This was our last big day (two stops) and sort of last vacation day on the ship (since we disembark Monday).
[Battle Harbour from the sea.]
Early in the morning, we arrived at Battle Harbour, Labrador. No, we saw no Labs of any color, nor any dogs. Boarding the Zodiacs was the usual fun…step, step, jump! We splashed our way to the shore of the Harbor. I asked what, if any, battles ever happened here, and I got two answers. One, that there was once a battle between two indigenous peoples here; and two, it was an English mangling of a Portuguese name for “boat” which might be something like “battle”. Regardless, it was a fishing village from very long ago until 1992. Now it is a sort of living museum, which is open until the first weekend in September. Note, today is the 18th, not close to the first week. But, since we were coming, they brought the people (or some of them) in to show us around.
[Landing at Battle Harbour.]
There was a really nice little church, with a rope and handle, so every person that walked into the church saw fit to “ring the bell”. I was hoping Theresa might sing a few versus from a 1980 song, but she did not. (If you don’t get the reference, look up Blondie songs!)
[Little Church with “do it yourself bell”.]
[The local RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Station. (because we know a former “Mountie”)]
The visit was just long enough, an hour and a half. Then we took the trip back, and our Zodiac driver throttled up, which moved us fast, but rough. We did not get as wet, and it did not last long, so that was fine. We got back, and had the daily briefing early—before lunch.
Moving at full speed, we arrived at “L’Anse aux Meadows” Newfoundland. This is the only site in North America with known Viking evidence. Although there are many stories and it is well accepted that they were here, no one had ever found a settlement, until a couple from Norway traveled up the coast starting in Rhode Island, asking at many spots if there were any “unknown” or “unexplained” bumps in the landscape. Here (L’anse aux Meadows) some one said, “Oh, yeah, there are some ‘Indian Mounds’ right over here!” In 1961 they set up an archeological dig, and found a number of artifacts evidencing the presence of “Europeans” right around 1000 AD. This may not be “the spot” where Leif Erikson landed, but it is certainly one spot the Vikings did land, and since no other spot has yet been found, they sort of give it extra importance. On arrival, there was a guy dressed up like a “Viking” who greeted us at the dock. It was hokey, but he was animated and all was in good fun.
[Our “Viking” greeter. (Note, his shield is almost upside down!)]
We first went to a site that had a completely constructed “version” of a village. There were one or two people there acting like Vikings a few sheep and a goose and ducks. This was a little funny since there was no evidence that there was any livestock here.
[A random duck (or mallard)]
[A statue tribute to Leif Erikson.]
[One of the Viking recreation buildings.]
[One of the ships (recreation) they would have used to sail the 8-9 days from Greenland to Newfoundland.]
[Some bird with a pine cone. What is he planning to do with it?]
[The makings of a nice a pillow!]
[A Viking church.]
[Inside the church.]
We then boarded school busses and headed to the other side of “town”. I found it interesting that our British friends had no association with “school busses” since there are (evidently) no school busses in England. Well, they have public transportation, so that sort of makes sense. But it was interesting discussing a notion that seems “obvious” with one to whom it was intriguing.
At the second site, there was a small museum and the site of the excavations and another “recreation” spot (with more “Vikings”). The excavation site was detailed by an Expedition Staff member who was very familiar with the site and history.
[One of the archeological sites for an actual building. After the excavation, they buried it in soil and sod to allow it to be visible.]
He did a good job of it, but as we finished, someone noticed a moose. Everyone turned to look, take pix, and oh and ah the mother and juvenile moose pair. A few minutes later, I overheard on the radios (used by the Expedition Team) the voice of our Archeologist plaintively saying, “There is an archeology site behind you!” I found that very funny! We are such a fickle bunch!
[Moose!!]
We then wandered down to the animated site. They had people in costumes, and it really was done fairly well. The building of the structures was reasonably, but extrapolated from what was known, and a few facts were blanks that were filled in. But, I did enjoy seeing how it “might” have looked. But, they had no food for us, so I was ready to go back!
[The path into the buildings. There is about 6 feet of sod to provide insulation and durability.]
[‘Vikings’ who would not feed us. Let’s go!]
Tonight, we had the Captain’s Farewell, which was a “formal” reception with free drinks and some pomp. It was strange seeing the Expedition Crew in coats and ties and quite formal! Then we had a formal dinner. I guess each “Officer” had invited guests at the table. In 2008, we had dinner with the Chief Engineer, which was exciting and special since he specifically chose us! Tonight, we had the “Cruise Consultant” (salesperson) inviting us to sit at her table. Dinner ended at about 10:30, so Theresa went straight to bed, and I’m shortly behind her.
Tomorrow, we have one stop then heading to our final port.
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