Page 136 - Travel Guide to Canada 2019

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525,355

St. John’s

www.newfoundlandlabrador.com

St. John’s International Airport,
8 km (5 mi.) from downtown

Newfoundland

& Labrador

THE BATTERY, ST. JOHN'S • SHUTTERSTOCK/ROBERT VINCELLI
Touching down in St. John’s, it is hard not to be impressed
Timeless by how vibrant this little capital city is in touristic terms.
The airport is expanding, cruise ship calls are increasing,

Appeal new hotels are opening, the restaurant scene keeps getting
hotter, and a youthful energy is everywhere apparent.
Nevertheless, the province as a whole has lost none of its
“long ago and faraway” feel.
BY SUSAN MACCALLUM-WHITCOMB

Simple geography helps account for MARKED BY MANKIND fi nds that recall the mid-1500s and catch a
the latter. After all, the island of Newfound- History lovers will appreciate the fact that fi lm recounting the heady days when whalers
land (a.k.a. The Rock) sits alone in the Canada’s youngest province is actually very from France and Spain busily manufactured
North Atlantic, while Labrador (The Big old. The UNESCO-designated Red Bay Basque much-coveted oil from blubber here (www.
Land) borders northern Québec. As for the Whaling Station, for instance, is proof that parkscanada.gc.ca/redbay).
former, this place is loaded with enough Labrador was already an international indus- That seems like only yesterday compared
time-burnished attractions—four UNESCO trial centre well before our “motherland” to Newfoundland’s millennium-old sister
World Heritage sites among them—to lend made its fi rst attempts to settle further south. site, L’Anse aux Meadows. Leif Eriksson and
it a timeless appeal. On-site, visitors can ogle archaeological his Viking crew arrived on the spot in 1000