Our ship docked in Sydney at 8 a.m. Wednesday, and we scurried off to catch a tour bus at 8:15. Today we would be touring a Gaelic Highland Village, the town of Baddeck, and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.
Nova Scotia was a settling place for many immigrants from Scotland starting in the late 1700s. The Highland Village, an hour inland from Sydney, is a 40-acre re-creation of how those early immigrants, and later generations, lived and prospered through the years. There are a dozen or so buildings that mirror what it was like for these Gaelic peoples in four different eras: 1770s-1830s in Scotland; 1770s-1850s as settlers in Nova Scotia; 1850s-1880s as Gaelic communities moved from a pastoral to an agricultural lifestyle; and 1880s-1920s as the outside world became part of the Gaelic reality in Nova Scotia. The village is situated on a hill overlooking Bras d'Or Lake Biosphere Reserve. Costumed actors portray Gaelic peoples in the various buildings that illustrate life in each of the four different eras.
The day was windy, raw, and cold, with plenty of fog about. We started at the top of the hill and wound our way down through the buildings representing life in the different eras. There were fireplaces lit in several of the buildings, and we lingered perhaps a little longer in those buildings on such a chilly day.
Our final stop was at the visitor center, where we were treated to hot tea and coffee and Cape Breton oatcakes. Oatcakes? Sounded, um, really healthy, but in fact they were delicious cookies. I snuck back to the main table for an extra one. Or two. I've included the recipe below.
Here are a couple of pictures from the village (too chilly to take many pictures outside), as well as a panoramic video from the top of the village hill.
From the Highland Village we drove to the town of Baddeck, also on the Bras D'Or Lakes. There were a lot of little shops to visit, but unfortunately today's date was May 31st and most of the shops opened for the season on June 1st. We did stop at a resort restaurant for a very nice lunch, then proceeded on to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum for a tour of his inventions and memorabilia. Baddeck, except for the Bell Museum, was kind of a bust, but the lake and surrounding country were so pretty and the weather had turned so nice that we just sat back in the bus and enjoyed the ride back to Sydney and our ship.
The day ended up divided into two different halves: the first a raw and windy day at the Highland Village; the second a milder day with blue skies and some very pretty scenery. An enjoyable day all the way around.