With its amazing architecture, sparkling lakefront, amazing parks, fabulous food and friendly locals, Chicago is consistently rated one of the world’s great cities. Here are some great things I was able to see and do on my latest visit. (I am not including the wonderful Obama Presidential Center as I wrote a separate story on it, which you can find here.) SKY HIGH VIEWS It’s always good to get your bearings when you arrive in a city, and one of the great ways to do that in the city that pretty much invented the skyscraper is to take in a Read more

You’d have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the fuss that U.S. President Donald Trump made when he asked American authorities to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. It’ was a foolish, childish decision made in a fit of pique. But it has helped put a focus on the lake, the smallest of the Great Lakes by size but an amazing place to explore. Here are some suggestions on how to enjoy LAKE ONTARIO. TORONTO Ontario’s biggest city sits on the northwestern “corner” of Lake Ontario. One of the best ways to see the lake is Read more

Chicago is widely known as one of the best food cities in the world. There are 16 restaurants with Michelin stars, including the three-star Smyth. Here are some great places to eat, based on my latest visit in August. THE PUBLICAN The Publican, located in the Fulton Market/West Loop area blew me away with some of the best, and most interesting, food I’ve had anywhere. The ham chop is a double pork chop cooked sous vide with fresh hay and then finished in the oven. The hay gives the meat a slightly grassy taste, and it comes out with the Read more

MSN Travel has an excellent story on its website that shows off some of the best small towns and cities of Europe. The story lists a smaller city or village in all 46 member countries, so you’ll find something in all your favourite destinations, including Italy, France, England, Portugal and Croatia. I must admit there are several I’d never heard of but look fabulous, such as Dinant, Belgium, Vianden, Luxembourg and Castle Combe in the delightful Cotswolds area of England, where I spent some time a few years ago. Others I know (Colmar, France, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland and Atrani, Italy, as Read more

CHICAGO – It’s a funny thing. As my wife and I recently toured the wonderful Obama Presidential Center on the south side of Chicago, which opened in June of this year, I kept comparing Obama’s message of hope and his reasoned approach to politics to the current administration in Washington. After having spent a half hour or so tracing his Chicago roots and his early years in the White House, my wife turned to me and asked what I thought. I’m a dual Canadian-American citizen who was born and raised in northern California, with a conservative but socially progressive judge Read more

MOST EXPENSIVE FALL COLOUR SPOTS IN CANADA Chasing the fall colours is one of Canada’s biggest domestic travel moments, and new research found Banff is actually the most expensive place to do it — $1,258 for a couple over two nights. Searches for “fall colours” are up 222% this past month. To see where the real splurge happens, Casinos Analyzer Canada priced a full weekend away for two using 2026 listings across ten of the country’s best-known fall colour destinations, including accommodation, fuel, mandatory park permits and groceries. Here’s how the ten compare (couple, 2 nights): Banff, AB — $1,258 Read more