All Roads Lead to...

Flavian Amphitheatre or the Colesseum at Dusk

...Rome, the eternal city.  I have no idea why but I fell in love with Rome on my first visit, because it was noisy, dirty, pushy, and even overwhelming at times. To be blunt, cigarette butts can be found just about anywhere and the crazy traffic; well traffic is a way of life in Rome and there are more mopeds (as well as crazy drivers) than Paris (I never imagined that was possible, but it is).  Definitely not any reason to love it. So what was it about Rome that captivated me; the food, the wine, the history, the ruins, the cobblestone streets, the fountains, the piazzas, the art, the music, the fashion, the attitude, the passion or the people. All of the above and so very much more. I think it's an inherent zest for life, while mixing the ancient and the modern in a spellbinding manner. 

In Rome, history and culture embraces you at every turn. The "downtown of Ancient Rome" includes the Colosseum, Roman Form and Palatine Hill which are must sees of any visit and can be viewed together. Give yourself several hours to view all three and use the Roma Pass or another ticket format that allows you to skip the lines. The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill will get hot and dusty, so morning visits are the best. Now if you are in Rome for a short time, add the Capitoline Museums after exiting the Roman Forum. The nice thing about the Capitoline Museums is that they are not large museums, not crowded, contain some of Rome's iconic ancient statues (she-wolf, colossal statue of Constantine, Dying Gaul), have beautiful renaissance and baroque masterpieces (Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian, and Tintoretto) and are a great introduction to the fine arts for all ages. These museums can easily seen in a couple of hours.

St. Peter's Basilica

No visit is complete without a visit to the Vatican. The only way to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel while maintaining any resemblance of sanity is to pick a day before you travel and pre-book your tickets. The lines are long and you can wait hours in line to get a ticket (guide books and travel sites mention one hour as the standard wait time, but when you read travel forums or have seen the lines, you quickly realize that it is often much longer than that). So even if you travel by the seat of your pants, this really is the one time and place to pre-plan (the Louvre would probably be another). Regardless of your personal philosophy with respect to religion; St. Peter's Basilica is a late Renaissance/early baroque masterpiece of architecture definitely worth a view. The great architects of Italy's 16th and 17th centuries have worked on it including Bramante, Raphael, Peruzzi, Michelangelo, Maderno, and Bernini. The entire interior of St. Peter's is beautifully decorated with marble, reliefs, and architectural sculpture. The basilica contains a large number of tombs, many of which are outstanding artworks (my favourite is the tomb of Alexander VII by Bernini). There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels, including Michelangelo's Pietà, his only signed piece and in it self the reason to visit St. Peter's Basilica.

The forum gets brutally hot and dusty in summer (especially August), so visit in the cool morning, wear a brimmed hat, and bring bottled water. - See more at: http://reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/sights/forum.html#sthash.FgnKRdOz.dpuf

The forum gets brutally hot and dusty in summer (especially August), so visit in the cool morning, wear a brimmed hat, and bring bottled water. - See more at: http://reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/sights/forum.html#sthash.FgnKRdOz.dpuf

The forum gets brutally hot and dusty in summer (especially August), so visit in the cool morning, wear a brimmed hat, and bring bottled water. - See more at: http://reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/sights/forum.html#sthash.FgnKRdOz.dpuf

The forum gets brutally hot and dusty in summer (especially August), so visit in the cool morning, wear a brimmed hat, and bring bottled water. - See more at: http://reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/sights/forum.html#sthash.FgnKRdOz.dpuf

 

Pantheon at Sunrise

Other note worthy attractions in Rome include the Pantheon, the most preserved building of ancient Rome with architecture that boasts of mathematical genius and simple geometry yet still impresses architects and visitors alike. The fountains of Rome including but definitely not limited to the Trevi Fountain, the Piazzas, other museums (my personal favourite is the Borghese Gallery), the churches (over 900 but who's counting anyway, we know there are lots), the food and the shopping; are all good reasons to visit Rome. In many ways Rome is a city frozen in time and I think our illusion of Rome tends to obscure its reality. At some point all roads do indeed lead to Rome; how we get there or what our expected outcome may be is irrelevant, as the outcome or destination is the same. They say Rome wasn't built in a day, seeing it in a day is impossible but then again Rome will always be there (at least in my lifetime).

View of the Roman Forum from the Capitoline Museums
(The Arch of Septimius Severus, the Temple of Vespasian and Titus and the Temple of Saturn are visible in the foreground)

Trajan's Column in Trajan's Forum

Obelisk Fountain in Piazza del Popolo at Sunset

Church of St Luke the Evangelist
and St Martina

Santa Maria di Loreta

Laocoön and His Sons
(Vatican Museums; work of Rhodes sculptors Hagesandros, Athanodoros and Polydoros)

Michelangelo's La Pieta, St. Peter's Basilica

Caravaggio's The Fortune Teller  - (First Version; Capitoline Museums)

More of photos of Rome can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157619011581092/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157618928270239/
More of photos from the Vatican can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157619074641769/
More of photos from the Capitoline Museums can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157619685050386/

Paris is Always a Good Idea!

Notre Dame Cathedral

I somehow developed a fascination with the Louvre and the Chateau de Versailles when I was growing up. The reasons for the fascination escapes me, but I remember telling my mother I was going to visit them. My first trip to Europe included Paris and both places were on my agenda. I'm sure my husband was not expecting to spend 2 days at the Louvre, nor to be back several times since. My next visit is little more than 6 weeks away.  It's a 2.5 day stop over enroute to Sicily for the biennial girls trip. Time to order my Paris Museum Pass. I'm not going to debate it's value, except to say, I don't do lines.  I plan to enjoy every minute of my time. 

I think Paris will make an excellent prelude to Sicily. I can visit museums, indulge in French food, pastries, fine wine, and get accustomed to being on my feet for 10-12 hours a day and not on a golf course! I am actually considering something different, taking a Paris Night Photography Tour. We did a Photography Tour in Venice and loved it. 

Basilica of Sacré-Coeur 

This will be a solo visit and after the pickpocket incident last summer, my husband doesn't want to visit Paris any time soon. When one travels several times a year, sooner or later an incident of some sort will happen and in Paris pickpocketing is a profession. Our story was one of 90% vigilance with a minor lapse, stealthy fingers and the ideal set-up. When we exited the metro on a visit to Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur, his first comment was "take care as this is the ideal place for pickpockets". No kidding, there was no visible security, lots of tourists and just as many professional thieves of all types. The metro was basically empty with no one standing behind us while we waited at Anvers Station. Upon entered the car, my husband got separated from me and boxed in by 2 men who got on as the all clear signal sounded. I tried to get his attention but they would not move and were talked very loudly drowning out my warnings to him.  When I got his attention, we were at the next station (Pigalle) and all three jumped off (including the one who had been seated with a walking cast and crutches and who was obviously part of this gang). They got his wallet out of a front pocket that had a zipper closure; getting away with some euros, his ID and credit cards. This is where the story should have ended; but as we made our way back to the hotel, two young girls (8-10) with an adult handler tried to pickpocket him as we watched in total disbelief. The Metro was not crowded and I now suspect at least half the passengers were professionals. So take heed, vigilance is always required. Adding insult to injured pride, my travel lens broke making the visit to Montmartre an expensive one. The good news was the credit cards were cancelled within 20-25 minutes of being taken as we had photocopies of them back at the hotel. The passports as well as my credit cards were in the hotel safe.  The hotel advised us that Blanche, Pigalle and Anvers stations on the Blue line 2 were notorious for pickpockets.  We were lighter in pocket but wiser (at least I hope so).    

Château de Versailles

I have bought a security handbag as an added precaution and off I go. I can safely say a visit to the Louvre is definitely on the agenda, I need to visit some of my favourites (and no the Mona Lisa is not one of them). Who knows, maybe it's time for a return visit to Versailles but with a 2.5 days visit, there is only time for a taste. Add in a few favourite sites such as Notre Dame, Rodin Museum, Museum D'Orsay, the Paris bridges, the Eiffel tower at night and the time will fly. The wiser and more cautious me still thinks that Paris is always a good idea!

Place du Panthéon

Institut de France

Eiffel Tower At Sunset

Les Invalides

Place de l'Hôtel de Ville

More of my photos of Paris can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157603265823104/

or from the Louvre at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157643117226995/

One is Only a Number

Fountain on Blue Monster Course
 at Trump Doral

The 2014 winter being what it was, I decided why should the youngsters be the ones having all the fun and thought a spring break trip would be nice. Alas, my husband has to work for one of the few universities that does not have spring break and my friends were all working; I'm the retired one. OK spring break for one, it is!

Sunday Monster Seat Tickets
for WGC Cadillac at Trump Doral

Florida was the logical choice and for an avid golfer, the PGA's Florida Swing was an added bonus.  So would it be Miami (WGC-Cadillac) or Orlando (Arnold Palmer Invitational). Easy decision, Miami because the WGC event would have more than the normal cast of golf players (or should I say characters), the Blue Monster course and I had never been to Miami. So now what type of tickets to get? Hhh let me see...as this was my first golf event, I decided to go all out and get the four days of Monster Seat which included 18^th green grandstand seats with full clubhouse and ground access (included drinks and snacks) plus ground access for the practise round. Spring Break here I come!

Rory McIlroy

One is only a number and it comes with endless possibilities and new experiences. Loneliness was not one of those experiences. The best thing about travelling solo was I met a lot of interesting people who I probably would not have met had I been with friends or family. More importantly, the schedule was mine and mine alone. The solo trip made me realize that when travelling with friends and family, we tend to be quite insular and get comfortable with our safety net. I can say with certainty, had I travelled with friends and family I would never had experienced the WGC Cadillac in the same manner.

Luke Donald 

Ok so my golf game is not as bad as I think it is! I saw pros hit shots that left me shaking my head (yeah, that bad), as well as shots that I could only dream about in my wildest dreams (think Bubba at Augusta). They are normal people not gods (last time I checked anyway); so they have their ups and downs, frustrations, temper tantrums, moods and nerves. Ah, yes the nerves; Thursday had a split tee start and the first group off the 10^th tee hit shots in the water, hit an official (saving the shot) and in the bunker. Ironically it would take several more groups to play before a shot actually found the fairway (go Kuchar). It can not be easy to golf with hundreds of spectators a few feet away, watching your every move. The pros don't always have all facets of their game in sink, just like the rest of us. Besides natural talent, they just work harder at all aspects of the game and have the ability to focus and shake off those really bad shots quicker, at least most of the time.

Rickie Fowler

Miguel Ángel Jiménez 

The kids dressed like and following Rickie Fowler were adorable, the grown men were just creepy (yes they were several). The Tiger phenomenon is real and I can honestly say being paired with him must be a challenge. The crowd following Tiger is significantly larger that anyone else (even for the practise round). The only person who even came close to the crowd size was Phil Mickelson, and the size of his spectators weren't in the same league, at least for this championship. Jason Duffer does indeed waggle while Miguel Ángel Jiménez smokes cigars while practising (did not see the wine though)! Bradley Keegan and Jim Furyk have interesting pre-shot routines. The officials will warn you to be watchful when Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson are on the tee (beware of wayward shots). Some spectators need to learn golf etiquette or even better yet, the basics of the game. The Blue Monster was indeed a monster; a lovely immaculate groomed course that chewed up the pros and spit them out as if they were amateurs!  I overheard Justin Rose saying, "I just love this course" as his ball ran across the green and into the water. I've thought the same about some of the courses I've played. This was a no cut event and I suspect several players had wished there was a cut.

Zack Johnson

Graeme McDowell

Now being a responsible adult, my version of spring break was vastly different than that of the wild hordes of student spring breakers! Relaxed, shopped, got too much sun, met new people, drank some wine, laughed and generally had a good time. OK, So maybe not all that different. And yes, I will travel solo again, as one really is only a number.

Tiger Woods with Caddie, Joe LaCava

More photos from the WGC Cadillac Championship can be seen at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21108304@N02/sets/72157642894601893/

The Hat Trick

Now that the Olympics are over, its time to finalize another post. It has been said that when the French explorer Jacques Cartier arrived in the 16th century, he called Labrador “the land God gave Cain.” Ask any Newfoundlander and Labradorean and most will tell you God was more than a little generous with Cain, all things considered!  Of course, Cain also received black flies, mosquitoes and stouts as well (a whole other story). Twenty-two species of whales visit our coastal waters and there over 350 species of birds with over 35 million seabirds. Wildlife abounds and when you are only slightly smaller in land mass than the state of California and have a population of 510,000; your backyard is their home. We are an outdoor paradise for enthusiasts of all sorts. The Newfoundland and Labrador version of the "Hat Trick" (and no we are not talking about hockey, though we Canadians claim hockey as our national game) is icebergs, whales and birds (puffins and gannets are my personal favourites).  The possibility of sighting of birds and whales is a certainty from June through August, add in the majestic iceberg and the things get a little bit more dicey (some years anyway). 

Icebergs

Up Close and Personal (2012)

"Iceberg Alley”, is a stretch of Atlantic coastline that runs from the north eastern shores of Labrador down to the southern Grand Banks.  Icebergs tend to occur March through early July but the number of icebergs and location they may occur, varies greatly from year to year. The icebergs seen off the coast of Newfoundland originate from the ancient glaciers of Greenland. Without a doubt, southern Labrador and the the eastern coast of the Newfoundland from St. Anthony to Twillingate, offer the highest probability to site icebergs. However, most years will see a few near shore sightings in the Avalon region.  In fact, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a website to aid in the hunt for icebergs:  the Iceberg Finder. 

Witless Bay 2009

Icebergs on the Newfoundland coast travel about 17 Kilometres (10 miles) per day, drive by currents, tides and winds. By the time they have reached Newfoundland, they will have been travelled for approximately 2 years and 1800 nautical miles. What many people don't realize is that up to nine-tenths of an iceberg remains hidden below the ocean’s surface, hence the term "tip of the iceberg".

Icebergs have several different shapes known tabular, blocky, wedged, dome, pinnacle or dry dock (http://www.icebergfinder.com/iceberg-facts.aspx ).  The size of an iceberg can be deceptive, especially in photos or when viewed from land.  The Iceberg in the following photos is of the same iceberg.  The boat puts the size in context, remember ~10% of the iceberg is above water. Besides making for a great photo, icebergs are harvested for the production of water and vodka; as well as routinely towed as part of the oil shore oil and gas ice management strategy in Newfoundland.

Boat Passing by Iceberg in St. Anthony, NL (2012)

Iceberg in St. Anthony 2012
(Boat from previous photo was passing by the back left portion of the iceberg)

 Sunrise over Quidi Vidi (G.whiteway)

Iceberg in Melrose, NL (2009)
The iceberg is more than a kilometer away from land in this photo, so it's not really small.

Birds

Honey, I'm Home (2013)

Birds love it here, with Newfoundland boasting some of the largest seabird colonies in the world that are home to puffins, murres, gannets and kittiwakes. Not surprising given our 29,000 kilometres of coastline. So, whether it's by land or sea, birds are easy to find, even in the city! 

While the largest breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins (which is our provincial bird) in eastern North America is located on Great Island in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, my favourite puffin site is at Elliston ( http://www.townofelliston.ca/ ), a three and half hour drive from St. John's that has one of the closest land views of puffins.  If you are quiet, patient and get lucky, puffins may land within 3-4 feet of you (as was the case for the attached 2013 photos) and they will put on a show that will thrill all. Puffins (also known as sea parrots) are notoriously poor fliers, so watching them can be hilarious. They have difficulty becoming airborne and flap their wings at an amazing 300 to 400 beats per minute to maintain flight. Alas, their landings are no better than their take off and they often crash onto the sea or tumble onto the grass, bowling over other puffins that get in their way.

Elliston 2013

Puffin in Flight at Elliston, NL (2012).
The foggy day added a natural bokeh to the pictures.

Root Cellar in Elliston, NL

An added bonus in Elliston is the 133 documented root cellars, some of which have survived nearly two centuries. The root cellar played an important role in the life of the people of Elliston and surrounding areas for the preservation of vegetables and other food supplies, as well as a role children's games and folklore that was passed down through the generation. ( http://www.townofelliston.ca/2ar/rootcellars.html ).

Caper St. Mary's Ecological Reserve

Cape St. Mary's is a seabird sanctuary with the largest nesting colony of gannets in Newfoundland. During the breeding season, the Cape is home to over 24,000 Northern gannet, 20,000 black-legged kittiwake, 20,000 common murre, and 2,000 thick-billed murre, as well as some razorbills, black guillemot, double-crested and great cormorant, and Northern fulmar. While, it is only a few hours drive from the city of St. John's it is advisable to call ahead to check on the weather as fog is often encountered at the Cape (it's just down the shore from Argentia, one of the foggiest places in the world).
(http://www.greatcanadianparks.com/nfoundland/cstmary/index.htm  

Gannet Rookery on Bird Rock at Cape St. Mary's (2008)

Bird Rock is a sea stack standing just a few feet from the main body of the Cape St. Mary’s headland and rising 100 metres from the sea. Millions of years of erosion have worn away the softer limestone that once connected the rock pinnacle to the cliff, thus creating a natural refuge from the land-based predators of birds eggs and chicks.  Bird Rock is the second largest gannet rookery in North America.

Gannets at Cape St. Mary's (2008)

Whales

Humpack Whale Diving (and yes he/she just pooped!)
at Witless Bay Ecological  Reserve

With twenty species of whales in the surrounding waters; including minke, sperm, pothead, blue, orca, and humpbacks between May through September (primarily), watching whales is a common past time.  They feed on capelin, krill and squid along the coast and they are seen breaching the surface of the water and playing along our shores. Boat tours are readily available in most areas of the province for those of us unlucky enough not to have sea going vessels or families with them.  While I have seen humpbacks breaching, I have yet to captured this activity on camera.  In 2012, we took a boat tour out of St. Anthony and had the pleasure of watching two humpbacks check out the boat.  We could see them looking up at us from just below the water as they passed underneath and around the boat.  You get a real appreciation for their size when they are up that close.  Alas no breaching or tail waves that trip.

Humpback Whale at Witless Bay Ecological Reserve
 (http://www.townofwitlessbay.com/ecologicalreserve.htm)

Choose the right time of year to visit and you will have a reasonable chance of seeing all three: icebergs, whales and birds, Newfoundland's Hat Trick.  We'll even throw in a few moose, foxes and even the odd caribou!

Always a Half Hour Ahead

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

It has been said, that it often takes travels to other places and getting away from our normal mundane lives to remind us to look right under our noses, at the wonders of our own homes. So my next posts will be about home (Newfoundland and Labrador), which is on the edge of the continent where one can catch the first sunrises (or the dawning of a new millennium) in North America; a place where our language is a mosaic of words, phrases, accents and regional dialects; where Vikings roamed and settled over 1000 years ago; where fossils over 565 million years old can be found; where iceberg alley is a place; and while in Newfoundland, you're always a half hour ahead (we have our own time zone).   

(Photo by G. Whiteway)

Welcome to the eastern edge of North American. We have over 29,000 kilometres of rocky shoreline dotted with seastacks, beaches and lighthouses. If you are a lighthouse aficionado, this is place to visit. I'm not sure how many we have, but there are hundreds. Well I am going to hazard a guess, I won't be visiting all of them in this lifetime. Not really surprising, considering our coastline is laden with submerged rock, shoals, inlets, icebergs and fog.  Oh yes fog, the Grand Banks is the foggiest place on earth, and the town of Argentia ties as the foggiest land based place in the world (with Point Reyes, California), having over 200 days of fog a year. The following are some of the more easily accessible, well known and beautiful lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador. Some the photos included here were taken by my husband Geoff Whiteway, he's the one that gets up in the wee hours of the morning (~4 AM) to catch the sunrise, while I head out to the golf course a few hours later!

Cape Spear

Original Cape Spear Lighthouse (G. Whiteway)

Cape Spear is a rocky, windswept promontory of rock that has a thin, sporadic cover of till and bog (sounds so inviting). Cape Spear always seem to have visitors regardless of the time of year or weather, many of whom are locals. Within 30 minutes or less from most areas of St. John's, the level of traffic is not surprising and it is a favourite with photographers of all levels as well as nature lovers in general. Sunrise at Cape Spear is a wondrous experience (as the photos can attest) with the sky being saturated with hues of yellows, oranges and reds. It is home to Newfoundland’s oldest surviving lighthouse that was built in 1836 and was in continuous use until 1955, manned by several generations of the Cantwell family. A modern structure was built in 1995 using the active light from the original lighthouse. In 1962 Cape Spear was declared a National Historic Park. 

Cape Spear (G. Whiteway)

Sunrise at Cape Spear on a Foggy Day (G. Whiteway)

Ferryland 

An hour drive from St. John’s you can find the Ferryland lighthouse built in 1870 and this is the location for Lighthouse Picnics, a unique venture that offers fabulous food in combination with history, culture, and whale watching. Not only does Ferryland have another beautiful lighthouse but it is also where Lord Baltimore, founded the Colony of Avalon in 1621; a location earlier used by the French, Spanish, and Portuguese as a fishing harbour. In Ferryland, you can watch archaeologists as they uncover the foundations of houses built in the 17th century. The artefact's uncovered in Ferryland can be viewed at the nearby interpretation centre.

Ferryland Lighthouse (G. Whiteway)

Cape Bonavista

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), an Italian navigator and explorer declared “O Buona Vista!”, upon citing land in 1497. The actual landing site is a widely debated topic (with Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Nova Scotia and others laying claim to that honour); nevertheless this is how Cape Bonavista received its name. The lighthouse was built in 1843 and while it still stands, it no longer functions.  The current active light is a steel tower built in 1966 beside the old lighthouse. The lighthouse is approximately 6 kilometres from town of Bonavista (~3.5 hour drive from St. John's) and is well worth the side trip.  This is one of my favourite detours en-route home to St. John’s from Terra Nova National Park. Bonavista has a picturesque lighthouse; it is a quintessential Newfoundland fishing town; is a hop, skip and jump from Elliston and the Dungeons; and finally they have one of my favourite Newfoundland restaurants (the Oceanview, open seasonally). They have become a yearly visit for us sometime during late May through end of August (puffin time at Elliston).

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse ( G. whiteway)

Cape Race And Cape Pine 

Pine Cove Lighthouse

Cape Race and the Titanic will be forever intertwined in history. The titanic was in constant communication with Cape Race on its Marconi wireless prior to hitting the iceberg as passengers passed along greetings and messages to people on land throughout North America. Cape Race was instrumental in coordinating the Titanic rescue with the Carpathia and other nearby vessels, that had wireless sets. Cape Race has an ancient history and was found on many earliest maps of the new world, as it was considered to be a critical point for marine navigation in the early days of transatlantic travel and many sailing vessel had wrecked upon its rocky shore. Cape Race can be considered isolated by any modern standard with the nearest town approximately 30 kilometres away by an unpaved road (~3 hour drive from St. John's). The lighthouse at Cape Race was built in 1856, updated in 1907 and was built in conjunction with the Cape Pine Lighthouse (~2.5 hour drive from St. John's) built in 1851. See http://www.receivingtitanic.com/cape-race for additional information.

Cape Race Lighthouse

 Fort Amherst

Fort Amherst from Signal Hill

The Fort Amherst Lighthouse is located at South Head of St. John's Harbour overlooking “the narrows”, on the site of the old Fort Amherst. The original lighthouse at Fort Amherst was built in 1813 and was the first lighthouse built in Newfoundland. It operated until 1835 by voluntary contribution from vessels entering the harbour. It was replaced by a new structure in 1852. That building was demolished in 1952 making way for the current structure. The lighthouse was manned until 1982.  Both dwellings associated with the lighthouse have been beautifully renovated and are available as vacation rentals.

Forth Amherst Lighthouse at Sunrise (G. Whiteway)

A few Other Lighthouses In Newfoundland

Lobster cove Lighthouse, Rocky Harbour (7.5 Hours from St. John's)

St. Anthony Lighthouse (12.5 hours from St. John's)

Trinity Lighthouse
(3.5 hours from St. John's)

The following sites can provide additional information on most of the lighthouses highlighted.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/  (Fantastic site and an extensive collection and database of information about lighthouses in Canada and the United States). 

http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/ 

http://www.receivingtitanic.com/cape-race

Hearts  Content Lighthouse
(1.5 hours from St. John's)

The driving distances noted assumes an uninterrupted drive based on the most direct route, not likely to happen. So, this is the place where the day first dawns, where whales frolic, seabirds abound, stately icebergs drift slowly by, hundreds of lighthouse can be found and yes we are always a half hour ahead!  

Link to the Newfoundland and Labrador Half Hour TV ad.