Newfoundland Adventures

St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

When considering where we wanted to go on vacation this year, Andrew's first suggestion was...Newfoundland!  Newfoundland?  I was shocked because he hates cold weather and I thought going 1500 miles northeast into Canada would be a nightmare - packing warm clothes, keeping him happy in the dreary, foggy north.  However, this turned out to be a dreamy vacation, full of adventure, cozy pubs, good food, traditional music, and relaxation...and a sunny heat wave to make Andrew happy.

Local food?

 Since food is normally the center of our lives, I had one thing on my mind: to eat as much cod as possible.  Andrew had something a little different on his mind: to sample as much local brew as possible.  Luckily, these products go hand in hand, especially in a pub's fryer!  As is reported in the news frequently, the Atlantic cod fishery suffered a massive crash in recent decades, putting northern fishermen out of work, changing international law, and pitting locals against scientists and government officials. While the cod stocks have not significantly improved (nor the lives of the fishermen) despite aggressive management, there was plenty of fish to be had on the island of Newfoundland (pronounced "Newfin-Land"). This region is surrounded by some of the most famous fishing banks in the world.  If you're interested and think it's incredibly cool that the Basques visited North America in the 16th century to harvest this fish, I highly recommend "Cod" by Mark Kurlansky - a fascinating read! 

A view of the city

I enjoyed cod poached, fried, pan-fried, and in chowder.  For those who haven't sampled this delicacy, it is slightly oily, but extremely sweet and buttery when freshly caught and properly cooked.  I vote for poached: it helped the fish maintain the sweetness and moisture, and I was in absolute heaven in Petty Harbour on the waterfront with my poached fish.

As for the beer, we sampled Quidi Vidi, a local brewery in St. John's, which actually makes beer from melted iceberg water!  How "cool"!  We also visited the Yellow Belly brew pub in downtown St. John's, a cozy brew pub with tasty beer and friendly staff...and central enough to shuffle home afterwards.

 We capped off the trip by camping in a National Park for several days and watching whales and puffins on the coastline.  We feel like we got just a small taste of what Newfoundland has to offer, and we will be back to explore more of this amazing place.

Okay, so maybe a little Molson made it in to the mix - seemed appropriate at the time, eh?