Lunenburg, in case you didn't know, is the home port of the Bluenose. If you open your wallet and dump out the change you will find the Bluenose on the Canadian dime. It's also on the province's license plate and is replicated multiple times and in multiple ways for tourists throughout the province. The ship had something to do with races, being undefeated etc but since I'm no Mariner and particularly dislike being on or in the water, I don't pay much attention to that sort of thing.
Anyway, Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Site which means it's something special about being a heritage type place. The gist of what I understand is that it is one of the oldest preserved planned British colonial sites - basically it means the Brits knew what the land looked like, laid out a town grid on a set of blueprints, sent a bunch of German and French colonials (and Brits I suppose) to build the site - kind of like what they did in Aliens when they discovered the mother ship but without the chest exploding parasites. I presume.
Anyway, the town is beautifully preserved, brightly painted and incredibly well kept. Lots of boutique stores and probably the most restaurants, cafes, eateries and diners per capita in Nova Scotia. Anything you want to eat, it's there and at any price you are willing to pay. After the dog show on Saturday we strolled down to the waterfront and had a look around. It's not high season yet so things were pretty quiet but I can imagine what it's like in the summer because there was nothing about this town that wouldn't appeal to someone looking for a tourist destination. I presume there's some sort of town ordinance that requires homes, at least the ones on major routes, to be kept at a certain level of care, cleanliness and exterior maintenance. The homes that weren't painted bright colors or didn't have landscaping were all certainly in the process of it. I think Pictou should do something like that but until this town grows some backbone and insists its citizens put in their dentures and stop hawking loogies on the sidewalk, it's a pipe dream.
Lunenburg held a couple surprises - one being a section of the Berlin Wall. Apparently it was a gift from Germany to the town because of its German heritage. I suppose it might have been because of the UNESCO thing but who knows really since the piece of the wall is located in an out of the way spot, not marked or easy to find and certainly nothing at the site to indicate why it's there. I took a few photos because, well, where else are you going to see this large a section of the Berlin Wall (besides Montreal - thanks Kathryn!).
The back side of it shows marks from being chipped away, possibly sledgehammers or pick axes or maybe something more substantial like a bulldozer bucket. I suspect those are the marks made when the wall came down, trying to get through the wall when it was erect would probably have gotten you shot.
Clearly the town also used to do whaling, not only indicated by the number of whale watching tours, which means there are a lot of whales in the offing, but also because this building has been left with its defunct signage in place, possibly because the town and the buildings owners know it's a piece of history too. History isn't often pretty and this company was in the business of ugly, although at the time it was perfectly normal way to make a living.
As was this, since companies are often symbiotic. I hear whale blubber sure burns clean ...
The building itself is not in use, or doesn't appear so. I'd love to go inside and take a look around but the state of the building is quite decrepit and doesn't appear safe to enter. It's not for sale, or at least there is no signage, and there is no access to it from the side I was on. The opposite side is closed off because it's along a secured wharf - possibly governmental - but it was a Saturday so who knows if it's in use on weekdays - certainly the government doesn't work on weekends.
The dog show was held just a few minutes walk from the waterfront - we had a moderately successful weekend with Cora learning how to be a show dog and almost relaxing enough to run around the ring without looking too anxious. I told Saturday's judge that it was Cora's first show and she made a point of taking her time, talking to Cora and making the experience positive. Cora won Best Puppy in Group on Saturday but not on Sunday although that judge explained - un-necessarily - that Cora stands with her elbows too close and her toes point outward. Well, duh, anyone can see that. The judge wanted me to stack her straight but since it was her first show I didn't want to fuss too much - it wasn't so much about winning as making it a positive experience for Cora. I also, erroneously, figured a decent judge would overlook the elbow thing when they saw that she moves very cleanly from the elbow despite her narrow front. I explained to the judge that her chest hadn't dropped and she was a puppy, but she said it distracted her because it was the first thing she saw. So what I heard was that she 'fault judges' and can't see past what is totally normal for a 11 month old large breed dog. Funny thing though, Cora's mother Leeloo won a Best Puppy in Show and her front lacked even more chest - clearly Leeloo was shown to a judge who understood what she was seeing. Anyway, I knew Cora would be a tough nut to crack based on her temperament (certainly not a dog I'd sell to a novice show home) but our next show is in 3 weeks and since she is a ridiculously smart dog she will do much better and I'm in no hurry to finish her or pressure her.
Esme, my little practice Special, won a 3rd in the Herding group on Saturday, and I don't mind saying I think it should have been a higher placement based on her quality; however, without that adult show coat to the ground judges have a hard time taking her seriously. The judge who gave her the group placement even commented that as a groomer she'd just shave all that coat off! If that woman knew what I've gone through to get the coat Esme has, she'd eat her words. The judge on Sunday, who complained about Cora's perfectly normal front, ignored my perfect Puli, so she is stricken from my show-to list. I can't afford to be driving for 3 hours each way and paying for a motel to enter under people who don't have a clue what they are looking at.
And that ... was Lunenburg. If you are headed this way I highly recommend going. It's a lovely town, easy to get to and if you are at all interested in architecture it's definitely a place you want to visit. There's certainly lots to see and do ... if you're not going to a dog show. Next stop ... Canning!
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