Icebergs

Apparently this is a record year for icebergs around Newfoundland. We've seen lots of small ones around the Avalon Peninsula but haven't had much luck finding the bigger ones. We even went on a boat tour last weekend. It was a lot of fun (and a little cold) but we only found a small one. We were able to get very close to it though and the crew even fished out smaller chunks that we could take home with us. The ice stayed frozen for a couple of hours in Lori's purse until we got home. It's in the freezer now.

You can see two seams of blue ice where most of the air has been squeezed out of the ice. These icebergs are from Greenland and they take three years to reach Newfoundland. Even though it was small, it looked good against the background of Signal Hill and Fort Amherst.

On Sunday we went for a drive along the coast and spotted a large berg in the distance. It was hard to tell where it was exactly, but we went looking for it. The first place we tried was Torbay. The large iceberg wasn't there, but there was a small one very close to the beach.

We pressed on looking for the large berg. Our next stop was in Flatrock, but no luck. After a couple of wrong turns, we eventually found it near Pouch Cove. I only had my phone with me so I couldn't get a great shot of it, but it was a very large iceberg and it was very cool. Because it was so far out, it's hard to show how large it is in relation to something else.

We're going to miss the prime iceberg season over the next two weeks. I'm heading west to Calgary on Friday and Lori is heading east to Paris on Saturday. We'll both be back in St. John's by mid-June, just in time for the start of whale season. Looking forward to it.

db

Signal Hill

There are many great things about living in St. John's but the weather isn't one of them, so everyone was shocked when we had beautiful weather for the Victoria Day long weekend. On Saturday, we went for a hike on Signal Hill. The entrance to St. John's harbour is known as The Narrows and Signal Hill sits on one side and Fort Amherst is on the other. Signal Hill was used as a citadel dating back to the Napoleonic Wars and was also the sight where Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless signal from England. Today it's a National Historic Site and a great place to visit.

We parked at the top and worked our way down on the trails and many staircases built into the rock.

Here's a shot from the bottom looking back up at Cabot Tower. The hill is high enough that you can spot this castle like building from almost anywhere in St. John's.

Fort Amherst, on the other side of the narrows, was also used as a coastal defense battery during the Second World War.

We made our way along the rock face and they have installed chains for you to hold onto in the tighter spots.

Eventually we came to the area of the city known as The Battery, which has become prime real estate.

Most people consider Quebec City to be the most European City in Canada, but there are parts of St. John's that definitely feel European to me and this is one of them. Years ago, before she became a lawyer, Lori worked for Canada Post and she had to drive her mail truck down this road.

You get a great perspective of the city from here as well.

Once we made it through The Battery, we walked back up the road to the car. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to do the whole hike. Then we found a patio downtown to rest our weary legs and quench our thirst.



db

Cape Spear

Lori has almost finished her first week of working from home and everything has gone well. She was concerned about starting so early (6:00am) but she loves being finished by mid-afternoon. She's adjusted her schedule to match everyone else in the office in Paris. Her holiday schedule also matches the office in Paris and if you remember from a year ago, May is full of holidays in France. Yesterday was VE Day and a national holiday, so Lori had the day off. She will not get Victoria Day or Canada Day off though.

Since she had the day off, we decided to get out and have some fun. We heard rumours of an iceberg out towards Cape Spear so we set out to see if we could find it. We did see a couple of small icebergs.

May is still early for icebergs. June is the best month to see the big ones. There is a website that tracks them.

http://www.icebergfinder.com/

It was still worth the trip out to Cape Spear though. It's one of my favourite places in the world. It is the easternmost point of North America so it juts out into the North Atlantic Ocean and it's wild and windy. There has been a lighthouse here since 1836.

During the Second World War, Cape Spear also served as a Coastal Defense Battery with two 10" guns. St. John's harbour was a gathering point for the convoys supplying Europe during the war, so it drew considerable interest from the German Navy. The gun turrets and bunkers are still visible.

On our way back into town we stopped along the road and took some pictures of the city. You can get a sense of the "Jellybean Houses" that St.John's is known for.

It was a great day, now if we can only get some decent weather.

db

Bigger is Better (Sometimes)

Lori has been home for almost a week now and it's been great. We've been busy picking up things for the new house. Blinds, curtains, towels and things that I'm useless at buying. The first few days were an adjustment period for Lori. We've often commented on how everything in North America is so much bigger than in Europe. Grocery stores are enormous and the parking lots are massive. It takes awhile to get used to.

Bigger isn't always better. When it comes to food, bigger portion sizes are not better for your health. With vehicles, bigger trucks are not better for the environment. When it comes to watching playoff hockey though, bigger is definitely better.

After watching the playoffs on my iPad last year, it's so nice to watch them on a big screen TV.

db

Coming Home!

Lori is flying home from Paris tomorrow. We've been apart since February 17th (not that I'm counting). That's the longest we've been apart since I was in the Navy. When I left, we didn't think we would be separated for this long, but sometimes life gets in the way of your plans. Shortly after we moved into the new house, Lori's mom fell down the stairs and broke her wrist. I decided to stay and help out while she was laid up.

Lori will be in St. John's for a week before heading to Calgary. She has to tie up a few loose ends with her old firm but then she'll be back in St. John's for the summer. I can't really explain why (because I don't understand it) but she has to leave France for 3 months before she can start with the new company. She will be working from home in St. John's. I have her office all set up. The only downside is, she has to start work at 6:00am because of the time difference between St. John's and Paris but she says it's worth it.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend and I'll talk to you next week.

db

Paris in Spring

Lori here. We need to change the name of the the blog. Right now it's just one Canadian in Paris and in a few more weeks, I'll be back in Canada too.

What a change a year can make. This time last year, we thought it would never stop raining in Paris. It was cold and miserable. But this year, it's been a spectacular spring. The flowers are in bloom, most of the trees have leaves on them now, and we're heading into another week of 20C temperatures. When you hate winter as much as I do, a spring like this one is such a gift.

I'll be traveling a bit over the next few weeks and will try to post some photos here or on Facebook. Geneva this week and Erbil the following one. And after that, I'll be on my way home to Canada.

Now I just have to hope that Spring finds Calgary and St. John's before I arrive.

Lori

Middle Cove Beach

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted to do something fun. Lori told me that my horoscope said I should be a tourist in my own town. It was a beautiful day, but a little cool, so I decided to borrow Lorraine's car and explore the area and get my bearings. I drove along the shore to Portugal Cove where you can catch the ferry to Bell Island. Then I made my way over to Torbay and headed back towards St. John's. I stopped at Middle Cove Beach on my way. This is just down the road from where Lori grew up and it's a special place to her. When we were first dating, we hung out here quite a bit. That's the first time I saw the Capelin roll in. Capelin are small fish (sort of like sardines) and they swim close to shore to spawn at the end of June or early July and they actually "roll" ashore in the waves. Sometimes you can see whales that are feeding on the Capelin close to shore as well. The sun was really bright so I was able to take some great pictures.

I love being close to the ocean again.

db