A Day to Remember, Colourful Houses, and Signal Hill

Good Afternoon,

My intentions in this blog is to give you a little view into the town of St. Johns, and tell you a little about this holiday they celebrate in Canada (and in the other Commonwealth countries) called Remembrance Day.  I have been wanting to show you for a long time what downtown St. Johns looks like, so, finally, I am getting the chance to do just that!

On Sunday morning,  I turned over in bed and opened my eyes to a beautiful blue sky with the feeling of fall in the air.  As my mind began to wake, a thought went through my head that went "If there is a day that should be nice in a season full of rain, mist, fog, and darkness, today is the day."  Sunday was a special day in Newfoundland, and in all of Canada, for it is a day of remembrance - a day to remember all of the fallen Soldiers of WW1.  In America, there is Memorial Day, and also Veteran's Day, which is on the same day as Remembrance Day, but I don't ever remember these days in America.  All I ever knew is that they were holidays, and that I get school off...shallow of me, I know.  This day just seems to come up in America, without my knowing it, and then next thing I know, the day is gone and life moves on.

In Canada, Remembrance day seems to be much more sincere.  Starting at the beginning of November, people wear a poppy flower on their clothes throughout the day.  The first day I saw these, I knew something special was going on.  Then, the next day came around and people still had these poppy's on their shirts.  Word got around and I figured out what was going on.  Let me say, everyone wearing these poppy's for eleven days leading up to the Remembrance Day Parade was pretty inspiring.  I could tell that these people truly cared about remembering the fallen soldiers of WW1.  The anticipation of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was amazing!

As I arrived in Downtown St. John's to meet up with friends to watch the parade, the town seemed to be more alive than ever.  The streets were packed full of people and families with their heavy coats, wool hats, scarves, and a warm cups of coffee.  The sound of the marching band filled the city, while thankfulness and sincerity filled the crisp, fall air.  As the parade began, we all followed after those serving in the military to the final destination of the ceremony.  I could feel so much excitement in the air.

Once we all made it to the final destination, the ceremony began.  In a city that is known to be the windiest city in all of Canada, a day like Sunday with no wind felt so peaceful and quiet.  We all stood around, in complete silence, for over an hour as the ceremony went on.  Here and there, little flakes of snow fell down from the clear blue skies.  I felt so in the moment and so at peace; I was willing to stand around in silence all day!  After the ceremony and parade, the entire town must have rushed out for brunch to the same, cozy and warm restaurant called Bagel Cafe. As the line went clear out the door of this little cafe, aromas of hot chocolate and pastries, as well as the occasional breezes of warm Bagel Cafe air and glimpses of a bustling fire kept us all in line.  Needless to say, brunch was well worth the wait :)

Three massive and beautiful horses that led the parade.   It was about a 20 minute walk (with nearly the entire town joining in) to get to the ceremony location.

The memorial ceremony was up the hill to the right, which isn't in this picture.  Not a very interesting picture.  I guess you had to be there :)  

The ceremony ends and everyone marches back.   I was more interested in getting a shot of the colourful shops one street up than I was of the soldiers,  so there they are lol.

Downtown St. John's and Signal Hill

For the rest of this blog, I will be posting up pictures and maybe writing a little caption under them.  I'm not too sure what way of blogging is more interesting for the reader - stories with pictures built in, or pictures with stories built in.  Times when I feel like there are a lot of pictures I want to share, it seems to be better to just show what I have taken pictures of.  So, without further ado, here are just a few pictures of what downtown St. John's looks like, along with a little hike I did with Jan up to Signal Hill.  I hope you enjoy and can get a feeling for what this city looks like.  

St. John's makes the list for one of the most colourful cities in the world.  This picture doesn't show it completely, but hopefully some of the pictures you see will.

My friend Hanna from Sweden on the right, with the St. John's Harbor in the background.

Some more colour in St. John's.  When walking through the city, nearly every house is a different colour than the one next to it.  Some rows of houses are more vibrant than others, while some seem to need a new paint job.

       

Saved the best for last :)  There are many streets in downtown that really stick out, with this clearly being one of them.    

Jan and I walking on our way to Signal hill.  Some very unique houses on the way there!

Still on our journey to get to the trail path.  When the sun is out in St. John's, people's clothes will be out on the clothes line.  I thought this picture was great.

The beginning of the trail.  Such a beautiful hike along the ocean.  At one point in the hike, you have to hold onto a chain that is bolted into the rock wall on your so that you don't fall off the cliff on your right! 

The destination at the top.  Wait, the journey is the destination.  Nevermind lol :)

I took this picture because of the big rocks that you see that look out of place in this scene.  I'm not sure if it was the case here, but Newfoundland is known for a lot of glacial activity back in the day.  Huge rocks were carried all over this island by glaciers, and then deposited when the glaciers melted.  When you get in the country of Newfoundland (a 2 minute drive), there are tons of massive rocks all over the place with glacial pools in their midst.

The edge of the world.

Cabot Tower. 

The city of St. John's.

Thank God for Colour.  The world just wouldn't be the same without it.

Well, that is it for this blog.  Thank you for reading and checking out some of what the scenery in St. John's is like.  I hope you don't mind me putting all of these pictures up.  This city is such a beautiful place and I don't think words do it complete justice.     

Sincerely,

Benjamin