Newfoundland – St John’s

St John’s is known for its colorful “jelly belly” row houses built upon a steep hillside. So to start another foggy day, we walked around the city a bit.

We even saw row houses painted on various things.

Then we walked to Harbourside Park which has several memorials.

A sign said “No Province or State in North America has had the good fortune of our Province, to be the home of TWO world-famous, immensely popular, extremely friendly, companion dogs:” the Newfoundland and the Labrador (Retriever).

It was still foggy, but we decided to drive up to Signal Hill, a National Historic Site with a tower overlooking St John’s Bay. Plenty of parking as you could barely see the tower in the fog. We looked at the displays in the tower that explained the first transatlantic wireless communication and how the tower was used to signal the approach of vessels. When we came out, the fog was beginning to lift. Bill took the trail down the mountain while Barbara took in the view from the top. 

Near the bottom of the mountain Bill found a letterbox that he knew Barbara was interested in. So he brought it all the way up the mountain for Barbara to stamp, then brought it all the way back down to replant it. Barbara thinks Bill is her hero! The tower was clear and the parking lot jam packed when we left.

We spent the afternoon at The Rooms – a museum displaying history, art and culture of the province. 

It is called “The Rooms” because when fishermen came here seasonally from Europe they would look for fishing “rooms” – small tracts of land in fishing communities. Also the museum’s layout focuses on rooms for their various themes. 

We learned some interesting things about the province through various displays and took in the view of St John’s Harbour.