Today was Regatta Day in St. John’s. On the first Wednesday in August, shops and businesses close for the day and the whole city heads to Quidi Vidi Lake for the annual Royal St. John’s Regatta. Do you want to guess where I spent my morning?
“No doubtin’, I’m havin’ a touton”. That’s the slogan at The Bagel Cafe in St. John’s, and I obviously needed to try a touton to see what all the hype is about. The Bagel Cafe may sound like a little grab and go spot, but it is actually a full service restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And toutons – basically pillowy fried dough the size of pancakes – are their claim to fame. I had a touton sandwich with eggs, cheese, and home fries. My server suggested I take the top one off the sandwich and eat it open faced so I could have the other side with the traditional molasses topping. There was not much filling inside with just one fried egg and a slice of cheese, but the touton itself was delicious. I tried the top half with molasses and was reminded quickly that I hate the taste of molasses. I ended up putting a little syrup on that half instead. It was good, and I wouldn’t mind having another one, but I also wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
After breakfast, I walked all over downtown St. John’s taking pictures. I made my way to George Street (with the highest concentration of bars and pubs in North America) and then along the harbor. Literally everybody I passed during my walk said “good morning”, and I even ended up getting a history lesson on St. John’s from a local who saw my camera and gave me suggestions on good places to walk for pictures. Similar to San Francisco, St. John’s is built on a hill, so one gets quite a workout walking up and down the streets! St. John’s is also known for it’s many colorful row homes which can be found all over downtown.
After my walk, I headed back to my hotel to change, put on some sunscreen, pick up my forgotten sunglasses, and head out to the Royal St. John’s Regatta. If the name conjures up images of sailboats racing in the harbor, you’ve got it all wrong. Racers row six-seat rowing shells to a fixed point on the lake, then back to the starting point. While the regatta is centered around the races, there is basically a carnival set up around half of the lake, with booths selling crafts, food, drinks, toys, etc. I watched a couple of races, then walked the 2.4 mile loop around the lake to get away from the crowds. By the time I got back to the festival area, it was wall to wall people and you could barely walk through.
My next outing of the day was to pick up a couple of things at Target or Walmart (they’re both in the same area). And… closed. Literally every store is closed today. I mean, I know the Regatta is a big deal around here, but I didn’t know it was *that* big a deal that the major stores would close. Every store parking lot was empty. It was like Thanksgiving in the U.S. With my shopping trip postponed, dinner ended up being on the early side at Piatto Pizzeria. My favorite style of pizza is Neapolitan and Piatto claims to be the only certified Neapolitan pizza in Newfoundland. I had a pizza with garlic cream sauce, smoked mozzarella, prosciutto, parsley, and hot honey. It was pretty good, save for the crispy prosciutto (I prefer raw prosciutto put on after the pizza is cooked). A quick walk around St. John’s after dinner, and I was ready to settle in for the night.
Traveling with Laura 