This item appeared in Sun Media and Postmedia publications in Canada earlier this week… PORT REXTON, NEWFOUNDLAND – It starts innocently enough; an easy walk on relatively flat land through a thick forest. But as I start a steady, moderate climb it gets interesting. The trees get gnarlier, with deep pine/juniper smells and plants with small red berries and what looks like a Newfoundland version of Spanish moss in the trees. Suddenly off to my left I spot an opening in the forest and walk over to a fence near a cliff. I look down at a vast sea of Read more
Canada
Sometimes a silver medal is pretty darn good. Especially when you’re competing against the entire world. British Airways has released a list of its top destinations for 2018, and Toronto came second. The only destination ranked higher for British visitors was the Seychelles, and it’s hard to compete with an island chain that beautiful. The British Airways website talked about Toronto and Vancouver are both great cities, but that the Ontario capital gained the edge (sorry, British Columbia!). “Toronto and Vancouver are competing for Canada’s tourist crown. According to British Airways, Toronto takes it in 2018,” the story said. “That’s Read more
It’s a tough act to balance. Canadian destinations and cities around the world want tourists to come and fill the coffers of local hotels and businesses. But sometimes it’s too much. If you’ve been following the news, you might have seen protests in Barcelona, where locals recently protested the annual onslaught of tourists from Britain and other countries, who party all night in Las Ramblas after jetting in on cheap flights from the likes of Ryanair with money in their pockets. Venice also has complained, as has Iceland. Today I read a story about similar sentiments in beautiful Amsterdam, where Read more
Go west, young man is a famous quote about the settling of the American West, a call for folks in the crowded Eastern United States to pack up for California and other, less crowded areas to the west. It could well be the slogan for air transportation in the crowded southern Ontario market. There’s been talk for years of building a Toronto Pearson relief airport in Pickering. That could still happen. But, in the meantime, airline folks are answering the call to avoid Pearson congestion (and high fees) by inducing folks to fly out of Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo, both an Read more
I was on a cruise in Bordeaux, France last week and had one of those introductory bus rides around the city. Out the right side of my window I caught a brief glimpse of what’s La Grosse Cloche, or The Big Bell. Later, after lunch, I borrowed a bike from the folks at Ama Waterways and set out to explore the city at my own pace. I was getting near the end of my ride when I suddenly remembered the bell. In the old days I would’ve fumbled for a clunky, paper map and tried to find it. Or asked Read more
