Downtown St. John's is like no other place in Canada, or anywhere, for that matter. All of the buildings look like the ones in the picture above. I only counted about 3 buildings which you would consider modern. It's quite unusual in that respect. The streets are winding and steep going down to the waterfront (even steeper than in Vancouver). In a way it's like stepping back in time. This city is about as different from Vancouver as you can get in Canada; we seem to be all about luxury and newness, whereas here history is most important.
Harbourside Park hosts two dog statues: the Newfoundland and the Labrador, not surprisingly. Strangely enough, they don't really know where the Newfoundland dog came from exactly - but we are pretty sure the one in the photo is bigger than life size (?).
Tonight was the final night of the George Street Festival. George Street is a short, narrow street that is famous because it is supposed to have the most bars per capita of any street in Canada. After tonight, I can believe this! For the festival, they block off the street at both ends, charge a flat cover fee ($15) which gets you in to any and all bars (normally it's $5 - $10 cover per bar). At one end of the street is the main stage where there were 3 bands playing from 7 pm to about 11 pm. All the while, you are allowed to wander the streets with your drinks - although it is so crowded that by around 9 pm, you can't wander much anymore. We estimated there were about 10,000 people there in the space of city block- it reminded me of the fireworks crowds in Vancouver.
