Day 62 - St. Anthony, Newfoundland

It is Tuesday, July 3lst and we are off to L’Anse aux Meadows to learn about the only Viking site in North America and the earliest evidence of Europeans in the western hemisphere.  We had a great tour by a gentleman that is a Newfi (born and raised in New Foundland )and lives in the area where all this history began.  As a matter of fact, only he and his three brothers are the only families that still live here.  There were four expeditions to this region they called Vinland, mainly in search of hardwood lumber.  Went as far south as New Brunswick – a land where wild grapes grow.  To their surprise there were many inhabitants, such as the aboriginal peoples, ancestors of the Innu, Beothuk and Mi’kmaq.  The Viking’s were greatly outnumbered. 

It wasn’t until Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad arrived and found the overgrown ruins of llth-century Norse buildings.

Above right are the homes where our guide and his family live.  On one of the islands sat a ship that was wrecked in a storm.  Bottom left are iron statues of the Vikings.  Bottom right is another island - so many of them.

Archaeological excavations in the l960’s uncovered the remains of 3 dwellings, 4 workshops and an iron working smithy.  Many artifacts have been found and there is still about 75% of the area that still needs to be excavated.  Above are pictures of a replica of what one of their dwellings would look like.  They are all wood inside, so they will burn from the inside out even though it is covered and surrounded by dirt.

We then toured Norstead – a Viking port of trade.  A living history site with costumed interpreters and the ship Snorri.  We put on the head gear - aren't we real beauties - not?  We also tried throwing an axe into the wood pile.  I actually did it on my first try.  Bruce did it on his 3rd try - ha ha!!  We then took a walk to the top of one of the hills next to the village.  It was another beautiful day.  Sharon joined us.

This is what their village looked like. Took the picture from our hike. One of the ladies was making a flat bread - very good.  Above is the church.  Everything is made out of wood.


After lunch we drove into St. Anthony’s to visit the museum and home of Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell.

He was an amazing man needless to say. 

This is the museum - so much to read and see but was very impressed with the replica of the stained glass window that has him in it - far right side.

For dinner we were treated to a Viking Dinner.  The building itself was in the ground covered by sod.  I was a little leary about that but managed.  The staff was all dressed in traditional attire and we ate with only spoons and knives – no forks.  The food was okay – a lot of fish.  Again, I managed, but the entertainment was absolutely hysterical.  They had a tribunal council and the guests (5 were chosen) to bring charges against someone they knew.  Bob brought charges against our Tail Gunner  for thumping our tires, waking us up and wearing pink shorts. Wally, was a witness.  In his defense, this is his job to thump our tires to make sure they aren’t flat but we had a lot of laughs.  He was found innocent.  Another fun night.



Another lighthouse near the restaurant.  Bottom left was the entrance to the restaurant - spooky!!  Bob, top right is bringing charges against Roger - bottom right.  Lorna, his wife was laughing so hard she was crying. 

More pictures of Wally, the witness, Bob, the accuser and Roger, the accused.  The Judge is sitting in the bottom left picture.  They all did a great job.

Picture of the Day!!



Can you imagine living between two bodies of water – one being the Gulf of St. Lawrence – especially in the winter?  The water does freeze and they can drive their snowmobiles on the ice as they can’t tell the difference between land and the gulf.

It was another great busy day that offered plenty of good laughs.  Hope you had a day full of laughter as well.