The beautiful scenery is one of the main reasons I'm going out there. I'm not a city person!

My then husband spent a sabbatical at Memorial University in the capital St. John's. Our son was 7-8. (I understand Nfld has changed quite a bit since then.)

We found it fascinating. One of the absolute best parts were the blueberries that at that time you could pick for free in many places.

Another fascinating aspect is the folklore. When we were there many parts of Nfld were quite isolated , so people in the outports (coastal villages, no tv) provided their own entertainment with story telling, singing, and dancing. The university was one of very few in No America to offer undergrad majors and advanced degrees in Folklore. Nfld was one of the few places in the world where Irish and English folksongs were preserved close to their original words, grammar, and pronunciation. There were old people who had learned their songs as small children from old people who had learned theirs in the same way, and so on back into the mists of time.

I'm really looking forward to going to some of the smaller villages. I love the names: Witless Bay, Heart's Delight, Heart's Adventure.

I met students at the university who had not seen a car until they went to the university.

The villages are called outports because until Nfld became a part of Canada (1949?) the only way to get to and from them was by fishing boats.

Get as far away as you can!