Prince Edward Island

Tuesday, July 11, 2017
We left Moncton this morning and drove to an impressive bridge over the ocean which connects New Brunswick to the province of Prince Edward Island.  This 8-mile long structure, called the Confederation Bridge, opened in 1997, and the toll for a car is C$46.50, but the toll is only collected in one direction.


We saw a video about the construction of the bridge, with the biggest problem being planning for the winter ice.  It was quite interesting.
Arriving in Charlottetown, the capitol of PEI, we had lunch then took a guided walking tour of the town, learning the interesting story of how PEI became a province.  It’s an interesting tale, and most interesting is that the meeting which led to the confederation of the parts of Canada into a true country was held here, but PEI did not join at that time (1857). It’s a long story.
There are some old buildings, none of which is very interesting;  Perhaps the most impressive is the Catholic Basilica:


The fiddling here is Celtic style, reflecting the Scottish and Irish immigration, and there was live music on a bandstand as we were walking around (click the arrow in the center):


This is Anne of Green Gables country, with artifacts reflecting that everywhere.  After dinner tonight we’ll go to a musical based on the story. It's been running for many years, and we'll see how good it is.

Comments

  1. Bruce and Leslie TravelJuly 11, 2017 at 1:40 PM

    I've read that Anne draws a large number of Japanese tourists. Any evidence of that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckJuly 11, 2017 at 6:47 PM

      We haven't seen it (large numbers of Japanese) but we heard stories of Japanese people going to Tokyo, then flying Tokyo-Toronto-Charlottetown without breaking the trip,spending a full day touring all the Anne places, and then returning to Japan. Five days total, with four days travel and one intense Anne day here.

      Delete
  2. Ralph P. LockeJuly 11, 2017 at 2:08 PM

    I never knew that PEI was a province. Nor did I have any idea how far east it is! I thought it was somewhere in the St. Lawrence River, like some islands near Montreal and Quebec City (Notre Dame Island--built for Expo 67--and Ile d'Orleans). I should look at maps more often. The other thing I know about PEI is that lots of mussels come from there. Sounds like a major industry, though perhaps a somewhat precarious one to build an economy on.--I love the look of the bridge and want to drive it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckJuly 11, 2017 at 6:52 PM

      We are very far east! The time zone is an hour ahead of USA Eastern time. (As an aside, Newfoundland is another 1/2 hour ahead; it's one of the things which leads to Newfie jokes.)

      Everything on every menu is fresh flatfish or shellfish. We learned about the cooperative creation of lobster zones, with other Canadian provinces and with Maine, and the rotation of which zone allows lobstering at any given time. This keeps the lobster population up.

      Delete
  3. xctravelerJuly 11, 2017 at 6:17 PM

    "There are some old buildings, none of which is very interesting; " My memory exactly. No place can be as preciously beautiful as people say PEI it. It is! and that is where most of my interest stopped.

    ReplyDelete

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