Day 3 on the Cruise- Sydney Nova Scotia

Sydney Nova Scotia ended up being a nice, unexpected treat on our cruise.  We did not have any real expectations here, but we ended up coming away with an appreciation for the area.

We had purchased an excursion for Sydney, which was really just a concert at the port visitor center.  The concert happened in a room just a few steps from our ship.

Our friends on this cruise had done this particular cruise before, and they said that we HAD to do this excursion....  as they would be doing it for a second time.

We followed a bagpiper in to the visitor center, and he led us to an upstairs area.  We were given bottled waters and took a seat at a table with oatcakes, which were tasty.  Coffee was also available.

There was a three piece band with each member switching playing a keyboard, guitar and fiddle.  All three alternated instruments, I think each playing at least 2 at some point.  Kimberley Fraser played a left handed fiddle, which is the only time I have ever seen a southpaw fiddler. 

They were great- doing mostly local folk and original songs. All of the songs were about the area and local culture.  Kim Fraser did sing a Gaelic song at one point.  I did buy a CD from one of the musicians, Aaron C. Lewis, and I have really enjoyed it.  This was a very enjoyable show, with some great and freakishly talented musicians.  This was definitely an excursion worth the price, and I am going to have to look up each of the musicians we saw and keep up with them.

At the port is the world's largest fiddle!  It was perfect for photo ops, and it looked cool next to the ship!

After the concert, we walked around the port, where a local vendor market was set up.  Similar shops were set up at each port, and we enjoyed looking through them.  Here, we met a girl named Jill who has her own chocolate company!  My wife also found a nice alpaca sweater, at a reasonable price (actually, they had some alpaca stuff that was very affordable).  This was a nice area.