Truro Churches

On the main street (Prince St.) of my hometown there are no fewer than five different churches lined up on the same side of the street, with no more than 500 meters separating the first from the last. One of the funniest moments (for me, at least) of our recent trip home occurred as I was walking down Prince St. with my wife and daughter. Seeing so many churches situated so close to each other seemed to be a source of great puzzlement to my wife. I noticed her expression and asked her what was bothering her. She thought about it for a moment and then asked me why there were so many churches in pretty much the same place.

Now I was the one who was puzzled. The question didn't (initially) make any sense to me. I asked her to explain what she meant. She seemed to think about it for a moment or two, and then explained that in Japan you would never see, for example, five "7-11" convenience stores lined up like that on the same street, or five "Mr. Donuts" shops...

Momentarily confused, I stood there with my mouth open ("catching flies" as they say) until, slowly, I began to see what she was driving at. As understanding dawned I began laughing, causing my wife to get a kind of bewildered, pissed-off look on her face. Sticking with her analogy, I explained that the situation was more like having five different convenience store companies or donut shops lined up on the same street. Now it was her turn to laugh...

Anyway, here are some pics of three of the above-mentioned churches (click to enlarge):

The First United Church of Truro.

St. James Presbyterian Church.

St. John's Anglican Church from the front...

... a little closer...

... and from the side.

Not a God-damned sandwich or coffee or donut to be found in any of them...