Titanic and Marianne

Diva and TSH provide the kiss of death to more excursions. They were notified in the evening that the planned excursion for Bar Harbour was not running so booked another which by the following morning was also cancelled. If the fourth choice does not run it’s back to the shop to spend more on board credit.

On the last day in Canada for Diva and TSH, they were greeted on the quayside of Halifax by a bagpiper and a drummer playing traditional Scottish music. Later, after TSH had seen a train, they enjoyed walking on the boardwalk. They visited the maritime museum to see the exhibit about how the search for bodies from the Titanic was coordinated from Halifax and many of the bodies were buried here. This exercise served Halifax well when they had their own disaster in 1917. Two ships, including an ammunition ship, collided in the harbour, triggering the largest man-made explosion ever (eventually eclipsed by Hiroshima). Many people died and many bodies had to be identified and buried. The US city of Boston helped with organising the aftermath and building new dwellings at a fast rate.  

On the way back to the ship, a busker was singing the Leonard Cohen song ‘So Long Marianne’ (he did not write a So Long Diva and TSH). And it’s the last day.  And Diva is writing a dissertation about Cohen. How spooky is that?

Quite a lot of Irish influence in this part of Canada which is noticeable in the names on signs and some of the music that Diva and TSH have heard.