"I'll Come Where You're To" a St. John's Travel Page by tvor

St. John's is the capital city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, the last province to join Canada. The island of Newfoundland is near the Grand Bank fishing ground, frequented by various excursions not all that long after Columbus found his way over this side of the "pond". They say that John Cabot landed here in 1497. That's open for debate but there had been a settlement here a very long time and it's purported to be the oldest city in North America. It's already been proven that the Vikings had a settlement in the north west coast of Newfoundland centuries before Cabot.

The downtown was levelled by fire at the end of the 1800's and has been rebuilt. The steep hills are lined with colourfully painted wooden houses. The edge of the downtown has elegant public buildings and stately story-book like houses. There is the famous
George Street, with more pubs and bars per capita than anywhere else.

A short drive outside the city brings you to beautiful natural surroundings, provincial parks and reserves. Most of Newfoundland is pretty remote, and there are still outport fishing villages that can't be accessed any other way but by boat. But St. John's has a small but international Airport. You can take a car ferry (by reservation) from North Sydney in Cape Breton in Nova Scotia to Port Aux Basque year round and to Argentia in the summer as well.

Anyway, modern St. John's is a small city that surrounds a small harbour which is very sheltered from the sea by a narrow inlet beneath high craggy cliffs and hills. The people of Newfoundland are some of the friendliest and most down to earth you'll find anywhere.

(The title of the page? There's a saying in Newfoundland, "Stay where you're at and i'll come where you're to")