Winter in Halifax, Nova Scotia

God! I never want to see Toronto Airport again!!

Between being hungover and waiting for a delayed flight I was desperate to get out of there. I spend about 8 hours in the airport just walking in circles, visiting the same shops over and over, looking out the window and checking the departure monitors to see if my flight was actually going to go or not.

Due to high winds the Halifax flight was delayed but we eventually got there after a very bumpy approach.

Nova Scotia is much warmer this year when I arrived, indeed 25c warmer than last time where it was -12c and now it is +12, indeed much like an Auckland day.

This soon dropped however and we are now sitting at around 0 degree's C and last night we got a wee but of snow, not much but enough for me and Katie to make 2 snowballs from the picnic table!

Today we are off to grab an Xmas tree!

Is the Bank of Scotland No More ?

Founded in 1695, the Bank of Scotland is the oldest bank in the United Kingdom. It is the only commercial institution created by the Scottish Parliament to remain in existence.

It was the first bank in Europe to print its own banknotes, something that continues to this very day and with the recent financial doom, it looks like it may be going down the gurgler!

According to the Scotsman Newspaper "In the rolling credit crisis, more than £46 billion of the bank's shareholder value has evaporated into thin air. The collapse has hit pension funds, wiped out the nest-eggs of many investors – and added to the misery of staff, many of whom had built up substantial holdings of HBOS shares"

"The bank has survived European revolutions, agricultural depressions, two world wars, stock market crashes and too many recessions to mention. Now it has succumbed to the greatest convulsion in financial markets since 1929."

How the hell can it collapse?

My god, I hope it doesn't collapse, it is a bank, yes but because it is so old and its HQ building has dominated part of Edinburgh's skyline for a while, it would be a shock to see it go.

Nightmare!!!