Boston to Montreal, Tuesday, September 3, 2019

We dock this morning a little later than normal, and will be able to leave the ship by 10:30. As we have no tours planned for today, we take a leisurely morning, with coffee in our rooms and then meeting at Lido deck for a hot breakfast of omelettes, scrambled eggs, pastries, and juice. Deb and Tim elect to eat in their stateroom so Abigail, Deb and Mark spend some time planning their day over coffee. Abigail has decided to remain on board ship today, resting (?) knitting and lounging. Deb and Mark decide to go on shore and explore the town of Sydney.

Technically, Sydney is no longer a town, having been absorbed into a regional governmental body in 1994. However, it obviously still exists. It is a small town with a regional population of 22,000 or so, occupying a portion of the Cape Breton Island. As we disembark the ship, we are greeted by a 30 foot tall sculpture of a violin or fiddle. Cape Breton has an Irish, Scottish and indigenous heritage and loves their fiddle playing musical heritage. On the pier is a large structure of small shops, tables and chairs occupied by a host of passengers and crew anxiously bent over their electronic tethers to find what is happening with the world (free WI-FI,) and a large hall filled with tables of craft objects, all being hawked by the local makers.

We walk a bit further into the town, finding small shops, looking at the houses for sale in the real estate store window, and just soaking up the local culture. As we are very set against the cruising habit of stop, buy souvenirs, and then hop back on board, we wandered the small stores, eventually stopping in one to buy some cute tee-shirts and visit with the shop owners. The two local women were munching on a burrito style wrap sandwich, and when we inquired, they directed us to a small cafe around the corner. We walked a block over and entered the Flavor Restaurant and sat to have a chicken, apricot and walnut wrap (delicious) and a bowl of Fish Chowder and home made toast, all washed down with a tasty glass of red wine. Deb declares the chowder the best she has ever had!

While waiting for our meal, we perused the map we had been given of the town and discovered a yarn shop, The Bobbin Tree. After our luncheon, we walked back a few blocks to the shop where, substituting ourselves for Abigail, we purchased some locally produced and dyed yarn. The walk back to the ship was slow and interesting; we passed a statue/memorial along the way on the waterfront which told the story of the merchant ships lost during the Atlantic Wars of 1939-1945 as the sailors from the area helped to supply the war effort. The loss of over 266 ships during the many crossings was a testament to the effort put forth by this small island and the price they paid for our continued freedom in the western world. We journeyed back to our ship and were on board by 2:30 PM.

We located Deb Duggan and Abigail who, we found had been sitting in the library most of the morning, Deb reading, and Abigail listening to her music, mostly napping and just relaxing. After their lunch they talked at length and decided to head to the lecture and demonstration on Chicken Marsala, presented by America’s Test Kitchen magazine, which they did, from 3:00 to 4:00. Tim, in the meanwhile, was out searching for another bridge game. We all then readjourned on deck to bask in the sun, read and generally lolly-gag around until we cast off at 6:30. Then on to dinner, again in the Lido Market for pork roast, deviled eggs, pasta, salmon and other comestibles, wine included.

Deb, Deb and Tim again went on a quest to find the mythical prow of the ship, going up and down steps, into unauthorized “Staff Only” doors and eventually finding their goal, but not without a lot of marching around. All were back in their staterooms by 9:30. Another lazy day that is becoming a hallmark of this vacation. As we stood on the aft deck of the good ship Zaandam bidding farewell to the coast of Nova Scotia earlier in the evening, we all remarked on what a pleasant and quiet land we had visited over the last two days. We vowed to return in the coming years to explore the area in much greater depth. The Nova Scotian Province is easily reachable by automobile from the American Northeast, and merits much greater interest from its American neighbors to the south. The views are stunning, the people friendly, and, with no language barrier, it is welcoming and engaging.