{"id":12434,"date":"2017-09-05T10:57:24","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T14:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12434"},"modified":"2017-11-27T19:03:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T00:03:46","slug":"st-johns-newfoundland-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=12434","title":{"rendered":"St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday – September 5, 2017<\/p>\n

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY to our granddaughter HAN!!!<\/p>\n

I noticed something different and unique for the first time this morning: the sun was shining directly onto our balcony and into our cabin! \u00a0We were finally heading south and since we\u2019re on the port side, the rising sun was right there beyond the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

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The captain had announced we would arrive just outside St. John\u2019s about nine o\u2019clock and he would pick up the harbor pilot. \u00a0So we got ready, had breakfast, and went out to the forward area on the deck six so we could watch the Rotterdam enter St. John\u2019s harbor \u00a0The sun was shining and there was a 28 knot stiff breeze and it was a glorious 59 degrees! \u00a0So far we\u2019ve traveled 8,297 nautical miles. Amazing!!<\/p>\n

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The ship turned westward. \u00a0The Atlantic Ocean was behind us and the rocky shore of Newfoundland was in front of us. \u00a0The rocks reminded me of Greenland, or Iceland. \u00a0Comparison wasn\u2019t difficult. \u00a0I could barely make out the tiny opening between the rocks which was the entrance to the harbor. \u00a0The captain said the harbor was only about 100 meters wide. \u00a0I wondered about the dimensions of the ship and someone said the Rotterdam was about 33 meters wide. \u00a0Hmmmm…<\/p>\n

On the right, high above the ship was Signal Hill with Cabot Tower perched on top. \u00a0Walkways with people hiking lined the cliff below Cabot Tower and the rocky hill dropped into the water. \u00a0There was a short light above the water and a marker below it to starboard.<\/p>\n

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Below is a photo of brightly painted houses built on the rocks along the inlet, below Signal Hill.<\/p>\n

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To port, there was a small lighthouse and ancillary buildings built into the cliff. \u00a0Below the lighthouse there were military bunkers with huge \u201cguns\u201d pointing in our direction. \u00a0It was a reminder of the role that St. John\u2019s played during World War Two as a strategic military base for the Allied forces.<\/p>\n

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In front of us was a tall green channel marker sticking out of the water. \u00a0Yes it was narrow. \u00a0The harbor entrance was very confined. \u00a0Unbelievably limited. \u00a0The ship proceeded very slowly into the constricted space. \u00a0It was an exciting entrance into St. John\u2019s Newfoundland. \u00a0(The photo below is looking back, out into the Atlantic from inside the harbor. \u00a0It\u2019s a great naturally \u201cprotected harbor.\u201d)<\/p>\n

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After we passed through the narrow opening, the harbor opened to reveal the city of St John\u2019s. \u00a0The ship continued to the commercial port and easily “parked” at a dock in the center of the city. \u00a0It\u2019s fun to watch the gigantic ship slowly move sideways and come alongside the dock.<\/p>\n

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We were finally in The Republic of Doyle!! \u00a0:-) \u00a0I\u2019ll explain. \u00a0There was a Canadian television program which aired for about six years \u00a0finally ending in 2014. \u00a0It was about the antics of a family of private detectives, named \u201cDoyle,\u201d and it took place in St. John\u2019s Newfoundland. \u00a0The photography was gorgeous and every episode highlighted the beauty of St. John\u2019s with ariel photos. \u00a0In the summer – on sunny days. \u00a0The characters were quirky and funny and the plot was silly but the program was very entertaining. \u00a0Apparently, it was a big hit in Canada. \u00a0Jeff and I watched every episode of the Republic of Doyle and I wanted to see some of the specific places.<\/p>\n

Below is a photo of a ship which services the offshore oil rigs off Canada. \u00a0There were several of these near our ship, loading up.<\/p>\n

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We booked a short excursion called \u201cHighlights of St. John\u2019s and The Rooms.\u201d \u00a0 We boarded a lovely new tour bus with about 50 other passengers and drove up Signal Hill to see the fantastic view. \u00a0The guide said it was the most amazing view we will ever see and I could almost agree with her. \u00a0The 360 degree view was spectacular!!<\/p>\n

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We continued on the bus with a quickie tour of St. John\u2019s more interesting sights, eh. \u00a0It\u2019s a lovely city, eh?. \u00a0There were many brightly painted houses built on the hills rising out of the harbor. \u00a0The guide commented that the hilly streets of St. John\u2019s makes San Francisco look flat. \u00a0Eh?<\/p>\n

The guide pointed out the house that was used as the exterior of the Doyle family house on the television show:<\/p>\n

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And the “Duke\u201d of McMurdo\u2019s Lane which served as the watering hole for Jake Doyle and his friends & enemies:<\/p>\n

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The Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, finished in 1855, was built on top of the highest hill and has an imposing view of St. John’s.<\/p>\n

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The bus drove up the hill, passing the cathedral, and dropped us off across the street at The Rooms. \u00a0This is a huge complex of museums and cultural centers and restaurants built around a glass enclosure with a commanding view of St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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We walked around, enjoyed the live music, peeked at the museums which told about the history of Newfoundland and the immigrants who fished and mined and developed the region.<\/p>\n

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We ate a late lunch of fresh fish at a really good restaurant overlooking the harbor. \u00a0We were fortunate to have a table at the edge of the view. \u00a0That\u2019s the M.S. Rotterdam in the harbor below The Rooms:<\/p>\n

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Afterwards, we walked down the very steep street back to the waterfront and our ship. \u00a0After 36 days living aboard the Rotterdam, it felt like \u201chome.\u201d \u00a0 We were lucky to have glorious weather today and we had fun exploring ‘The Republic of Doyle.\u2019 \u00a0In a couple of days we\u2019ll be chugging into Boston harbor and we\u2019ll really be \u201cHOME.\u201d \u00a0Almost\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday – September 5, 2017 HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY to our granddaughter HAN!!! I noticed something different and unique for the first time this morning: the sun was shining directly onto our balcony and into our cabin! \u00a0We were finally heading south and since we\u2019re on the port side, the rising sun was right there beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canada","category-cruising"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13385,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12434\/revisions\/13385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}