Halifax Public Gardens

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 
Address: 5665 Spring Garden Road
Date: July 2006
Website:  www.halifaxpublicgardens.ca

  It was the perfect summer's day to relax in the park.  Our plan was to do nothing but walk around downtown Halifax.  We walked through the wrought iron gates of the Public Gardens and it wasn't long before we realized what a beautiful place it was.  We walked over a small bridge and stopped to admire the view.  A small stream flowed under the bridge past trees, flowers and miniature buildings.  The stream was also home to many of the park's resident ducks.

  Three ducks managed to steal the show.  Below they are devising a plan to get our attention.

And then they put the plan into action as a duck parade began and marched right across the pathway in front of us.  Well done! Attention received!  We followed the parade deeper into the gardens.

  Before we go further, one more word about these ducks.  We have determined that these were mallard ducks.  We also noticed that the heads of the two males were blue and not the traditional green.  It seems that there is much debate over this on the internet, much like how one person might see a dress as gold while another sees it as blue.  Some people claim that the blue is just a trick of the light reflecting a certain way.  Others have stated that the bright green is caused by the high testosterone levels in the ducks and that these blue headed ducks must therefore have lower testosterone levels.  A third option is that we have completely misidentified them and these are not mallard ducks at all.  All we know is that they put on one heck of a parade and it wasn't long before the ducks lead us to another pond.

  In the center of the pond is the Boer War Fountain.  It was erected in 1903 and has a soldier standing at the top of it to commemorate the Canadian soldiers who served in the South African War.  At the base of the fountain is a pond filled with ducks.  We also noticed many other birds in the gardens.  There was a Toulouse Goose being watched over by a pigeon and an American Pekin Duck waiting by the pathway hoping to take part in the next parade.  After following the birds around, we finally took a seat on a bench near the bandstand and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

---

Map of Our World
Halifax Public Gardens

---

Post # 53

Mykonos Windmills (Bourne Identity)

Location: Mykonos, Greece
Address: Mykonos Windmills
Date: June 2000
Website:  caprice.gr

  During our visit to the Greek island of Mykonos we stopped by their famous windmills.  These windmills were originally created to use wind power to grind wheat.  Today they stand as one of the most recognizable features of the island.  We recently discovered that the picture above is the only one we have that includes any part of these windmills.  You can just see one of the blades and rope from the windmill that we were standing beneath. This is back in the days before we owned a digital camera so we are still going through old shoe boxes and albums in the hopes that something may turn up.
  What we did capture perfectly is the scooter rental store from the end of The Bourne Identity.  In reality it is a restaurant called Sea Satin Market.  We know that the movie was still filming in 2001, so we expect that we beat Bourne to the island by about a year.  This restaurant is where Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is finally reunited with Marie (Franka Potente).  Franka Potente is best known for her role in the wonderful film, Run Lola Run, where the story unfolds in 3 possible outcomes.  In The Bourne Identity, Marie rents a couple of scooters out front and then turns and heads inside.  She starts to tidy up the store when Jason suddenly appears in the doorway.  As the couple embraces the camera flys out away from the building and Extreme Ways by Moby starts to play.  We finally get a glimpse of those Mykonos windmills and then the credits begin to roll.
  Do you think there are more pictures somewhere in that other box ?  

Oh baby.  Oh baby.  Then it fell apart. It fell apart.

 

---

Map of Our World
Sea Satin Market
Mykonos Windmills

---

Post # 52

MUSIC - Rock Lobster

Artist: The B-52's
Song: Rock Lobster
Released: 1979
Where to listen: East Coast, Snorkeling, Aquariums & Beach Parties

    The B-52's were the first successful band to hail from Athens, Georgia.  They would be the most successful if it weren't for a band called REM.  While REM may have sold more records, The B-52's are much more fun.  This song is great for parties and summertime travel.  It would be perfect if you were at the beach with boys and bikinis and girls and surfboards.  This song also works when visiting any fishing towns in the Maritime provinces of Canada or the North-Eastern USA.  We visited a 55 tonne lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick that is sitting on a huge rock.  Now that is a rock lobster!
  This song is also great to help kids learn all the fish noises when visiting an aquarium.  The ending of the song is sort of an Old MacDonald of the sea.  Instead of moo, quack and oink it gets a little more complicated.  Let's look at some of the lyrics.

Here comes a stingray (wok ahh whuhh)  - The noises are hard enough to imitate let alone write down.  Below are two southern stingrays from the Toronto Zoo.

There goes a manta ray (aya aya ayah) - Manta Rays are the largest rays and can reach widths of up to 23 feet.  We have never seen one or heard what it sounds like.

In walked a jellyfish (uuhhh) - We have seen lots of jellyfish, but they always seem very quiet.  The picture below is of a Japanese sea nettle from the New England Aquarium.  We don't know if Japanese jellyfish sound different or not, or if this one has been in Boston long enough to pick up an accent.

There goes a dogfish (reeawr) - Dogfish are a type of small shark.

Chased by a catfish (blrroooh) - The catfish below are from Sea Life London Aquarium.  You can always tell a catfish by its whiskers.  Actually those whiskers are not hair but skin.

There goes a narwhal (eehh  eehh) - A narwhal is a whale that lives in the Arctic and has a long tusk.  We did see this one on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.

While the song Rock Lobster may not be as educational as this blog post, it is always lots of fun no matter where you are vacationing.  Oh, and remember to watch out for that piranha!

---

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Stingray Bay) , New England Aquarium , Sea Life London Aquarium
Royal Ontario Museum

---

Post # 51