THE CITY ON A ROCK.

NEWFOUNDLAND & Labrador; NORTH America; CANADA

And so it is with St. John's itself. You can't take it in with tiny sips; you have to choke it back, you have to swig it down. You have to wheeze about and stagger. The oldest city in North America, perched on the easternmost edge of the continent, St. John's has been described as "the world's largest fishing village," and the description is apt. In St. John's, Newfoundland, the houses tumble uphill, if such a thing is possible, and the entire place-the streets, the squares, the alleyways--seems to have been laid out without the aid of a ruler and possibly while under the influence of screech. St. John's is, as the Irish say, "a great place to get lost in." Wander around long enough, though, and you will eventually end up at the harbour as surely as water flows downhill. Great ships lie tethered, bleeding rust into the bay, and rising and falling on slow exhalations of water.