Halifax by Jennah

The night we got to Halifax, we camped at a Wal-Mart, I think. The next morning, Mom told me that we were going to a mechanic but I could stay asleep while they checked it out. The next time I woke up, everyone was yelling that we had to leave the camper in less than five minutes.

Once I was dressed and shoved out the door into the cold, I learned that the transmission on our camper had broken, and that the Canadians were going to try to repair it before the next day, when it had to go to the ship yard.
We walked to Tim Hortons and got coffee and donuts. Jack and I decided to leave and go to downtown, which was about a half hour’s walk from where we were. We got there, and first went to a poutinerie, a restaurant that sells a delicious Canadian cuisine (french fries, cheese curds and gravy). Jack and I ordered a large size and then we walked to the Halifax Central Library, a big modern looking place with glass walls. On the top of the library was a rooftop garden.
We sat inside for a while, charging our phones before Jack said we should find a cafe. Instead, we walked down the ocean, trying to see if we could get to the boat port, where a huge cruise ship was docked. Unfortunately, we couldn’t, but we found a cute farmer’s market that had lots of little stores that sold jewlery, pumpkins and egg rolls.
After that, we sat on the pier then walked up to downtown again, where we went to a restaurant called Elle’s Bistro. I think it was owned by a couple, because there was a baby in a crib in the corner and a young man and woman were the behind the counter.
Jack got a burger and I got soup and bread. It was a very nice place, with internet and a place they showed us where we could charge our phones, and a cheap menu, plus the free entertainment of watching the baby get tangled up in it’s balloon.
It was very charming until we saw a mouse dart across the floor – then we wondered if that meant the hyigene of the place wasn’t exactly up to par.
Jack and I returned to the library, where Mom and Dad picked us up, the camper apparently fixed. We went to the KOA, showered and started packing for the 2 week stay in Edinburgh.

The next morning we went to the airport. Since the camper had to be at the dock by 11 am, Dad dropped us all off and we went inside with our bags. Mom, Max, Annie and Sylvia left to go walk around Halifax. Since Jack and I had already seen it, we stayed there to watch the bags for the next 8 or so hours.
The family came back at about 7 with pizza and we ate then went through security.

We boarded the flight at about 10:05, and then was told that it would be less than five hours, actually shorter than the flight from Seattle to Tampa, which was a big disappointment because supposedly, Jack and I could have dranken on the flight, and we were originally told it’d be 8 or 9.

We landed at about 8 am, Scotland time, and had to stagger to the bus station, to take our bus to the center of Glasglow, then another bus to Edinburgh, about an hour away from Glasglow. Once we arrived in Edinburgh, we had to carry our bags through the Royal Mile, going the wrong direction once or twice, until we finally got to our apartment, where  a nice Scottish man explained how everything worked.

Jack and I left to go to a pub. Jack was obsessed with finding his idea of the perfect pub, and I just really wanted to go to sleep. We wandered for an hour or so, looking for a pub that would match his cricteria.

Eventually we went into the Washbar, which was very cozy and cute. We ordered fish and chips, and Jack got a beer. Supposedly, I can drink in the UK as long as I’m with an adult, but since I forgot my passport and I wasn’t 100% sure about the law, I just ordered a lemonade. Apparently though, lemonade isn’t actually lemonade here, but a drink like Sprite or 7-Up. The fish and chips were exactly like one would imagine.

After Jack finished his beer, we left and went back to the apartment. I fell asleep almost immediately, and slept until 1 am, then woke up for another six hours. I fell asleep again at 7 am, and slept until noon.

— Jennah

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