive activities for people of all ages to complete. The first floor hosted the Discovery shop and an exhibit which featured more information about energy and states of matter. The ground floor was home to the innovation lab where you could craft circuits, structures and objects from the 3D printer and hamma beads. Also, there was the featured exhibit down there which was named game changers which explores different types of gaming now and in the past. Overall, I really enjoyed the Discovery Centre and all it had to offer and I learnt lots more about the topics it covered there. After that, we headed out to the Halifax Mall and met up with Auntie Amanda, Eko and Kaia again with the addition of Uncle Doug as well for tea in the food court. There were lots of delicious options but I decided upon beef tacos with pepper, onions and sour cream with a peanut butter ice cream for pudding.
Friday 27th July
This was our last day in Central Halifax at the Lord Nelson Hotel. We had breakfast at Cora’s again and this time, I chose the morning hot dog, a combination of bacon, cheese and sausage in a crepe. Next, we walked along to the Maritime Museum which we’d passed the day before when walking to the Discovery Centre. There was a Titanic exhibit there which we were particularly interested to see and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I gained lots more knowledge about the disastrous ship and I was really pleased we had the opportunity to see this exhibit. After we’d fully explored the museum, we stopped at Subway again for a quick lunch. Then, we drove up to Wolfville to the Air bnb apartment we’d booked to stay in up there. I fell in love with the apartment at first sight; it was spread over two levels with a garage on the ground floor as well. The middle floor was a living area with a kitchen attached onto it and it also hosted my granny and grandads room. On the top floor, there was mine and my sister’s room and my mum and dad’s room. It was definitely the most spacious accommodation of our holiday and the way it was decorated granted it with a sleek, organised feel. The last part of our day was the wedding rehearsal meal at the Spitfire pub in Windsor. I enjoyed a delicious chicken burger for my meal and it was so lovely to see all of my family again and catch up with them.
