Voyage of the Vikings

July - August, 2013

St. John's, Newfoundland

August 14 - Weather: Rainy, humid, high temp in mid 60s

St. John's is a beautiful town (even in the rain) of about 200,000 people. We went out on our own thinking we would take the trolley, but the system was overwhelmed by all the cruisers with the same idea. There was a cab near the trolley stop, so we took it to Signal Hill, where Cabot Tower was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland, and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The building was used primarily for flag signaling. Marconi received the first trans-atlantic radio transmission on Signal Hill on December 12, 1901. We called the same cab driver to pick us up (he was very friendly and chatty) and take us back to the ship. Then we decided we should see some of the city, so we walked up a very steep hill to visit St John the Baptist Anglican Cathedral. The guides told us a lot about the church and its history. We went farther up the hill to see the Basilica of St John the Baptist, which is very impressive on the outside with its twin towers, but was quite dark inside and not as pretty as the Anglican church. We got back to the ship just in time to have a quick lunch and play trivia. We didn't win in the afternoon but won at Pub Trivia and Name That Tune. A Congregationalist pastor from Boston named Rick has joined our team for a lot of trivia games and is a likable fellow and an ordinary Joe.

Cabot Tower on Signal Hill

Lighthouse from Signal Hill

St. John's from Signal Hill

St. John the Baptist Anglican Cathedral

St. John's (from ship)

At Sea

August 15 - Weather: Sunny, windy, high temp in upper 60s (turned clock back 30 minutes last night)

Today was our last sea day and we were a couple of slugs. We're both feeling under the weather and think we're getting colds. We're looking forward to seeing friends and family soon and hope to experience some warm weather in MN before it turns cool again. Tonight we had dinner with Dahlia, Ilan and Judy, as it was a formal night and our last chance to dine together. The five of us have been together as a trivia team since the first day of the cruise and have gotten to know each other. Hopefully we'll keep in touch and share photos when we get home.