This morning we got off the ferry at Argentia (pronounced Ar-jent-cha, with gusto).  The trip took 17 hours to reach Newfoundland and it was a gentle, calm ride.  We rented a four-bunk berth.  I won’t call it a room because it was closer the size of a walk-in closet.  Ours was on the inside of the boat so there was no window.  They put a couple of mirrors up on the wall to make us feel like the room was bigger than it was, just like on the designer shows.  It didn’t work.  It was cramped and claustrophobic but we were happy to have our own private space.  With two kids, it just made sense.

By contrast the common areas of the ship were open and comfortable.  We had dinner in the buffet and although the food was good, it cost $22 a plate.  I have a problem with buffets because the cost of a plate of vegetables doesn’t equal the value of a plate of meat.  What’re you gonna do?  Well, go back for seconds and thirds, that’s what.  Something I never do but we took our time over dinner (because all we had was time).  I even had dessert, which I vaguely remember was a mixture of ice cream, jello and blueberry pie.  After dinner we hung out on the deck and then went to the lounge, which was large and airy.  A very comfortable place to spend the evening. They had all kinds of games to sign out so we played checkers and Monopoly while Jaybird fell asleep on the couch.

We went to our room at about 10.  Everyone fell asleep and I tried to pretend I wasn’t feeling claustrophobic by reading my book, Heart of Darkness.  I imagined I was sailing up the Congo and with the gentle swaying of the boat, I almost convinced myself I actually was.

Next morning we docked at 10 a.m. and reached St. John’s by noon.  Very nice.  It was an uneventful crossing, but that’s what you want isn’t it, when you’re in a boat on the North Atlantic.

On to St. John’s, where within minutes of entering the city we knew we would love it.  Probably the coolest city in Canada.