L'Anse aux Meadows

Back blip - but only by about seven months!

One of the expected highlights of my trip to Newfoundland and Labrador was the UNESCO World Heritage Site of L'Anse aux Meadows. This site has evidence of the first known European landfall in the Americas, around 1000AD. 

The Vikings arrived here from Greenland and used this as a base for further exploration inland and further down the coast. Some of the outlines of the original buildings still exist, while there are also reconstructions of some of the buildings (pictured above) where people dressed in the clothes of the time demonstrate some of the skills and tell you about the people who arrived from northern Europe so many years ago. The visit did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, the weather was horrible - windy and wet and we probably didn't get the best out of our visit. It wasn't the weather to wander around outside and take in the scenery or listen to what the Ranger was telling us about the site. However, the reconstructed hut had a fire blazing and none of us wanted to leave the warmth to make the walk back to the visitor centre.