St Johns, Newfoundland

We arrived in St Johns before dawn Tuesday morning and were already docked by the time we got up. Looking out our balcony we were surprised to see the narrow channel that the ship had to negotiate to get dockside.

Going ashore we realized how big the ship really was when we saw how it dwarfed the buildings along the harbor.

I'm always a sucker for street art.

Of course, there's a statue of a Newfoundland here in St Johns. This one is about 1.5 times life-size.

Betty and I opted to hike around the city rather than going with a tour group. We climbed to the top of Signal hill where we could see the lighthouse at the entrance of the bay.

Atop signal hill sits Cabot Tower. This sign made it perfectly clear exactly where we were.

View of the harbor and our ship from atop Signal Hill.

Cabot Tower was built in 1897. In 1901 Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless message from a location near this tower. The message consisted of the letter "S" sent repeatedly in Morse Code from Cornwall, England.

From Signal Hill we hiked up to Ladies Lookout, where ladies would come to watch for their sailor's ships coming home or possibly going out to sea.

The trail down the backside of Ladies Lookout.

A small fishing harbor just outside St. Johns.

In case you are ever in the market for a bicycle built for 30.

Quidi Vidi Lake is a large expanse of water in St. Johns that is a popular site for rowing competition.

More street art off Water Street in downtown St. Johns.

The old fort at the mouth of the harbor going into St. Johns.