Sept 20 Via Rail (Day 359)

The first leg of the last leg of our journey! We had a train to catch! We chose our B&B because it is walking distance to the Halifax train station. We were catching the overnight train from Halifax to Montreal, an almost 24 hour trip!

Eventually we will arrive in Vancouver, B.C.!

We had a long walk to our sleeper car at the far end of the train!

And we visited the lounge car too!

Sept 19 Halifax (Day 358)

After one night in the Airport hotel, several miles from Halifax city, we moved into a B&B in town for our second night. We took the city bus into town and explored for several hours until we could get into our apartment.

A serious monument across from the Halifax Town Hall.

A more whimsical monument on restaurant row a few blocks away!

We had a wonderful lunch nearby and then walked down to the ferry dock to catch a ferry across Halifax Harbour to get views of the city. Another bus ride took us to another ferry route and we caught that ferry back downtown.

In the harbor we saw several cruise ships, along with this 3 masted schooner! The old and the new.

After our long day of sightseeing it was nice to get back to our B&B on a quiet residential street in the evening.

Sept 18 To Canada via Iceland (Day 357)

We had an afternoon flight out of Heathrow so we had plenty of time to turn in our rental car and catch the bus to the airport. We said goodbye to the UK as we boarded our flight to Iceland.

The Royal Guard bid us farewell too!

A comfortable flight to Iceland where we had a few hours layover.

Leaving the shores of Iceland to fly over Greenland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!

We watched the sunset somewhere over the North Atlantic.

We approached Halifax well after dark!

And our luggage was apparently the last to be unloaded from the plane. Poor little lonely bags!

Sept 17 Back to London (Day 356)

Our 4 hour drive from our B&B near the town of Llanybydder to the outskirts of London near Heathrow Airport was uneventful, being traversed mainly on highways. We arrived at our last B&B in the UK, a cabin in the back garden of a townhouse.

We stayed down this street. It was still early enough to take a walk on this bridge over the 4 lane road to the closest grocery store.

We then walked through this small cemetery to the store and back.

Near the bridge we stopped at a small food truck serving up Pakistani street food. We waited while the chef cooked up fragrant curries and other dishes for customers until we got our order to take home and enjoy in our cabin.

Tomorrow we start the last leg of our journey around the world!

Sept 16 Llansteffan Castle (Day 355)

We visited the ruins of Llansteffan Castle, about 30 miles from our B&B on the banks of the river Towy (the native Welsh name is Tywi, and I don’t know how to pronounce either name!) where it empties into Carmarthen Bay. It was a beautiful sunny day.

The entrance gate opens onto a huge green field that must have held many soldiers from 600 BC until the 1550’s when the castle defended the important road to the interior of Wales. After 1550 its importance waned and it was used for farm buildings!

Details on the gate, lots of lions!

Inside the castle walls, looking back at the gate and the river below with farm fields across the river.

We returned to our B&B to enjoy a beautiful sunset on our little balcony on our last night in Wales!