8/17/2008
This is the travel log for my trip to Nova Scotia, 8/22/2008-8/27/2008. I will update it where I can as the trip progresses.
8/22/2008
This post will be boring, but bear with me. I'm hereby establishing the habit of updating this as often as I can. Me = Pavlov's Dog. ;]
I'm currently experiencing my layover at the airport in Toronto. Too bad I'm not going to be able to see Toronto! That will have to be another vacation. I think pretty much all of my friends who DJ industrial music have been here for one music fest or another. I am long overdue.
Layovers, however, are somewhat unfortunate if they go past the one hour mark. Jon claims to like layovers. Jon also thought Phoenix, Arizona was overwhelmingly beautiful, and is able to tolerate living in Houston much more effectively than me. Jon and I are...different.
Is it just me, or is it more colorful here? Is that just a Toronto airport thing? I'm seeing red, yellow, bright green, and rainbows everywhere--on the planes, on signs, etc. Maybe I just don't get out much.
A flashing light caught my eye while the plane was landing, and it turned out to be one of those modern architectural wonders--the pyramid with the glass facade, this one with a reflective apex that was catching the light of the sun. I thought about two other pyramids, one each in both of the cities that I've most recently lived in. The one on California State University Long Beach's campus is very similar to the one I just saw here. The one in Houston is that somewhat insidious piece of modern art in the Museum District--a big metal pyramid with a huge palm tree growing out of one of its ruined sides. Ah yes, all hail the future! The past is inescapable and the future writes all over the past until it's virtually indecipherable. O what a world.
Every civilization has looked to older civilizations with wonder and respect. Greece had Egypt, Rome had Greece, our medieval forefathers had Rome, and so it goes. As humans, we seek our origins, we seek to explore the mystery of what was. Places carry experience and memory, things coming and things going. The combination of the old and the new, the expected and the unexpected, is perhaps the best oracle one can find. So it is with me and the pull I've felt that brings me to Atlantic Canada.
As a side note, in wondering how to document this journey I came upon this link. Loreena McKennitt documents her travels with music. If only we could all be such gifted muses!
Travel Writing
8/23/2008
I got to the hostel where I stayed last night around 8:00pm, so I had some time to explore downtown Halifax as the last bit of daylight was fading out. There's a lot to see, so I'm glad I'll be back for a good part of the day on Tuesday. If possible I need to visit St. Mary's University, which has an Irish Studies program.
It was a toss up between The Old Triangle and the Pógue Fadó as to which pub was going to christen the start of my journey. The Old Triangle had been recommended to me by a local (my only friend in Halifax, Lanny), but I saw the Pógue on my way there. Both had live music and both looked cheery, but The Old Triangle was super crowded, so I opted for the Pógue, which was a good choice.
Not only did I have the best Guinness I've ever had in my life (I don't think I've ever had it poured correctly before because this one was SOOO CREAMY), the ambience was pleasantly dim, the service was amazing, and the band that performed Irish folk (and darn me, darn me for not catching the name, I went in after they'd started) was just what I wanted.
Upon retiring, I was endlessly thankful to myself for bringing a sleeping mask and earplugs. Between the snoring, the people coming and going through the night, and the street traffic noises, I would have had to have been stumbling drunk instead of only mildly buzzed to get any sleep otherwise.
This morning I walked past St. Matthew's Cathedral and noted not only a wonderful Celtic cross, but a labyrinth design next to it made of small white stones.
The coffee place I had breakfast at, Perk's, had another Celtic cross at the nearest corner, though this one was a dedicatory stone for the Irish settlers of Nova Scotia.
I...REALLY need one of these things.
After getting on the bus to Truro, I almost missed the opportunity to pick up my rental car because I forgot that the office closes at noon on Saturdays. I was like, I can sleep in, right? It worked out ok in any case.
After picking up the car, I went to the small but beautiful Kiwanis Park in Truro. How wonderful to have access to species of trees that grow in the British Isles! Namely rowans and willows so far, and I'm sure to find others. For those who don't know, Nova Scotia was once connected to Scotland before several millennia of continental drift. Below is a pic of a willow tree dipping its branches into the water in a very Otherwordly way.
I moved on to Antigonish, where I attended my very FIRST official ceilidh at The Piper's Pub. No joke! The music was great (Dawn and Margie Beaton performing on fiddle and piano) and the crowd was most friendly! I was scared that someone was going to try to make me dance Irish style, which is something I can't yet do! But it was lots of fun. I even got to see someone play spoons, which is another first for me.
Tonight I'm staying in Judique, where I'm sure to catch some more live music! SO…HAPPY!!!
8/25/08
Ok, so…didn't get to update yesterday because internet proved to be…elusive. So let's see…
After leaving Antigonish I finally crossed over to Cape Breton Island. I got to the Deny's Mountain B&B and intended to take a nap and then go out, because there was live music aplenty, but…I got lazy. ;] I vowed to catch the live action on the way back in Mabou or back in Judique and proceeded to watch a spectacular sunset and relax. Oh, how I relaxed. It was epic.
The next day I went to St. Margaret's Cathedral on the way northeast. There were beautiful monuments, but the best thing was the forest of rowan trees next to the graveyard. Rowan trees, of course, are essential to Celtic spirituality, whether Christian or pagan. What pious individual planted those rowan trees there, I wondered? Or was the location of the church chosen precisely because of the presence of the forest? It looked like the church actually came first, but in any case it was a special moment to walk among these truly magical trees.
I meandered up the northern coast of Cape Breton Island, and stopped for a long time to enjoy the sun and the sea right here:
My name in Ogham, written in clay:
In Cheticamp I made arrangements to go whale watching the next day and bought some musical stuff at a local store specializing in local Cape Breton material. Lucky me!
Once I entered the Highlands National Park I checked into the hostel and made my way to MacIntosh Brook (& waterfall) to enjoy the last hour of sunlight. The picture came out too dark, but wow, this was an awesome sight that I got to enjoy all by myself!
8/26/08
Got up early to go whale watching, and to my utter delight, it was raining! I am one of those that likes to experience a variety of weather, and because of the rain I got to see a whole other beautiful side of Cape Breton Island. Whale watching on the Zodiac tour was adventurous! These rubber boats not only get within feet of the whales, they also go very fast, and the tour guides don't let rain deter them from anything!
I spent the rest of my day taking in the scenery as I moved back south. I didn't quite have time to make it to the Gaelic College, but I did stay in Baddeck, which is an absolutely beautiful town! I once again took in some live music, this time at a local community center. Excellent!
8/27/08
I made my way back as I came, first returning my rental car in Truro and then bussing back into Halifax, where I had most of the day to meander some more. Little Mysteries is a wonderful bookstore on Barrington Street where I was offered help on finding books on Celtic spirituality and Druidry three times! How's that for love? I also met up with my internet friend Lanny and we happened to catch the Maritime Museum on a *free* admission Tuesday night. We also circled Fortress Louisbourg and saw a couple of other choice sights. I ended up spending the evening with what became a large group of friends, which really made my trip complete.
What is my final take on Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island? I have never seen a place that I thought was more beautiful (though I am sure it's a completely different universe in the dead of winter!). The people were more kind, polite, and enjoyable to interact with than most of the places I've been in America. The Celtic culture there is brimming over with vitality in every way. Yet "the old ways" are drying up even here. Crop and dairy farming are in trouble, as they are everywhere in North America. Are the cogs of modernization going to grind up the beauty and the culture even here? Even if this is so, the resilience of the Celtic spirit that is present in Nova Scotia and particularly on Cape Breton Island have left an indelible mark on my mind and my spirit, and to say I am grateful doesn't begin to describe how I feel.