Going home, Part 2

One of my daughter's favorite Newfoundland things...

The internationally, popular work dog, the Newfoundland Dog.  Very popular in Holland, where the dog pulls flower carts for it's owner and street vendors.

But I digress....

The liveliness of the capital, St. John's, is hard to miss, regardless of a small population around 150,000.  From the colourful saltbox homes, the quirky downtown with a huge assortment of local merchants, bistros, restaurants and pubs, the most bars per capita in North America and an abundant amount of festivals and reasons to celebrate with food and drink. 

View from above: overlooking Old St. John's, the downtown and Harbour with The Narrows

Typical saltbox style homes in Old St. John's

Old St. John's and the downtown district

You can easily spend an afternoon, evening and night strolling along the three main streets of the downtown area, enjoying some wonderful bakeries and bistros for lunch, first class dining experiences for dinner and a few too many pubs to keep you going at night! Shopping downtown is a must to see what Newfoundland has to offer in the way of unique clothes, crafts, music and art.  From Found Locally, "Downtown is align Water Street, which at 400 years old is the oldest commercial street in North America, with its colorful painted store fronts on 3 or 4 story Victorian brick and stone building. The Murray Premises is a restored 19th century fishing merchant building that survived the Great Fire, and has been restored to contain stores, restaurants and offices. One street up is Duckworth Street, which has more Restaurants and cafes intermingled with stores which are more focused on crafts, antiques and books."  Take a look at http://www.downtownstjohns.com/ 

Pending the season, visitors flock on boat tours to catch an iceberg up close, to experience the whales migration path, see the adorable Puffin in it's natural habitat or take an adventure tour by sea kayaking - an experience not to be missed!  Talk about degrees of separation, my old high school gym teacher now runs a great sea kayaking tour company aptly named Stan Cook's Sea Kayaking Adventures!  http://www.wildnfld.ca/  Stan will take you out to iceberg, puffin, whale and through the many sea arches along the coastline of Newfoundland.

THE ROOMS is the latest home of the Art Gallery and Museum of Newfoundland.  http://www.therooms.ca/artgallery/  Based in St. John's with spectacular views of the old city, the harbour, Narrows and Cabot Tower, with abundant history and a great little bistro to catch up with old or new friends.

Take a stroll through the Botanic Gardens next to Memorial University, where you can see the natural plants, flowers and trees of this unique Province.

Botanic Gardens

From most points of view in Old St.John's, the beacon on the hillside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is a famous site, Cabot Tower on Signal Hill.  This houses an impressive view of life in Newfoundland, the ceremonious Tattoo which is re-enacted multiples times a week in the summer months, and is most importantly known as the sight of the first transatlantic communication.

Cabot Tower

Though it overlooks the Atlantic, it also offers impressive views of "The Narrows", the locals' name for the small opening between land that allows access from the Atlantic to the St. John's Harbour - the mouth of the Harbour.  Here is a beautiful picture of Fort Amherst, which resides low on the hills, opposite of Signal Hill in "The Narrows".

Fort Amherst

In the mood for history and beautifully old and preserved architecture?  Look to the beacon perched on top of Old St. John's and you'll find St. John The Baptist Basilica.  Built by the Portuguese and Spaniards while over fishing the waters, this impressive church was carefully carved out over many years and is kept in wonderful condition today.  It is currently the main place of worship for people of the Roman Catholic religion and is breathtaking from step to step.

The Basilica in action

Whether you are in the mood for modern day comforts, quirky and artisan finds, a place to have a good pint, or even a stroll back in time or wedged firmly in history of a people, a place or their contribution to the world wars, St. John's will keep you busy for days on end.