Day 6

September 1, 2009

Sydney, Nova Scotia

Since Sydney is on the same latitude as France it was a major port of immigration from France, UK, and Ireland. We were greeted at the dock by a 3 story tall fiddle and Celtic music. We boarded our tour bus and headed off to Fort Louisburg.

After a 45 minutes drive we arrived at the very far end of the fort and were transported into the late 1700’s. Before we got off the bus we were warned that we had to talk/barter/bribe our way past the French soldier at the gate of the fort since France is at war with Britain. She also warned that anyone wearing Red (color of British soldier’s clothing) might not get in. Well, a guy in our group stepped up and said that he was a rum runner would be willing to share some of what he brought with the soldier if he would let up in. That worked and we got inside. The fort was rebuilt in the 1960s but only a ¼ of it. The houses were all brick and lined up in front of the “Kings house” or the main fortress. This is where the governor and his servants lived.

One thing that was interesting was the social hierarchy of the fort. The lowest class was the soldiers, most of whom came from France to escape a life in prison. The next step up was the servants who came over with the families they worked for.

I was walking through the courtyard of the Governor’s house. I was hanging out watching them, the pig, and the chickens. At this same time the soldiers were giving a presentation of how the guns fired and right after the shot rang out the turkeys start gobbling up a storm and staring at the sky…probably waiting for the sky to fall…it was one of the funnies things I have seen in a long time.

We walked around the fort for about 1½ hours then headed back to the ship.

Path to the Govenor's house.

Main street.

These cannons were 2 of ~20 that lined the walls of the Govenor's compound.