JIM BYERS PHOTO. The Richardson Olmsted Complex near downtown Buffalo is being restored and turned, in part, into a boutique hotel and architecture centre. BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Mea Culpa. For years, as I recall, the head of media/public relations for Buffalo Tourism had been bugging me to come on down and check things out. I envisioned cool architecture and chicken wings and a nice Frank Lloyd Wright building Ihad heard about. I covered the Buffalo Bills off and on for the Star’s sports section in the early 2000’s, but I didn’t have a strong mental image of the city in Read more
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JIM BYERS PHOTO Colaneri winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake looks like something out of Tuscany. Great wines, too. NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – A wonderful B and B with a Florentine co-owner. An organic Italian gelato place run by the same woman and her husband. And a winery where they make their vino in the Italian style in a series of buildings that look like they were shipped from a sleepy hillside in Tuscany. Sure, you can go to this pretty southern Ontario town and indulge yourself in British (and faux British) hotels and plays and bars. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you also Read more
BANFF, ALBERTA – It’s one of the great tourist attractions of Canada. And one of the top views in the world. I’ve been up the Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff several times. This year was the first time I’d done it in winter. And it was spectacular. I was out in the Rockies on a recent visit and had been hoping to do a helicopter tour near Kananaskis _ a gorgeous part of Alberta – and maybe some snowshoeing high in the mountains. But the winds were fierce and the chopper pilot said it wasn’t safe to fly. I always Read more
This coming year promises lots of great activities from coast to coast. Here are a few things to keep in mind. ALBERTA The new Glacier Skywalk on the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper will open to the public next spring. The design was honoured with a 1st prize award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. Highlighted vistas and interpretive stations will lead guests to the grand finale of the Glacier Skywalk experience: a glass floored walkway 280 metres (918 feet) over the breathtaking Sunwapta Valley, complete with cascading waterfalls and active wildlife below. BRITISH COLUMBIA Vancouver will host Read more
HONG KONG – I have a number of favourite places in this great city; Kowloon Park, Victoria Peak (naturally), the Lord Stow’s bakery Portuguese egg tarts from Macau that they sell at the Excelsior Hotel’s Expresso shop, a fun and busy milk tea shop in central called Lan Fong Yuen and the Star Ferry between Kowloon and Central; perhaps the world’s most romantic and historic boat ride. All great places, and all places I visited again this time around. But I also managed to add in five awesome, new places and activities; always a nice thing. 1. The Aqua Luna Read more
