Day Thirty-Three - St. John's, Newfoundland 13 August 2014

 

St. John's Newfoundland --with Basilica.

 We arrived in St. John's about 7:30 am through a very narrow strait (called "The Narrows") docking directly on Harbour Drive.    Our dockside greeting included two police women on horseback flanking the gate and an adorable Newfie just waiting for attention.  This is a pretty town built on the side of a hill with a population of about 110,000 residents.

Arrival in St. John's

Pat with the Newfie

Phil has mapped a route for us so we begin by trekking up a steep set of stairs -- passing St. John's Anglican Cathedra which is closed.   We keep going up hill (on sidewalks now) until we see St. John the Baptist Basilica at the peak with a beautiful view of "The Narrows" -- the only way in or out of St. John's when the Basilica was built in the mid- 19th Century.

St. John the Baptist Basilica

 This land was granted to Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming by Queen Victoria (when she was quite young) with the caveat that the church be named for St. John the Baptist who was her patron saint.   The Church was consecrated 09 September 1855 and on the Centenary of the consecration in 1955 Pope Pius XII bestowed upon the cathedral the rank of Minor Basilica in recognition of its architectural and historic significance.

A neighborhood street in St. John's

 After visiting the Church (which was open) --- we walked for about a half hour down the hill and through some neighborhoods which remind me of San Francisco.   We came back up the hill to "The Rooms" -- St. John's museum complex.  It is located  across the street from the Basilica.  The Rooms opens at 10:00 am -- we are there.   It is crowded -- with tour buses and school groups -- we wonder if it will be worthwhile and decide not to go in.  Instead we go back to the Basilica for their 10:30 am free tour.

Hogan's "The Dead Christ"

 We made the right decision -- our guide at the Basilica is Stephanie.  She is knowledgeable and very sweet -- there are four of us on her tour.   We hear the history of the stained glass windows, how the Basilica was built and  the contributions of each of the early bishops.   On the altar we see  "The Redeemer In Death" or  "The Dead Christ" -- a horizontal statue of Jesus by the Irish Artist John Hogan (1800-1858).  This is the last of Hogan's  three versions of  "The Dead Christ" --  the other two are in Ireland.   We walked around the back of the altar and into the crypt where five bishops are buried.    At the completion of the tour -- we thanked Stephanie and made a donation.   

The crypt under the altar at Basilica

 At Stephanie's suggestion, we made a quick stop at the Presentation Sisters Convent next to the Basilica to see the "Veiled Virgin" -- a Carrara marble statue carved by the Italian Sculptor Giovanni Strazza (1818-1875) and brought to St. John's in 1856 by Bishop John Thomas Mullock who was Bishop Fleming's successor.  It is beautiful.

The Veiled Virgin

We then hotfooted it back down the hill to the Information Center to see about the $5 trolley tour  which we spotted in a brochure.   Since our time is limited and we have seen several of the sights on the  trolley route we decide it is not for us.

Railway Coastal Museum

 Our next visit is the Railway Coastal Museum which is a twenty minute walk from the Information Center.  It is now raining but not real hard and the temperature is good. This museum details the establishment of the railway system in Newfoundland during the late 19th Century.  In addition to boards showing the chronological history, there are life-size dioramas of the interior of the rail cars as they looked in the 1940's -- complete with passengers dressed in the garb of the day.  There is the dining car -- sleeping car -- mail car --- club car, etc.   The dioramas take up the entire back wall of the museum.  

Phil at the original door - Newman Wine Vault

 On our way back to the ship -- we pass the Newman Wine Vaults -- we stop in. These vaults (not always used to age wine) were built in the 16th Century.  Our guide tells us that the original purpose is not known --- but the harbor came right up to the front door so it was easy to unload the wine barrels (or other items) from the ships and roll them inside.   The original "ladder" used for this purpose is still there for us to see.    The wine being aged here was port wine from Portugal.   The wine was made in Portugal -- loaded on ships --- brought to Newfoundland -- aged for 4 to 5 years -- then brought to England for sale.

Newman Wine Vault

 Apparently this operation ceased 50 or so years ago --- since in order for the wine to say "made in Portugal" --- the entire process had to occur in Portugal.   We learned something and had a sample of the port before we left.

Continuing down the street -- we pop into a few shops -- and are back on board the ship by 2:00 pm -- just in time to make lunch in the Lido.

We have thoroughly enjoyed St. John's -- it is a friendly and active city -- with senior discounts everywhere.

Thanks for Reading.

Pat

Leaving St. John's through The Narrows