I spent 6 days in the busy, pretty city of Halifax. It has a magnificent public library, waterfront walkways with restaurants and bars and pretty parks. A particular highlight are the Halifax Public Gardens. For me, they were a place to wait for a film to start at the nearby cinema. For this gentleman, a place to promenade, take the air and, if you’re lucky, tell stories. He made my day, and we passed half an hour together as he told me jokes, recommended The Cabot Trail, and wandered off with a friend, ribbing him about having to climb the fence to escape the gardens if they left it much longer.

The gardens are beautifully maintained. A place to walk, rather than run, and admire the flowers, stone bridges and birds swooping over the lake.

Flowerbed in the gardens.

Stone bridge.

Plants round a stream.

Trees in the sun.

The lake, with boats.

Bandstand surrounded by flower beds.

Red flowers in the sun.

I spent time on different floors of the library. The other side (from the front entrance) gives great views over the water, away in the distance, once you get high enough.

I walked the five miles out to the Chain of Lakes parkrun, which takes you past clapperboard houses that suggest the town is prosperous, and then to great views (especially in the sun) over the different lakes.