The coast of Sardinia near Hotel Cervo, on the Costa Smeralda. SARDINIA – I’ve only been on the island an hour or two. But my friend Mans Hallqvist wants to show me some cool parts of his adopted city of Cagliari, so I find myself climbing a dry, dusty but beautiful hill on the outskirts of town. The deep blue waters of the Mediterranean are off to our right as we head up the hill. Mans points out wild asparagus plants and we pass brilliant pink oleander as we skip past the ancient rocks. Suddenly we find ourselves gazing Read more

AMSTERDAM – Sometimes it’s good to listen to the tourism folks. Okay, it’s almost ALWAYS good to listen to the tourism folks. In this case, I have to give credit to the lovely Henny Groenendijk, who represents Visit Holland . I’d been promising to go for years, but somehow never got around to it. This time, I made Holland the focus of my trip to Europe. I’ve written in the past few days about surprising Rotterdam and about my great bike ride in Holland. But I want to give Henny a special shout-out for booking me a room at the Read more

ROTTERDAM – I have to give the people of this city credit. After World War II, after they sifted through the ruins of a city mercilessly bombed by the Nazis, they made a bold decision. Rather than try to make everything the way it was, they opted instead to take their clean slate and rebuild a modern city. The decision has had mixed reviews, but there’s no doubt Rotterdam today stands out with a very different style than Amsterdam. If you ask tour guide and local artist Willem Besselink, that’s a good thing. “Before the war, the city looked much Read more

Jim Byers photo A memorial to fallen Canadian troops at the Brooding Soldier monument at Vancouver Corner in St. Julian, Belgium. YPRES, BELGIUM – I take a train through rolling fields of prosperous farms and frisky Holsteins and small, black sheep grazing on deep, green grass. I dive into perfectly cooked sole at a stunning restaurant. I wander adorable streets filled with attractive brick buildings and drink rich Belgian beers on lovely squares and stroll through romantic parks with tiny bridges over pretty marshes and silent fishermen trying their luck I have a lovely time in this small town and Read more

  Jim Byers The pretty village of Chester, Nova Scotia. NOVA SCOTIA – Drives in Cape Breton get most of the international attention. And deservedly so, with those plummeting cliffs and the ocean views and pretty villages. The drive from Halifax to the South Shore of Nova Scotia isn’t as dramatic as Cape Breton. But it’s drop dead gorgeous, and so easy. Whereas Cape Breton is several hours from Halifax and the Cabot Trail another hour beyond, the scenic route from Halifax to Lunenburg takes only an hour or two, depending on how much time you take gawking and snapping Read more

HALIFAX – Great food. A beautiful harbour. Super-friendly people. And, just for good measure, a tour of the city in a motorcycle sidecar. There’s something very cool about Halifax. The weather is unpredictable. But the city’s other attributes make up for what might be lacking in the meteorological department. I’ve written in the past about the city’s great food scene, and I had a chance to try a couple new spots this time around. We had dinner again at Press Gang , which is an old building that dates back to 1759. There are exposed stone and brick walls and Read more