In Halifax we meet Americans with shared heritage

These massive numbers on the board walk in Halifax Nova Scotia, commemorate the 1812 war. It's a significant date for Americans, just under a hundred years before the massive explosion which ripped Halifax apart. It was the war against the British. It was near here we chatted to many Americans on holiday. One was from another cruise ship and we met her near the Titanic exhibition and one of my friends admired her Titanic bag so much, she went into the shop and bought one. Another couple we spoke to were admiring the starlings and we got into conversation about wild life in Florida where they lived. In the course of conversation, we found they were both New Yorkers originally. We were all about to say goodbye and go on our way, when I asked if either of them might be descended from the Winthrops. "Well, funny you should say that," they said, because there were two connections, although not direct ones. One ancestor, by the name of Graves had joined the Winthrop group on the Arbella in 1630. He had been a boat builder in a place called Stepney. We were amazed, as my friends have traced their ancestry back to Stepney and the occupation of their ancestors was boat builders. The links didn't stop there, however. There was another ancestor, a woman, who had become the fourth wife of John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts. As we were exploring the "New World", we were still discussing what a "small" world it was, when we climbed the hill towards the fort. Perhaps it was because we were so deep in conversation, or perhaps it was because I was looking around me rather than where I was going, but I twisted my ankle and landed heavily on the pavement. Rather shaken and sore, I elected to stay in a public park nearby and write the postcards I had bought, whilst my friends went on to explore further.

There was a large war memorial in the centre of the park and a fine church at one end. It was obviously on the tourist trail, as more than one tour guide came through it with a group and stopped in front of the memorial. I wrote all my postcards in the sunshine there.