Our trip out on Saturday

Saturday we decided to head out again -- the weather wasn't any better, but there was no forecast that it was going to get any better before we leave, so... we decided to brave the cold and head out!

We drove to L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a location where archaeological digs have found items believed to be from Norse travelers who were here about 1000 years ago. 

About the same time that we arrived, a bus tour also arrived. It seemed clear that the site was not exactly expecting them, so they were hustling around to get the bus passengers accommodated. We watched a video in the Visitor's Center where we learned that the Norsemen were called "Vikings" when they traveled to conquer or wage war, but otherwise were Norse travelers. We also learned that they navigated by sight, so they followed the land as much as they could, from Scandinavia an 8-9 day journey to Iceland, and then another 8-9 day journey to Greenland, and another 8-9 day journey to this settlement (they actually knew the exact number of days -- precisely either 8 or 9, but I don't remember what I read on the signs!). Iceland was a successful settlement, but becoming overcrowded, so they struck out further west, finding Greenland (executing possibly the first real estate scam by naming the largely barren and ice covered land "Greenland"). Since there were no trees on Greenland, and since trees were necessary for building and repairing ships, the Norse travelers eventually continued west -- following land, going north up to Baffin Island, south down along Labrador, and eventually stopping at the place now known as L'Anse aux Meadows, where they set up an encampment serving as an over-wintering base for exploring to the south via the Gulf of St Lawrence. Based on items that were found, it is believed that they went as far south as New Brunswick, which they named Vinland - maybe because wild grapes grew there.

We decided to head out to the "Viking Village" ahead of the tour bus group to go to the interpretive area with reconstructed buildings...

There are re-enactors in reconstructed sod huts who will tell visitors their tales.

This was the largest structure and had a wonderful warm fire within!

In another room was a Norse helmet and sword for trying on and taking portraits. Carl said they both were quite heavy! And... I'll take this opportunity to say "Happy Birthday!" to Carl whose birthday was on Sunday.

Another room within the large hall.

The buildings had sod coverings

A blacksmith's work area in one of the other buildings

Outside the buildings -- do I look cold? yes, it is cold!

Looking out at the sea west of the site

Outside of the large hall

Boardwalk back toward the Visitor's Center -- the area out here is where they actually did the archaeological digs and found the items. It seems that the Norse travelers burned the buildings before they left. The video said "so no one else could use them".

Heading toward the sculpture, "Meeting of Two Worlds".

This commemorates the meeting of peoples who had journeyed from Europe with indigenous peoples already in this area who had probably crossed a land bridge from Russia to Alaska.

It certainly would have been more pleasant to visit on a sunny and possibly warm day, but we got to see the site and appreciate the information provided.

Note: "L'Anse aux Meadows" is not a Norse name -- the earliest recorded name appears on a 1862 French chart as Anse a la Medee (Medee's Cove). It was later anglicized by English settlers to its present form.

Leaving L'Anse aux Meadows, we drove into St Lunaire to check out a couple of eating places. The fog was becoming even thicker, and the offerings in the two restaurants did not impress us enough to decide to eat out.

On our way back to the rig, we stopped to take a picture of a relatively large iceberg in White Cove Harbour. This was the best of the pictures I got. You may be able to see a white car behind the two-story white house that gives a little perspective -- though the iceberg is a ways beyond that spit of land. It is nowhere near the largest of the icebergs that are around, but the others are just invisible to us on land and in the fog.

For those saying/thinking, "if there are icebergs, shouldn't you have expected it to be cold?"... we *did* know that it was *not* going to be warm here... we had said, "We had summer for winter in Florida, we'll have winter for summer in Newfoundland." But, we were expecting 40s and 50s (normal temperatures for this time in this area) -- we weren't exactly expecting 30s and 40s for the highs, with drizzle and rain and fog, winds, not a glimpse of the sun... We had thought even that we might take a boat trip out to see icebergs, and thought that it might be pretty cold to be out on the water in 40s-50s... but I don't think the boats/zodiacs are even going with the rain and wind and fog. Nonetheless, we're grateful to be here, to have a warm motorhome, and to be together!

And... hopefully this video is available even to people who don't have Facebook accounts -- a really neat view of an iceberg splitting and the resultant change to its center of gravity: https://www.facebook.com/julianearlephotography/videos/257133583503492