Maritime

The journey between Montreal and Halifax is dubbed by Via Rail, "The most beautiful journey you will every sleep through" (or something along those lines. It was very sureal waking up in the early morning and looking out through the window at the sun just bouncing off the water, skimming over craggs and illuminating lighthouses. Halifax itself is a very cute wee town, probably busier (and warmer) in the summer time though. I browsed the small boutiques downtown (a lot of them pretending to be Scottish) and sipped on my local coffee as I tried to figure out what goes on in Halifax on a Saturday night! There was a ton of live music listings in the local paper but not having a clue about the bands or the locations I headed back to the hostel and ended up spending the evening with a couple of the staff at their local - a jazz and blues pub next door with a live band most nights. We repeated the experience the next night in the hostel, having our own jam night with too many guitars and very quiet/shy singers. Lots of fun :)
I found a lovel little tea shop near the station, "like Starbucks except for tea!" one of the other customers told her friend over her cell phone. It's amazing how much of someones life story you can overhear from them catting away on mobiles. Then it was back on the train for the long journey back to Toronto. More crazy people, random life stories and and uncomfy nights sleep.