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Published: March 31st 2015
St John Baptist
Interior shots only this dayThe wind and rain were pounding on the windows this morning – our luck has run out. Just before leaving the room, I decided to take a photo of what the view from the window actually was. That made me notice that at 9:00 in the morning the clouds were so dark that lights shone as if it were late dusk.
The usual start to the city tour is
Signal Hill, but that was inadvisable because we couldn’t even see Signal Hill, let alone the view. Our city guide, Linda, had us driven along streets past important buildings and monuments. Thankfully, the bus seat rotation brought me to second row where I could see out the windshield; I am not sure the others could see much of anything through the tinted side windows. Since we didn’t descend to stroll through parks and grounds, we had time to see
Quidi Vidi, which has been developed almost beyond recognition since I was there in 2000, and the prosperous residential neighbourhoods around
Memorial University. 18,000 students swell the population of St John’s from 120,000 every September. Most live in residences, and later we saw a huge failed hotel that has been acquired for a graduate students
The sun came out!
St John's historic residences residence.
By this time the interpretation centre at Signal Hill was open, so we drove there, an inside visit, of course. I was happy to see artifacts including muskets, which reminded me of Bernard Cornwell’s
Sharpe novels; cleaning picks, flints, musket holders and bullets feature in his stories in detail, plus grape shot and cannon balls. An excellent video helped us imagine the 350-year history of
St John’s harbour and Signal Hill – England and France fighting over the fishing grounds initially, then the development of the signalling processes, and finally the role of the harbour in WWII.
Rain was not actually falling but the clouds masked every structure so that we couldn’t even see
Cabot Tower until the bus drove right up to it. We swung around in the parking lot and headed for the
Basilica of St John the Baptist. Dashing inside we were brought up short by the magnificent interior: huge cubic space with relatively short transepts and a deep green and gilt medallion. The basilica, once a cathedral, escaped the three great fires in St John’s in the nineteenth century. Both Catholics and Protestants contributed labour and resources. When we stepped out the door, the sun was shining through the clouds!
Newfoundland Chocolate Company
Even the building looks good to eat! Signal Hill was still obscured; we were offered a drive along the south side of the harbour to see the view of St John’s, gradually being revealed without rain. Surprisingly, the temperature was warm, unlike Calgary after rain. The sun and the views immeasurably improved, giving us bright photos of the brightly painted houses of St John’s.
After several cups of tea in my room, I went to the Classic Café East for lunch. I wondered if it were the same restaurant where I enjoyed lobster dinners in 2000; probably the same place but not the same café. Others from our tour were already eating, and I joined Larry. He was eating bacon-wrapped scallops with Greek salad – looked so good I ordered the same. Slightly overcooked but delicious!
The afternoon was gloriously warm and sunny. I set off in search of
O’Brien’s Music to buy a CD played a few times on the bus during long drives, Reflections by
Lloyd Bartlett. The solo guitar plays traditional Newfoundland music in a slow, peaceful style. Barry, our bus driver, recommended this store, and rightly so, because the clerk didn’t hesitate. On the internet the album is unavailable, but O’Brien’s
had stock. Next goal was the Fish Depot, which surprisingly was only two blocks away, up a steep hill. The clerk had to prepare some more packages; he was surprised that the three packages he had prepared a hour ago had already sold – popular stuff! Now back towards the hotel, with a stop at the
Newfoundland Chocolate Factory. Very strange that St John’s and Trinity each have specialty chocolatiers. The bustling business community is good to see, since in 2000 the stores and restaurants were closing after a winter of record snowfalls and no customers.
Once all my purchases were dropped off in the hotel room, I set off for Signal Hill. Trudging up the very steep hill, I met several of our group walking down. They had been at the
Geo Centre, a new science centre focused on the unique geology of the island. Don had an extra entrance token and gave it to me. Only ten minutes remained before closing. The entrance is above ground and the rest is below. With such a quick visit, I could not decide if the rocks that formed some walls were actually part of the hill or brought in for display. The most
Blacky playing the bodhran
Folk music in a pub - no better way! interesting display for me was a 1/9 model of the
Canadarm.
Walking to the top of Signal Hill now seemed too tedious and far. Instead I wandered around Deadman’s Pond and took photos of Gibbet Hill with ducks in the foreground and St John’s harbour. Then downhill to the hotel.
This evening about half of us went to
Kelly’s pub on George, a two-block street “pub-to-pub-to pub”, in Michael’s words. As arranged, Blacky O’Leary sang a set of lively Newfoundland songs, accompanying himself on guitar and the bodhran, an Irish hand drum. We had a drink, sang the choruses, and cheered raucously at the end of each song. An elderly (even to us!) Irish dancer named Stevie, vigorously tapped a few dances for us, receiving enthusiastic applause from the whole pub. Chatting volubly, we returned to the bus for a drive to the top of Signal Hill for a clear, night view of St John’s harbour – and a glass of wine from Michael’s store under the bus. A happy end to the day that started so muted.
View
">video of Blacky playing.
Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
A full day
You made the most of your time in St. John's, that's for sure. I couldn't believe what you saw before lunch! And you took some great photos as well.