It’s a scenic drive from Placentia to St. John’s when you take the Irish Loop. The Loop is the coastal road around the south-eastern arm of the Avalon Peninsula and up the east coast to St. John’s.

It passes through many communities, some larger but most smaller with interesting names such as Trespassey, Cappahayden, Ferryland and Witless Bay.

As I drove, I watched the fog move in and out. The day was beautiful and the road good! 🥳 I took the photos below at various points along the way.

St. John’s is a delight. It is vibrant and colourful and interesting, and a city of stairs having been built on a steep slope. Here are a couple of the many stairways that are attractively decorated, perhaps to ease the pain of all that climbing up and down!

St. John’s is famous for Jellybean Row, its brightly coloured homes. I’m not sure I found Jellybean Row but I found beautiful streetscapes apart from the power lines which are the bane of my photographic existence!

Being “screeched-in” is a big thing in St. John’s – you drink a little rum and kiss an actual codfish – and I found the place to help me … if I so choose! The sign says a screech-in will happen every hour on the hour. Nice to know.

It made me a little sad to see this venerable old building from 1861 change over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries to its current use.

The waterfront by and large has not been developed for wanderers. Most of it is behind big fences with instructions to check in with Canadian Customs. But there are a few nice spots to sit and enjoy the view.

No visit to St. John’s is complete without a wander through Quidi Vidi. It’s short ride from St. John’s and is known for its excellent restaurant, The Mallard Cottage. I enjoyed the gemelli with lobster, apple and a rosé based cream sauce. Here’s a typical scene from Quidi Vidi.

I am looking forward to my guided photography tour and sharing my images with you. I hope you will see an improvement of what you’ve seen to date. See you then!