Down East by Rail -- Again # 3: A Walking Tour of Old Halifax

There are times when I feel that I should really be working as a tour guide.  Halifax is one place which often gives me that feeling.  But I'm a realist, and certainly don't have a swelled head about such matters.  I've been to this beautiful city on at least ten separate occasions, and yet I know perfectly well that there are so many parts of Halifax which I have never explored properly.

At first glance, the question of finding your way around Halifax seems easy.  Look at a map, and you'll see that downtown has a pretty rational street grid which is nearly oriented to the four cardinal compass directions of North, South, East, and West.

Once you've been here for a couple of days, you realize that you are seriously ill-adjusted to the reality of Halifax.  The directions that really matter are Up, Down, Windward, and Leeward.

This is because the east-west streets in the heart of downtown are all climbing the steep hill crowned by the Halifax Citadel.  Meanwhile, the north-south streets (actually aligned to north-northwest) are perfect wind tunnels, with the wind usually coming from the north.  So:

And let's not even talk about the confusion that ensues when you leave the downtown and the roads begin blundering about in totally random fashion, following the contours of the rugged landscape to a T.  It's not for nothing that the roads leading to the freeways out of town are all marked with signs that call the roads "102 Outbound" or "101 Inbound" rather than trying to apply geographical directions.  

You're welcome!

Halifax is a city with a lot of history, dating back into the 1700s, so almost every street has its old church, house, building, or monument.  It all means more to me than to many people simply because I spent my entire career teaching Canadian history.  Even those who don't know the background story in such depth can still appreciate the beauty of this city.

And we can all appreciate the politeness of Haligonian drivers (yes, "Haligonian" is the adjective used to describe a person from Halifax!).  After the relative insanity of Toronto, Montreal, London, Paris, Rome, and other world capitals of demented driving, Halifax comes as a blessed relief.  Half the intersections don't even have traffic signals; they just have crosswalks marked on the pavement.  The drivers always stop for pedestrians.  Hey, some drivers even stop in the middle of the block when they see a person hoping to jaywalk!

But it's helpful to remember than Halifax is still a relatively small city, with a total population in the Halifax-Dartmouth Metro area of less than half a million people.  Small it may be compared to the great conurbations of the continent, but Halifax has a lot to offer the visitor.

What follows is the summary of a day which I spent walking Up, Down, Windward, and Leeward in the historic downtown area.  You would not likely visit all these spots in a single day of walking.  Or maybe you would.

Let's start with my hotel, just because it illustrates the local geography so thoroughly.  This is the Four Points by Sheraton on Hollis Street, one block Up from the waterfront.  I moved over here after spending my arrival night at the Westin Nova Scotian.  The oddity of this hotel is that it doesn't have its own restaurant in the building.  Instead, you walk indoors into the adjacent Maritime Mall where the Niche restaurant offers all main meals, and room service, to the guests of the Four Points.

But here's the gimmick.  You go up to the second floor of the hotel, walk along the hall and through the connecting corridor into the mall, then go up one floor to the restaurant.  You are now on what would be the hotel's third floor -- but it's actually the first level below ground level in the Maritime Mall.  Yes, the hill really is that steep.

Farther Up, you come to St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the imposing bishop's residence.

Nearby is another historic church building, St. Matthew's United Church.

Both churches are located adjacent to the Old Burying Ground, which was first used by settlers and the garrison in 1749, and is now a National Historic Site.  

Just a short few blocks from the Burying Ground, going Up and then Windward, brings you to the crest of the hill, and the Halifax Citadel.  Begun in the 1740s, and finished in its current form by the 1840s, when Halifax had become one of the biggest bases of the British Navy outside of Britain, the Citadel was built to defend the naval base against the possibility of a land attack.  It has never fired a shot in anger, but still fires a signal gun every day exactly at noon -- and you can hear that gun with no trouble all over the central part of the city.

Even with the urban growth, the Citadel still offers a commanding view of the city and harbour.  The interpretive signboard shows how much the view has changed in the last century.

It's amazing how, everywhere I travel, this same guy keeps photobombing in front of my camera.  Here he is posing in front of the Citadel's main gate.

A visit inside the Citadel is a must for anyone with any interest in military history and the art of fortification.  I've done that on previous visits, and its definitely worth the entrance fee.  You need to set aside a couple of hours for even a cursory tour of the Citadel.

On the slopes of Citadel Hill, the Old Town Clock from 1803, currently undergoing restoration work, is another famous Halifax landmark.  It faces directly down Carmichael Street to Cable Wharf and the harbour.

The descent from the Citadel brought me to this long, narrow open space called the Grand Parade.  It stretches from the Halifax City Hall to Old St. Paul's Anglican Church, "The Garrison Church," and incorporates two war memorials.

Another couple of blocks in the direction of Down brought me to the austere, classic revival elegance of Province House, the seat of the Nova Scotia Legislature.  It's a surprisingly difficult building to photograph because it occupies almost all of the block on which it sits and is surrounded on all sides by other buildings right across the street.  An acute angle like this is almost the only way.

In the park next to Province House is this statue of Joseph Howe, one of the earliest Canadian specimens of that invaluable species of statesman, the Political Curmudgeon.  As a journalist, as a politician, as a public servant, and as a gadfly to the powers-that-be, Howe played significant roles in securing freedom of the press and in bringing rail connections to the Halifax region.  His stature in Nova Scotia history is legendary.

On the quirky side of Halifax, you find another local legend -- right across the street from the dignity of the Grand Parade.  This elaborate wall mural draws attention to the location of Freak Lunchbox, which may (it's been said) "just be the best little candy store in the country!"

And then there's this sidewalk sign.  The more I look at it, the more my eyes roll.  Seriously?  Moosehead beer with dim sum?  Only in Halifax....

Note, by the way, that all of these sights and sites are contained in the small area of eight short blocks Up/Down and six longer blocks Windward/Leeward between the Citadel and the Harbour.  I can easily enjoy several full days in this small area without going much farther afield, so this visit isn't the first time I've skipped renting a car and just spent my time walking around the historic district.

For those who visit Halifax with their own wheels, there are so many more places to go and things to see outside of this limited central area.