(Pouch Cove, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada)

After greatly enjoying the novelty of visiting France, we’ve returned to Pouch Cove for two more days before heading home.   The weather remains cool and dry, at least by Ontario standards.  Many Newfoundlanders are complaining about the humidity!

We paid a return visit to the Afghan Restaurant in St. John’s, this time remembering to take a picture of our food.  An early afternoon shopping trip went well; actually, probably a little too well. We ran overtime and didn’t make it to the Provincial Legislature building until 3:20 p.m…by which time it was too late to have a tour of the legislature.

I don’t think we were meant to see the legislature on this trip: when we tried to visit last week, the guide was sick and nobody else was able to give tours in her place. We’re actually starting to amass a collection of “missed” legislature tours: the Nunavut legislature building in Iqaluit was closed for renovations when we were there in 2013, as was the New Brunswick legislature building in Fredericton in 2009.

I still was able to take pictures of the Confederation Building (which houses the legislature).  It is very distinctive; there is something almost Soviet about it, especially considering the scale of most of the other buildings in St. John’s.  If I had ever been to Warsaw, I would say that it reminds me of the Palace of Culture and Science building there.

For our final dinner in Newfoundland, we went to Chafe’s Landing Seafood Eatery in the picture-postcard village of Petty Harbour (see photo at the top of this post).  Known far and wide for its fish and chips and seafood specialties, it is a landmark destination that we somehow missed on our previous visits to Newfoundland.  I opted for the shrimp and chips and it was very good:  much fresher than what we are used to in Ontario.

We were sidetracked on our way back home by another iceberg:  this was a new one, as it was in Torbay and therefore north of the icebergs we saw last week.  We couldn’t get as close to this one but it was still a very impressive sight.  There were no whales frolicking nearby, unfortunately.

Before we knew it, our nine-day trip was over and it was time to head for the airport.  There are still many things that we haven’t done in St. John’s and the Avalon Peninsula, to say nothing of the many attractions in the northern and western coasts of Newfoundland.  And then there’s Labrador…

We love the cool Newfoundland summers, even if the wind can sometimes wreak havoc with travel plans.  The island’s history is distinct, due in part to the fact that it only joined Canada in 1949.  The people also continue to be the friendliest in Canada and seem to truly enjoy having visitors “from away”.   I’m sure that we will return again someday soon.

What’s up next?  The next major journey will be a road trip during the second week of August.  Until then, stay tuned for more flashbacks and travel-related writing!