King's College and Canadian Cuisine

Before I leave all my reminiscing about Nova Scotia I wanted to show you a little bit of Halifax. I know I have been inundating you with maritime posts and I really hope you don't feel like it is too many.  I always enjoy seeing where other people live and the places they visit so I'm assuming some of you would feel the same way.  
Kate gave us a tour of University of King's College (Canada's oldest university, established in 1789) and Dalhousie University (established in 1818).  Kate was in the Foundation Year program at King's last year and loved it and this year she is taking courses at both of these universities (they are affiliated).  She lived in residence at King's last year and always described it as feeling like living in Hogwarts - and now that I've seen it, I can agree.

King's is a small university and its stone buildings are built around a quadrangle giving it an old world feel.

The students all have academic gowns that they wear for special occasions including the monthly Formal Meal.  The meal is held in Prince Hall and the tables are arranged in long rows and set with white tablecloth and candles.  You can see a short video of one here (about half way down the page).  

Prince Hall - the dining hall

There are many traditions throughout the year at King's helping to create a sense of community.  One of the traditions that I thought was very civilized was that the students and faculty get together and drink sherry and chat.

Inside the library at King's

And every King's student since 1803 has signed their name in the Matricula books during a special ceremony while wearing their academic robes.

The Matricula books in a special cabinet on the lower level of the library

When we had finished the tour of King's we went down to the harbour to look around and have dinner.  
Here's where we bought our yummy fish and chips - fresh and deep fried and delicious.

And here's where we bought our beaver tails - a classic Canadian deep fried pastry made in the shape of ... yep you guessed it ... a beaver's tail.

Look at all the different toppings you can get.

We chose nutella and it was fantastic.  We were still rather full from the fish and chips so we split the beaver tail.

Oh, and we saw Theodore the Tugboat in the harbour.  Did your children watch that show?  Did you know it was set and produced in Halifax.

And before we leave Halifax I wanted to give you a glimpse of Kate's room in the house she is living in with her friends.  I helped Kate makeover some curbside and thrift store finds and to set up her room, but it wasn't completely done when we left which meant I couldn't get many photos as it was still ... ahem ... stirred up.  
I love this view from kate's room (which is turquoise), to the hall (which is gold), to her friend's room (which is purple).  And aren't her roommates yellow sneakers the perfect colourful touch.

We took a bed down (that my father built about thirty years ago for my brother) in my parent's camper.  When we got the bed assembled, I asked Kate if she would mind if I made and styled her bed.  She knows I'm a bit off my rocker sometimes so she smiled indulgently and let me knock myself out with the bed styling.  So here are a couple of photos of how I arranged all her pillows and blankets to make her bed into a day bed.

And this one shows the prayer flags that I got Kate when I was in Darjeeling, India last summer.

Kate's busy with her school work now and I'm missing her lots. 
In case you want to read my other posts about Nova Scotia you can find them here:

• the Bay of Fundy here
• Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg here
• the one with bazillions of photos of beautiful homes here.