Two Hams on the Road

Monday, August 1, 2016

We are in Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, Raleigh, Newfoundland, Canada.  I’m looking straight into a group of pine trees, so no window picture today. 

Today we visited L'Anse aux Meadows, a Canadian National Historic Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is also the site of a Norse (Viking) settlement here in Newfoundland.  In fact, they suspect that this was the site that Leif Erikson established.  It only existed for about 10 years, around the year 1000.

The possible existence of Norse settlements in North America has been known for centuries, settlements to lands west of Greenland being mentioned in Icelandic and Nordic sagas told orally for centuries and finally written in the 13th or 14th centuries.

There were 8 buildings, including an iron forge, which is one reason they believe this is a Norse settlement.  Metal working was not known in North America at that time, but the Norse made iron tools and nails, many of which were found here.

We stopped for lunch before we headed for the National Park.   Trip Advisor recommended a restaurant in the town of L’anse aux Meadows (population about 250) for lunch, and once again, it was a good choice.  Steve had a sandwich with brisket and shrimp, grilled with cheese that was excellent.  My choices were limited, so I was “stuck” with having local snow crab.

Maryland blue crab is my favorite food, and while I like snow crab, it’s not quite as good.  But Newfoundland snow crab is sweeter than the snow crab I’m used to and is really good.  So we had great food at a table overlooking the bay!

Across the street from the restaurant was a statue of Leif Erikson.

It was in an odd place, looking out to sea, almost hidden by the large rock next to it.  But it was an impressive piece of work.

At the national park, they have recreated some of the buildings, based on dimension of the remains.  For other details, they referenced a Norse building buried in volcanic ash in the 1100’s in Iceland that has been dug out.  Note the vents in the roofline.  The Norse used those in 1100, so the supposition is that they used them here.

The buildings were made of peat and wood and the Norse burned them down when they left.  So much of what remains is the ashes.  But the excavators were lucky enough to have found the trash pit, which was in the peat bog, which helped preserve many things, even those made of wood.

This is what the settlement might have looked like.

The settlement is on the shore and would have relied on fish, whales and seals for many things.  Steve caught some seals resting on the rocks.  (I’d say they were sunning themselves, but there was no sun today!)

I’ve had a summer cold, which has limited my posting, but I’m getting over it.  We’re off to Labrador in the morning, taking a short ferry from Newfoundland (which is an island).  Then we’ll be back in Newfoundland, as there doesn’t appear to be a road recommended for RV travel from Labrador to the rest of Canada.  We should have Internet when we are back in Newfoundland, but aren’t sure about Labrador.  Internet and cell phones are limited in this part of the world.

Take care,

Deb