After a long day at sea watching for anything at all of interest, it was great to dock in Sydney, Nova Scotia. As the name says, New Scotland – they’re proud of their Celtic history here too.
We were at tender here – another cruise ship had taken what I presume to be the only quayside berth available so a short tender ride in and we tied up next to a giant violin. A 10 tonne monument to the folk music and traditions of the Celtic community. There are a number of sculptures and monuments in and around Sydney harbour and the next one we saw was one paying tribute to the cultural diversity of immigrants to Cape Breton Island. More poignant was the Merchant Mariner monument depicting 4 mariners on a a liferaft with one being rescued. It refers to Canada’s involvement in the Atlantic conveys between 1939-1945.
We visited 2 houses/museums which were restored old houses and had belonged to families in the town since the late 1700’s. A good standard of workmanship had gone into these and the exhibits were a great reminder of what life must have been like in those times – especially the open space in the attic of the Cossit house where the servants used to live.
As a side note, I had trouble getting sufficient people free space to take a picture of the giant violin from an unusual angle – but on the return to the tender it was relatively free. I took the opportunity to lay down in front of it to get a good shot, to be greeted by a loud American voice saying “HEY – that guy’s having a heart attack”. I thought, not today thank you!
