Sydney is the historic capital of Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia. It is its largest urban centre and busiest harbourtown. However, it is best known as the gateway to the island's sweeping cliffs, massive rolling hills, majestic ocean views, craggy coasts, and miles and miles of green valleys.
Standing strategically on the waterfront to be seen by incoming cruise ships and greet visitors is a giant fiddle with an equally giant bow. At 60 feet tall and made of solid steel, it was built to pay tribute to the folk music and traditions of the province’s Celtic community. Nearby, there was a group of musicians clad in kilts playing a lively tune with their bagpipes. We definitely felt the strong Gaelic spirit and we could not wait to see more. After Cape Breton was established as a haven for British loyalists who fled from the American Revolution of 1875, it had an influx of immigrants from the Scottish Highlands in the early 19th century before the French dominated this area. Their culture and traditions have lived on and are very much evident in the people's daily lives.
We soon boarded a bus that took us on a one-hour city tour. Sydney is known for its wooden 18th-century buildings such as the Cossit and Jost houses, now museums with period furniture; and St. Patrick’s Church Museum which now showcases local history in the 1828 church. At Glace Bay, we saw the Cape Breton Miners’ Museum that features the area’s coal-mining heritage. We only got to see the façade of these buildings since we booked an all-afternoon tour of the Fortress of Louisbourg.
The iconic fortress is a National Historic Site of Canada and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century fortress. Our visit provided us with the unique opportunity to experience life during the 1744 French occupation of Canada.
After a brief overview of the site, we toured the fort and mingled with period-costumed interpreters portraying historic characters. We saw the meticulously restored buildings, including the Chateau Saint Louis with its beautiful furniture, tapestries, and paintings. We strolled the streets and meandered through the gardens. Re-enactments erupted at every turn as we explored the property, and we truly felt that we were re-living the excitement of a day in 1744!
We also met “regular” costumed folks – those that performed the day-to-day tasks in 18th-century Nova Scotia, who gave us impromptu demonstrations on open hearth cooking, cloth-making, and French basket-weaving. At the forge and military barracks, we got to learn how to make a musket ball and how to take care of soldier equipment and weaponry. We even got the chance to fire a cannon!
The weather that day was cloudy and the sky had a foreboding of a storm coming. The atmosphere added to the air of mystery and it made our make-believe life in the 18th century seem realistic. We felt like we were in a movie set, shooting a period film, and Mother Nature cooperated by providing us with the perfect mood lighting.
We ended the tour with a stop at the gift shop where my husband bought a commemorative plate for his parents. You see, the street where they live in Montreal is called Louisbourg. What a coincidence!
As we drove back to the ship, I told my husband that we should go back one day. There were more to see around the island. I would have loved to hike along the scenic Cabot Trail or walk along the shores of the famous Bras d’Or Lakes. I would have loved to visit the 50-acre Nova Scotia Highland Village that provides a chronological journey of the island’s Scottish heritage through a tour of 180 years of Cape Breton’s Scottish architecture. It is hosted by staff trained in conversational Gaelic. How interesting! I would have also loved to visit Baddeck where Alexander Graham Bell spent the last years of his life, and learned more about him at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.
My husband, on the other hand, was keener on going back to do the Cape Breton Mine Experience at Black Gold Mines, where one can go to an actual underground coal mine located beneath the museum and see a demo of coal mining performed by retired coal miners.
Back at the port, we spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening strolling around the harbour. The cruise pavilion, which was right beside the giant fiddle, was turned into a marketplace with stalls showcasing local products and arts and crafts. And of course, our window-shopping spree was made festive by live fiddle music and sea chanteys. I felt like doing a stepdance, except that I had no idea how.
Photo Credits:
wikivoyage.com, atlasobscura.com, see-sighttours.com, sydney.capebretonisland.com, oldsydneysociety.com, minersmuseum.com, novascotia.com, cbisland.com
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