St. John's is famous for its Jellybean Row, houses of bright colours all in a row. The assumption is that as sailors and fishers and sealer returning home from long days or months at sea, they would look for their homes as they entered the harbour, which would not have been easy on rainy foggy days. Having a house painted a bright colour would help them identify which house was theirs and cheer them on their return from what was no doubt an exhausting, difficult job.
We saw the same thing in Inuvik, with bright palettes cheering those long winter nights. And also in Punta Arena, in southernmost Chile, which conversely needed cheery colours during the long dark nights of summer. At the top and the bottom of the world, these cheerfully painted houses were heart-lifting, and we wondered why there was not more colour in other cities that experience a lot of grey gloomy weather. Like Vancouver in November for example.
Now the people of St. John's return home by air, or car, but the tradition of eye-popping row houses lives on, and have become a part of the cultural fabric of this place.
Even our excellent B&B follows the theme. BTW if you even want to stay in "that" room in a wonderful inn, ask for # 9 (the Admirals Cove) at Roses Heritage Inn.
It all reminds me of a game my father made up to occupy bored young bodies on family road trips. It involves jellybeans of as many colour options as possible, as well as my father's sweaty hand if we took too long to guess the right colour and got the bean. You probably get the idea.
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