St.John’s

David arrived safely, the gear is drying, the wind is blowing the clouds away, and what more can we ask? After a leisurely breakfast during which we catch up on the news from home and plan all the things we want to show to David (we haven’t seen David for 6 weeks and he hasn’t been to Newfoundland since he was a little boy), we set out on a walking tour of St. John’s. We begin at the Newfoundland Hotel and zig-zag along Water Street (the oldest street in North America), Duckworth Street, George Street (the most entertaining street in North America) and Harbour Drive.
While the other streets provide interesting shopping and trendy or traditional restaurants, George Street is all about pubs and places for live music. Regardless of the time of day or night you can tap your toes to traditional Newfoundland music heavily influenced by English/Irish music or seek out a variety of other entertainment to suit your fancy! We advise drinking but not eating on George Street. St. John’s is an ancient port favoured by fishermen, explorers, navies, and shippers for more than 400 years because it’s huge harbour is protected from the Atlantic ocean by a very narrow opening -The Narrows.
St. John’s has burned many times, much of it was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1892, but it’s a charming city whose brightly painted saltbox houses crowd the hills above the harbour. Almost all the historical buildings can be accessed on a walking tour that also passes many fine restaurants and shops. We stop at Ziggy’s Chip Wagon in front of Atlantic Place for a traditional lunch of chips, of course, that we take down to beautiful Harbourside Park to enjoy.
To complete our first day of sightseeing we hike up the hill to the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, which used to have the best view in the city (now usurped by The Rooms). The Basilica, a distinguished Roman Catholic cut stone sanctuary, begun in the 1840’s, has escaped the fires by being high on a hill and a judicious distance from the timbered buildings of the city. From the Basilica one can see the emerald lushness of the city with its lakes, parks, valleys, walking trails, and green spaces. A reward for all our walking is in order and we treat ourselves to delicious ice cream cones at Moo-Moo’s, a black and white spotted parlour with the best ice cream in the city.
Our days in St. John’s will be a balance of sight-seeing, visiting with Barry’s brother Gene & family, and simply enjoying the ambiance of this lovely old city. Tonight we’re eating our fresh cod caught in the Trinity Bight. Gene makes a Beer Batter for the fish and fries up salt pork into crispy morsels called Scrunchins that he pours over the fish just before eating. Delicious!