Transatlantic Cruise: Days 25-27: Sea Days and Newfoundland

Day 25

Monday, September 09

At Sea today.  The seas started to get a little rough today.  At noon the captain announced that our course would be altered a bit to avert a low pressure system.  Throughout the day the seas stayed rough and by 11 pm, our usual Northern Lights viewing time, the doors to the promenade deck were closed and we saw rain pelting against the windows……so no sense going outside tonight!

Day 26

Tuesday, September 10

At Sea again today after a night of rough seas.  When booking this cruise we intentionally selected a stateroom to be a little low on the ship (deck 8 out of 18) and in the center since we knew that the seas could be rock ‘n rolling across the North Atlantic.  We chose wisely as the seas aren’t bothering us at all.

While in the Sports Center in Greenland, we happened to meet a couple from Nevada—Floyd and Judi.  Floyd had an Ultra-Marathoner (100  miles) emblem on his jacket and that sparked Terry’s interest—another runner!  This morning we had breakfast with them and shared stories about marathons and running.  Before we knew it, it was time to go to a Titanic lecture in the theater.   We made plans to get together for another breakfast before the cruise ends as the guys just couldn’t get enough of each other’s running stories.

Next port is St. John’s Newfoundland.  It was off the coast of Newfoundland that the Titanic sank.

Day 27

Wednesday, September 11

We are in St. Johns, Newfoundland.  As Canada's most easterly province, the island of Newfoundland is situated on the North Atlantic, with St. John's as its provincial capital. The city of St. John’s is the oldest city in North America.  It’s been debated whether or not the explorer John Cabot actually sailed into what is today St. John’s Harbor, but it is true that in 1497 he discovered a “New Founde Lande”.  Many Europeans followed and by 1583 it was a flourishing and prosperous village.

As we have sailed east across the Atlantic, we have gradually set our clocks back one hour at a time.  The night before arriving in Newfoundland we had to set our clocks back just 30 minutes in order to be on the correct Newfoundland time.  Never have experienced that before.

 

Village on the mountainside as we entered the harbor

Our plan for the day was to team up with our cruising BFF’s, Stephanie and Gary, and take a taxi to Cape Spear, which is the most easterly point in North America, and then back into town and up Signal Hill and Cabot Tower, where we will then dismiss the taxi and start our hiking.

Cape Spear Lighthouse

Standing at the most easterly point in North America

It is called Signal Hill as this is where Marconi famously received his first wireless transmission across the Atlantic in 1901.

 

Cabot Tower

That's us on top of Signal Hill overlooking the narrow entrance to harbor

The Narrows

Cabot Tower guards the top of Signal Hill where military men guarded the shores through the 1700s and 1800s.  It is here that the French fought and surrendered to the British in 1762 after fighting for centuries to maintain control of this island.

 

Begonias

We hiked down Signal Hill and found our way to Quidi Vidi (pronounced kiddie viddie), a historic fishing village within the city of St. John’s.  It was built in the 18^th century to protect the bay from invaders and today is home to the Quidi Vidi Brewery.

BTW for those of you who have never heard of Terry Fox, he was a young man who lost a leg to cancer.  About 30 years ago he set out from St John's to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He ran the equivalent of a marathon every day for several months. His run ended in Thunder Bay Ontario when the cancer returned and ended his life. Ever since all across Canada, and in many parts of the world, there are Terry Fox runs.  In fact there is one scheduled here for this Sunday! His legacy continues and every year raises millions of dollars for cancer research. 

Then it was back into the city to find this pub we have heard has the absolutely best fish and chips around!  It’s called the Duke of Duckworth, located on Duckworth Street.  We enjoyed a late lunch and agreed that the fish was very good but probably a little over promoted.

Raindrops were starting to hit us so we declared it was time to get back to the ship.  By the time we sailed away, it was raining quite hard.  The ship did a 180 degree turn in the harbor and then headed back through the “narrows” at the entrance to the bay.  We enjoyed the sail-away from Skywalkers, the lounge at the very top and back of the ship.  It looks like a shopping cart handle on the back of the ship.

 

The shopping handle on the back of the ship is great for viewing sail-a-ways

And now there are just 2 days left of our cruise.  Those will be sea days and we will have time for last meals with new friends before we disembark in New York City on Saturday. 

Our plan for NYC is to spend one night there so we can do a little siteseeing during the day on Saturday and take in the Broadway show, “Wicked” at night.  On Sunday we will fly home, anxious to reunite with our kids and grandson. 

It’s been a most wonderful vacation.  Thanks for coming along with us!  Lisa and Jen.....there will be a quiz when we return home to see if you are actually reading this blog!  LOL