Last sunset before the fog

On Thursday early overcast skies gave way to heavy fog, but there were only small ocean swells. Jane went to the lecture on the S.S. France, and I started a new book. We went to the evening show featuring disco music. We set our clocks back another hour (4th of 6).

The fog continued on Friday. That morning we went to the lecture about St. John's, Newfoundland, and another on the S.S. Titanic. (Upon leaving St. John's, our ship would pass not far from where the Titanic sank.) In the afternoon we attended a lecture on the Mounties, Canada's elite national police force. I got to the gym again. After dinner we went to the evening show. The female pianist was quite impressed with herself, as we should have guessed when she billed herself as "divalicious." Afterwards we listened to a singing group in the Piazza. That night we set our clocks back 30 minutes (4 1/2 of 6). Newfoundland has its own unique time zone, a holdover from the days when it was a separate Dominion.


Climbing up another block (Gower St.), we walked parallel to the hill again, as we zigzagged up the hill. There was a cluster of large churches, and we went into one, the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (begun 1847), primarily because we saw that all the tour buses were stopping there. Passing the red-brick Gower Street United Church, we climbed up to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (The Kirk)(1896). We expected great things because of the age and prominence of the Church, but it was disappointing, looking run down or even abandoned. It was locked so we didn't see the interior. near the top of the hill just behind the Kirk was the Provincial Museum, called The Rooms, a huge, modern, and ugly structure.
We climbed the steep grade to the street above St. Andrew's (Harvey Rd.) and walked past The Rooms. There was a spectacular view over the three churches we'd just passed, all the way to the harbor, the Narrows, and beyond. Then we followed that street over to St. John the Baptist Basilica (1855) at the highest point of the city. This Catholic Basilica is huge. When it was built, it was one of the largest church buildings in North America and the largest Irish cathedral anywhere outside of Ireland.
From the Basilica, we followed Military Road down from the ridge. It had a gentle slope and passed several interesting buildings. There were many more of the brightly colored buildings, even a market painted like a black and white (Holstein) cow, the kind my sister, who has dozens, insists she does not collect. We stopped to rest on a bench by the Spencer Girl statue. A plaque indicates that she is a Bishop Spencer College girl in the uniform of the mid-1900s, but the monument is dedicated to the all-girls Catholic schools that were in the area. Apparently the College ran a girls' school. We detoured briefly into Bannerman Park (1891), lush with fall flowers.  

Jane in Bannerman Park

Colonial Building

 

A little further on was Government House (1831). Incredibly, this structure was built by workers brought over from Scotland because wages in Newfoundland were considered too high. It was originally built as the Governor's residence, but is now the residence of the Lieutenant Governor. It is also used for official ceremonies and entertainment. It is also where members of the British royal family stay when visiting Newfoundland. There was an exhibit about the three times Queen Elizabeth had stayed there.   

Majestic old house

We walked leisurely down the waterfront back to the ship, boarding about 1:00. We'd been out about four hours, and Jane was worn out. After lunch I went out alone to explore to the south, where we hadn't gone. It turned out there wasn't much of interest. I walked along the main downtown shopping street, but after that there was little to see. I eventually reached Newman's Wine Vaults, one of the oldest surviving structures in St. John's. A docent tells the story of how the tradition began of maturing Portuguese port wine in Newfoundland began.

A ship bringing a cargo of wine from Oporto, Portugal, went far off course to avoid Atlantic storms and ended up in St. John's. It was late in the season so the ship had to winter there, finally getting its cargo to England several months late. When the casks were finally opened, it was discovered that the wine was far superior to the usual port wine. So began the practice of regularly shipping port wine from Portugal to Newfoundland to age it (in vaults rather than on ships) before sending it back to England. Newman's is the only surviving wine vault.


Other points of interest were Apothecary Hall, a drug store from 1922 to 1986, now preserved as a museum, and the Railway Coastal Museum, located in the former Riverhead Railway Station (1903). Railroad operations in Newfoundland ended in 1988 after 90 years of service. The rolling stock in the rail yard all looked very modern to me.

On the way back to the ship, I passed the Convention Center, the Stadium, and other modern buildings. Altogether, I'd have to say the 75 minute walk was hardly worth the effort. I got back to the ship at 3:30, very warm and tired.

The ship sailed at 5:20. I stayed on deck to see us exit the harbor through the Narrows. As we sailed along the side of Signal Hill, the larger of the two hills astride the channel, our deck was just about even with the many houses on the hillside. We hadn't noticed them before. On the top of Signal hill, there were many people standing near Cabot Tower (1900) waiving at the ship. Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless transmission on Signal Hill in 1901. The transmission originated from England. The lower hill, on the other (south) side of The Narrows, was the site of Fort Amherst (1777), built to protect the port from the French, but it is no longer visible. The site now contains a lighthouse (1951) and the remains of World War II gun emplacements built to ward off German submarines.


The ship was soon in the Atlantic, rounded Cape Spear, and headed south. This area is noted for its large number of icebergs, but there were none today. The temperature was in the high 60s. We went to the show after dinner (a comedian). Back in our room we watched the movie War Horse.