St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador [DAILY PHOTO THREAD]

[FrAnKs]

I just love your life.

[ErickMontreal]

As a strong nationalist, it resonates well with me! Vive la répulique de Terre-Neuve et Labrador et vive la République du Québec!

BTW, great pictures!

[SignalHillHiker]

Thanks, guys! Et merci, Erick. ;-)

August 7, 2013

A little construction update...

Fortis Place and 351:



Fortis Place:



Confederation Building:

[SignalHillHiker]

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Today was a beautiful summer Sunday in St. John's. Just perfect! jeddy1989 and I spent the day downtown.

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Water Street East:



The buskers were out in full force entertaining the crowds.









Soloman's Lane. St. John's has lots of pedestrian-only lanes that are staircases.



Water Street East.





The harbour apron, just off Harbour Drive.



Water Street again.





The Bowring Downtown Centre re-clad in progress.



Posing for pictures.



Hotties.



Scotia Plaza, a popular place for buskers.



Old St. John's.



Cochrane Street.



My car by a small waterfall on Southside Road.



My street from my roof.





Prescott Street.

[SignalHillHiker]

August 12, 2013

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The new residences under construction at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, the largest in eastern Canada. They're designed to resemble the style of the older, existing residences to the right.



The Downtown West End of St. John's, including almost all of our modern buildings.



Fortis Place (left) and 351 (right) under construction.



Old St. John's.



A relatively new hotel downtown, but built in a faux-heritage style. You can really get a feel for how steep the hills in downtown are from this one.



A view of downtown from Signal Hill Road.



The Roman Catholic Basilica of St. John the Baptist.



Old Town rowhouses with the Battery neighbourhood clinging to the cliffs in the background.



Fortis Place under construction beside the Cabot Place Complex.

[SignalHillHiker]

A little more insight into the city...

The August/September edition of The 'Out'port is out at www.theoutport.com. jeddy1989 and I own and publish it together. We decided to it because, previously, the only LGBT magazine that covered St. John's was based in Halifax - a 1,500 km away. They covered us very poorly and gave the impression that smaller cities in their surrounding region had a better LGBT life than we did - which is far from the truth. So we just wanted something local that could more fully and accurately serve the community.

The LGBT thing here is just a non-issue. We had either the lowest and second-lowest opposition to same-sex marriage in Canada back when all that was being passed in the early 2000s.

Anyway, my fave story this edition is Happy Ever After (Prince not Included). We just wanted a wedding story that LGBT people can relate to a little better than a heterosexual ceremony - so we shared the story of two local newlyweds.



If you're LGBT and planning to visit the city, we have a list of some of the gay and gay-owned, Pride-flags-in-the-windows B&Bs, restaurants, nightclubs, etc. as well.

[Surrealplaces]

Great shots of Water Street!

[SignalHillHiker]

Thanks, Surreal. :-D

*****

7-8 a.m., August 18, 2013

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Today I took a few quick mobile panoramas while on my morning jaunt around town. ;-)

Walking down from Military Road to Queens Road.





Walking down Victoria Street to Duckworth Street.





Looking back up Victoria Street from the top of the staircase down to Duckworth Street.





Walking along Duckworth Street.





Finally down to Water Street (more or less at sea level).



Harbourside Park (right) and the National War Memorial (left) along Water Street West.



Harbourside Park along Water Street West. The father and daughter on the right were playing "I spy". It was adorable.



Looking back to St. John's from the edge of Harbourside Park.



Back up on Duckworth Street at the top of the Memorial.



The intersection of Cavendish Square, Ordnance Street, Gower Street, Military Road, and King's Bridge Road.



Walking up Military Road.







Rawlin's Cross, otherwise known as Confusion Square. It's a massive, complicated intersection. This is just the northeast corner of it. It has four corners that are as sloppy and complicated as this.







Back on Queen's Road and almost home.

[SignalHillHiker]

A couple of videos of the miserable Labour Day Weekend we're having in St. John's.

Yesterday

A run to Needs and Tim's in Rabbittown (my neighbourhood) with a quick spin through the adjacent Ecclesiastical District:

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This Morning

From my house to Signal Hill and back:

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[SignalHillHiker]

September 29, 2013

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[ChiTownCity]

I'm absolutely loving these updates!

[SignalHillHiker]

Thanks!

*****

October 1, 2013

A St. John's band for some St. John's scenes.

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"Can any Saints hear me?
Is there any angel near me?
If you won't lift me up,
Then would you send my love...

...back to my home,
Back to my only shelter,
Where, in the awful weather,
I will be warm and welcome."

Might just get that tattooed on me.

[Danny]

Awesome updates! Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful colorful views of St.John´s. I like to see the trees turning its colour into yellow when Fall arrives. Fall there must be very pretty and full of colours. The pics of the foxes are pretty too.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[Surrealplaces]

Lots of excellent pics Ryan!

[SignalHillHiker]

Thanks, guys!

Well, it's a miserable one in St. John's today.

October 5, 2013

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[SignalHillHiker]

October 6, 2013

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[SignalHillHiker]

October 19, 2013

Today's hike through the Battery, with a special emphasis on how St. John's is not accessible for people with disabilities.

No sidewalk.





Is that the wheelchair ramp to the left of the stairs?





The view from the top.





A different way down - this time there are sidewalks, but they're blocked by poles, hydrants, and steps.







Almost home...

[Danny]

Nice update! Thanks for sharing.

The Battery is a pretty area in St. John´s, isn´t it? I like the views you´ve captured from there. Those houses are really pretty. The only problem will be for persons with disabilities, as you´ve said.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[SignalHillHiker]

Yes, it's pretty. It's one of several areas of the city where, a generation ago, you'd be ashamed to say you were from there. Poor, rural in income, fashion sense, lifestyle, etc.

Now it's a very expensive neighbourhood. It shares one unusual social trait in common with Monaco: the lack of available land, and the high desirability of living in the neighbourhood, means you often see exceedingly (by local standards) wealthy families living in very small, modest homes. Billionaires in Monaco have tiny flats you couldn't give away in London - it's all for the prestige of the address. The Battery is our version of that.

It's also one of the neighbourhoods in St. John's that has [Here]Say. You download an app on your phone, and using GPS, it tells you about exactly where you're standing with interviews with people who live there or grew up there, explanations of big events, poems, short stories, etc.

Here's a sample:

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[SignalHillHiker]

Tonight is the George Street Mardi Gras. It's going to be insane, as always.

I hiked to the top of the Southside Hills this morning to sneak a few shots - and, when I got there, I met two drunk fishermen. It was like walking into a Newfie joke - loved it. Chatted with them for an hour, lol...

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