Quidi Vidi

This beautiful old fishing village is now part of the city of St. John's. It's home to a brewery that appears to supply 90% of the beer sold in Newfoundland.

Even Newfoundlanders disagree on whether the name should be pronounced Kiddy Viddy or Kwyda Vyda, but Kiddy Viddy seems more common, maybe because it's just easier.

More St. John's houses

The houses away from the harbor in St. John's are bigger and fancier, like the one on the left, but the basics are the same all over Newfoundland. Most of the houses in the small outport towns aren't as elaborate, and the color palette isn't as varied, but you rarely see a structure that isn't clapboard.

Jellybean mailbox

I saw these mailboxes all over St. John's, but mostly through a bus window. So of course when I was on foot and looking for one to photograph, I couldn't find a good one. It's still cute.

The Jellybean houses

Fortunately I did have enough time to appreciate the postcard views. These are called “jellybean houses” for their bright colors.

The other side of St. John's

The postcard pictures of St. John's show these brightly painted houses lining steep hills down to a pretty harbor.

But, of course, the picture on the right is the way I actually got to see St. John's on my first day, on the Great Adaptor Hunt of 2019. I took a long bus ride out to a strip mall with a Best Buy, then I waited more than an hour on the side of this highway for the bus back downtown. I didn't mind the bus rides, because I enjoyed eavesdropping on the conversations of my fellow riders and their almost-Irish accents, but waiting -- and waiting and waiting -- by the side of a highway in a strange city for a bus you've started to believe may never actually come is unnerving.

I did meet several locals who tried to be helpful, but who didn't actually know when or if a bus might actually arrive. When, after about 45 minutes, another woman showed up to wait with me, I was so relieved I almost hugged her.

So that was my great St. John's adventure -- taking a couple of buses to the mall and back. Not as exciting as crossing the Antarctic Circle or riding a mule up to the Monastery in Petra, maybe, but in some ways scarier. And the sense of accomplishment when I made it back to my hotel and connected my camera card to my laptop was every bit as sweet.

Fun facts about Signal Hill

Here's Signal Hill, the mountain that overlooks the harbor of St. John's, seen from the city. The driver pointed it out as we drove in from the airport, so it one of the first things I saw in St. John's and I might as well start there.

So, fun facts: Signal Hill was the site of the last battle of the French and Indian War (or the Seven Years War, for non-Americans) in 1762.

Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless transmission here in 1901. (Because “transatlantic” is much shorter from Newfoundland than anywhere else in North America, the island was also the starting point for many of the early transatlantic flights, including Amelia Earhart's in 1932.)

Cabot Tower was built in 1897 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Cabot's landing in Newfoundland as well as Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.  It looks rather jaunty sitting on top of its mountain with banners flying when seen from the streets of the city below like this, but up close it's just a surprisingly small stone building.

Where do I begin?

St. John's, seen from Signal Hill.

I'm eating a PB & PJ (peanut butter and partridgeberry jam) sandwich and drinking coffee from a mug I bought in King's Point, while going through the gazillion photos I took in Newfoundland. I've been poking around in random order, posting pictures I like on the photo-sharing site for the tour; I don't have to explain them there because everyone else was on the same trip I was.

I do want to write about it. It's just going to take me some time.

Astronomy Tuesday

The moon, of course, but if you look in the upper right background you can see a tiny, perfect image of Saturn.

I'm drowning in pictures of Newfoundland. I may post some tomorrow.

Image Credit: Peter Patonai (Astroscape Photography)

Autism Arts

This was by far my favorite exhibit at the NSAG -- a selection of work created in the museum's art classes for children with autism. These paintings gave me so much joy!

Art everywhere

Two views inside the house. Lewis could seldom afford fancy art supplies like canvas or oils; she used whatever paint she could get and she painted on any kind of surface.

Maud Lewis

I spent much of my rainy day in Halifax at the Nova Scotia Art Gallery.

They have a large exhibit of the work of Maud Lewis, a folk artist from Nova Scotia. I'd never heard of her until a few months ago, when I happened upon the movie Maudie, with the always wonderful Sally Hawkins as Lewis, while channel-surfing. Lewis developed rheumatoid arthritis as a child and was never able to work, but she always painted. She made hand-painted Christmas cards with her mother, and later her husband sold her cards and paintings when he made his rounds peddling fish.

This is the tiny house where they lived for more than thirty years -- only twelve feet square, with no electricity or running water.

Sunday bird blogging

      A gull in Halifax.