Instead of having a day at sea and then visiting Newfoundland the day after, we are in the port of Sydney in Nova Scotia for the day, and the next two days will be at sea en route to Greenland. Because of the change in itinerary, no shore excursions were offered today, since we arrived last minute.

Allan and I went to the little cafe on the ship called Mamsen’s for breakfast, and we ordered the famous waffles. I didn’t get the fruit and the pure peanut butter rolls, but Allan got the works!

After a nice morning relaxing at the pool area, we waited to go on shore to investigate the town of Sydney. Sydney was once one of the main producers of steel in North America and during both the First and Second World Wars, it was a major staging area for England-bound convoys. Today its main industries are tourism and, interestingly enough, customer support call centers.

When the ship docked, Lisa, John, Allan and I walked into town along the boardwalk, and passed the world’s largest fiddle, a tribute to the folk music and traditions of the province’s Celtic community, and then we stopped at an arts and crafts boutique. We then walked over to the memorial for the merchant marines, which tells the heroic story of the sailors on merchant ships who carried equipment and supplies to the Allied forces in Europe during WWII.

Since nothing much was going on except a lot of construction, we walked back to the ship and had lunch. I had a delicious Asian beef noodle soup and I finished the meal with vegetables on a skewer, as well as some steamed veggies.

At 8 pm, we went to the Chef’s Table restaurant for an Asian cuisine. The selections were stellar, and thankfully, there was not a cumin spice to be found like what was in our meal the other night.

The wines that were paired with each course complemented them perfectly and the courses that were presented were absolutely wonderful. We were thinking we should come back and enjoy the entire meal once again. The Chef’s Table changes cuisine every third day, so in actuality, we could be there tomorrow, but alas, we will find another venue for dinner tomorrow evening, which I’m sure will be equally enjoyable.

We finished the evening at the pool lounging on the chaises, to read and then it was to bed.

A lovely place to relax and read

At Sydney, Nova Scotia

The merchant marine memorial

Our ship, the Viking Saturn