{"id":2733,"date":"2016-07-04T11:46:52","date_gmt":"2016-07-04T18:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=2733"},"modified":"2016-07-04T12:19:05","modified_gmt":"2016-07-04T19:19:05","slug":"jelly-bean-houses-and-other-delights-in-st-johns-newfoundland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/travel\/jelly-bean-houses-and-other-delights-in-st-johns-newfoundland\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelly Bean Houses and Other Delights in St. John’s, Newfoundland"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Impressions<\/h3>\n

Last month, I took a break from my writing and travelled back east with my husband Rob.<\/p>\n

\"Jelly

View of St. John’s on Signal Hill<\/p><\/div>\n

After visiting our daughter and family in Toronto, we flew via Montreal to St. John\u2019s, the capital of Newfoundland, the one Canadian province we hadn’t been to. St. John’s is the oldest city in\u00a0North America (first settlers, early 1600s), which I was surprised to discover. Unfortunately, because of three major fires\u20141816, 1846 and 1892\u2014much of those old buildings no longer remain.<\/p>\n

With a population of over 200,000 which includes the metropolitan area, St. John\u2019s is unlike any other city I\u2019ve been to. Quite a few of the city streets are haphazardly laid out, at diagonals at times, criss-crossing in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>ways that can strike fear in any driver unfamiliar with its peculiar flow of traffic. It\u2019s as if whoever had planned them did them as a joke. But that\u2019s part of this city\u2019s appeal and charm. Nothing is as it should be.<\/span><\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re wondering why we\u2019re so bundled up in the photo, as it was early June, the weather was below normal when we were there. Still, even when the weather is better, St. John\u2019s is pounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, making it one of the colder cities in Canada. In fact, the capital can get snowfalls as late as June. So, we were prepared but boy, it was bracing.<\/p>\n

Jelly Bean Houses<\/h3>\n

\"JellyTake the houses. There are blocks and blocks of brightly coloured three story homes on the hilly streets that rise from the harbour.<\/p>\n

We heard that the locals adopted the vivid colours as a way of helping them find their homes after a night of drinking. Especially when the fog rolled in.<\/p>\n

The truth is their colourful streets were started by one man, David Webber, who as the executive director of a heritage foundation in the mid-1970s, came up with the idea of painting a sample block in bright colours as a way of refurbishing the grim-looking city centre.<\/p>\n

The city council liked it so much they arranged a discount \"Jellyon paint for others to follow suit.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

George Street<\/h3>\n

And then there\u2019s George Street, a pedestrian only street lined with pubs. We managed to get to one, O’Reilly’s Irish Newfoundland Pub, which was highly recommended by our hostess at the B & B we stayed in.<\/p>\n

We lucked out at the pub with not only the food\u2014a delicious freshly caught cod dish\u2014but also with the entertainer. He played his guitar non-stop for a few hours and sang both Irish songs and popular ballads. Of course, you know I’m a sucker for the Irish, having traveled to Ireland and used that beautiful country for a setting in my debut novel, A Cry From The Deep<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

While he was playing a rousing Irish dance, a couple of elderly gentlemen, who looked like brothers, got up and clogged for a bit. Rob says they shuffled. I thought they did more than that. You be the judge.<\/p>\n