Wow, that is amazing! Beautiful.

Thanks for sharing that. Those pictures are beautiful. It makes me want to visit.

I remember the expansive hospitality of the Newfoundlanders during 9/11 - one of the only heartwarming stories during a time filled with tragedy.

Dee

I wanna go!

greatness! i love everything about it.

I had never heard about it either...what an amazing story. I am trying to find out whether the wall art is a mosaic...? Did I miss the description of what it is?

Flyleft,
'Bird of Flight' is a 72ft mural by artist Kenneth Lockhead, painted onsite in 1959. He mixed his own egg-tempered paint each morning before beginning work for the day.

I thought you'd like it jakabedy!

If any of you can ever manage a trip to Newfoundland do so - it is a difficult place to get to, but well worth the effort. Wonderful people and spectacular scenery, plus the lounge at Gander Airport of course. There is no place like it.

Sochi, thank you. What a great space!

WOW WOW WOW! The photos are amazing, but the story was a pretty fun read too....
The anecdotes are like a mainline into the Twilight Zone. ''My memory is very vivid of the night I chatted with Albert Einstein,'' Mary Smeaton MacDonald, a former gift-shop employee, says in a pamphlet for Gander's 1997 Airlines Reunion. What did they talk about? ''Oh, the theory of relativity.'' Marilyn Stuckless, who was the airport's commercial developer, says: ''When I was a teeny-bopper, we were out tobogganing when Castro and his bodyguards came to join us. It was the first time they'd seen snow, and they were playing like children.''

And the fact that "security was a nonissue" boggles my mind when you think of all the dignitaries that passed through there. Oh to live in such a time where one didn't have to be frisked just to fly on a plane.

Oh and our son has been there. Never knew until I read that many soldiers have passed through there on their way to or from Iraq. I texted and yep, he's been there.

I hopefully will be in Newfoundland in October next year. Will have to see how one goes about getting out to see this fantastical place. Thanks for posting.

I am currently planning on riding my bicycle from Vancouver BC to Newfoundland..all 10 provinces. Still have a lot of planning to do . c

deejaus, thanks. A true fresco of our time. I can only imagine how he must have felt making it.

And trail, that ride sounds *amazing*. I won't tell my half-Canadian cyclist husband about it, or he'd be on it like cat barf on a newly cleaned carpet (ask me why that image came to mind...nah, don't ;))

Thank you for posting this! Bookmarked!

Sochi
Love the pictures you posted. Off topic:I was wondering if you took them. I love photography and always seen an ethereal quality of your pictures. Are they HDR? What lens do you use to cover this wide or big of an area!

Fly I could change that to cat barf on a NEW rug and have it work for me. Why oh why, huh?

I'm so glad that others appreciate the room and the story! I've never been to Gander, but it is on my must visit list now.

trail - wow, what a trip! I'm envious. I want to do something similar with my kids in a few years, perhaps not on a bike, but maybe. You're skipping the three territories?? I'm kidding, cycling the ten provinces is enormous enough. Have you been to Newfoundland before? I've only been around the St. John's area, but it really is an amazing and special place.

Another interesting tidbit about NFLD: while Canada gained independence from Britain in 1867, NFLD didn't join Canada until 1949. Most British don't even know this.

vidyaram - no, I didn't take the pictures, I just googled them. Which reminds me, I will try to look up who did take the pictures and give proper credit later tonight. My DH took the photos of our kitchen that you are referring to - I know the ethereal quality you are speaking about, but I don't know how he does it. I will ask him tonight.

fly: lol! Why is it that cats ALWAYS barf on the carpet? I live in a house of hardwood with only 4 area rugs - my cat Sochi only barfs on the carpet. Argh.

It's great, and it hasn't been diluted by contract-grade versions of Queen Anne furniture and such like happens in so many places.

However, this is one of those things that makes me wonder if different generations of people experience color differently, somehow. Not only is this a color scheme that would not be used currently, but there are some combinations of colors that almost look vaguely disturbing together. I am not criticizing it at all. I am just wondering if there is something to this than is more than just fashion...when we look back at some color combinations, don't some of them just seem a bit "off" even from a basic color theory perspective? I have noticed this in various bathroom tile combinations, and some luxury cars from back then. Some of it is probably due to subtle shifts due to age and oxidation, but even in some period pictures and brochures, things look a bit off.

haha fly....I will email your DH we can use more company on the ride and someone who knows Canada...so please let him come...please :)

sochi, nope I have been to Haliburton Natl forest above Toronto and run a 100 mile ultra up there and I have been to Vancouver BC on holiday a couple years ago. I am trying to plan the route at this time.

Trying to decide when to start. Most folks that do it start late June ...it takes about 3 months. I was thinking of starting in Aug instead and that way no snow in the Rockies and also less traffic as the vacationers are gone and still have good weather and then fall colors in Nova Scotia and parts east.

Don't know if this is feasible. Need to ask folks in the area. I have lots of time to think. Glad you posted this. We will be in St John for sure. Did you love it ??? c

Amazing!

pal - do you mean something more than the vagaries of taste through the decades? I'm not sure. I'm not put off my the colours in the airport lounge, but I have been shocked by some odd combinations. Interesting why they opted to mix those colours in the first place, I agree. Less inhibition that we have now perhaps? More daring, less catering to the masses? I'm not sure.

trail - most advise tourists to visit Newfoundland in August. They have totally crazy weather, expect ANYTHING in October. My DH's bday is July 8th. As a boy scout he went to Gander on a trip the week of his b-day- it snowed. Very unusual and probably a fluke, but you have to be prepared for anything in Newfoundland. But if the weather isn't hospitable, the people certainly will be. St. John's is a really fun, interesting city. Get to Gros Morne Nat'l Park too. Wonderful trip, the planning must be great fun.

Credit - the photos are all from Flickr. If you click on the pictures it will bring you to the credits.

Gosh Pal, I look back on some of the color combos in my own lifetime (think seventies and eighties) and wonder what were they thinking? I've rarely used current color combo trends in decorating our homes.