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Published: October 2nd 2015
We enjoy a luxurious sleep-in this morning. We don't even leave the hotel until 11:00.
We cruise down Water St. We elect to have brunch at Yellow Belly, where we have eaten before. Fantastic burgers. Vi has the one with beef and pulled pork that I enjoyed previously, and I have a lamb and pork burger Greek-style. Next is a revisit to Nonia, a store that features hand-knitted goods. Vi makes some purchases that she is very pleased with.
Given that we have a free day in St. John's, we have decided to spend the afternoon at the Memorial University Botanical Gardens near Pippy Park. I haven't talked yet about driving in St. John's. A map of the city's roads looks like you took a piece of glass and let it drop flat to the floor. Every crack is a street. Residents will tell you that the streets were laid out along the original cow paths, which is why they crisscross and twist and generally make no sense at all. The situation is compounded by a compulsion to randomly rename streets whenever there is an intersection. Oh and let's make this part of this street and that part of
that street one-way for no discernible reason.
Anyway, we find the Botanical Gardens eventually. It's in a beautiful location nestled beside Oxen Pond, just to the south of Pippy Park. The site is organized into theme gardens; for example, rock garden, alpine garden, medicinal garden, forest garden, etc. Really interesting. Although obviously many of the plants are now past their peak, there are surprising numbers of beautiful flowers, and many bees, butterflies and other insects to keep me happy. There is a whole system of theme trails as well, though we don't have the time nor the energy to do much walking today.
As has been the pattern for the whole trip, we meet an interesting character. Roy is one of the two head gardeners at the facility. Originally from England, he married a Newfoundlander and lives off-season in Corner Brook, on the other side of the island. He has an incredible knowledge of the plants and great stories to go along with them. Like the writer who made a tea from Monk's Hood, not realizing it is one of the most toxic plants in the world. He shows us a creeping plant that only grows here and
in the Falkland Islands (where he once worked), and we're able to share experiences about that remote island.
Done with the garden, we decide to check out St. John's mega-mall, the Avalon Mall. However, it's got exactly the same stores as any big-city mall and holds little interest.
Back at the hotel, we make a supper reservation for a restaurant named Bacalao, which has been highly recommended to us.
Wow, what a great meal! Bacalao's vision is to use local food wherever possible, start with traditional Newfoundland recipes, and produce innovative modern cuisine. And they succeed! I had vacuum-poached salt cod with braised pork belly, served on gnocchi with cranberries. Vi had steelhead trout on barley risotto. Great desserts, too. We also enjoyed meeting Francis, our server. He was born in Italy, raised in Australia, but moved to Newfoundland a year ago, hoping to work in the oil industry. That has not worked out well (which is why he's waiting tables), and he is planning to move to Dallas. A memorable evening to celebrate the end of our trip.
Tomorrow we pack, weigh our suitcases (worried about this), and prepare to fly home.
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Marva
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Enjoyed the Blog
Especially your last day! We lived just up from Pippy Park (on Johnson Crescent) -- only then Pippy Park was much smaller and the kids played there and we called it "Boat Park" and I will bet you can guess why -- yup, there was an old boat the kids used to play on. We ate at Bacalao the last time were in St. John's for the Storyteller's Conference and it was, as you say, a great meal. Glad you had such a great trip on an east coast island -- next time try a west coast island :)