It’s easy to forget how lucky we are in Toronto. I live a few miles north of Lake Ontario and often weeks go by without my seeing one of the world’s largest lakes. And then I get down there on a perfect night in late spring and admire the light on the water and the brilliant white sailboats bobbing along and the feeling of sun on my face, and I look at the shoreline and say to myself, “I wish I owned a place right over there.” That’s probably not going to happen, and I’m probably never going to own Read more
A meal that’s as good as any five-star restaurant you’ll find. Comfortable, lie-flat seats with fine French champagne. And a brand new, plush BMW to whisk you to an exclusive suite at Pearson. The folks at Air Canada recently gave a few lucky members of the media a test run of their new Signature Service, which began on Friday for select customers on select flights. If you’re a customer who can afford it or a business person who needs some extra sleep and enjoys a fine meal and being treated like royalty, or if you’re a travel agent booking a Read more
Finding a great meal or that perfect airport shop just got even easier for Canadians. Apple Maps airport feature, which allows users to see amazingly detailed plans of multiple levels of airports all over the world, now includes great mapping features at both Montreal/Trudeau (YUL) and Quebec City/Lesage (YQB). Those are both hugely popular airports for Canadians, especially with the summer travel season pretty much upon us. The maps previously were available at Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Vancouver (YVR) and Edmonton (YEG). The Apple Maps app allows users to browse hundreds of shops, restaurants, or restrooms located within the airport or Read more
**This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BMO Insurance. All opinions are my own. It was the last full day of my visit to Dubai a few years ago. I was writing a travel story on Dubai for the Toronto Star, where I was the travel editor. I’d had breakfast at a fine, luxury hotel and was heading out to tour some of the old city, check out the markets and have a drink with a friend who was living in the UAE. I had no reason to expect anything would go wrong. But sometime in Read more
Energy. Great food. And a little mystery. I’ve taken several trips to southeast Asia over the years and have come away hugely impressed each time. From friendly faces in a stunning bay in Vietnam to steamy food stalls in Malaysia and sleek hotels in Singapore, I’ve enjoyed a wide variety of experiences across Asia. George Town is a marvellous spot in Malaysia, with colonial architecture, a cool arts scene and magnificent food, while Vietnam’s Halong Bay is one of those “wow” spots you see photos of as a kid and think, “That’s a place I’ve got to see.” It’s easier Read more
Hawaii is open for business. I met with Hawaii Tourism officials on Monday at the IPW U.S. tourism event in Denver and that was their overwhelming message. Yes, there is some volcano activity on the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii. But it’s limited to 10 square miles of an island that’s more than 4,000 square miles in all. Erin Kinoshita of The Anthology Group, which does public relations for Hawaii tourism, said there’s been no significant impact on the city of Hilo, which is only a half hour’s drive from the eruption site. It’s almost 100 miles Read more
STRATFORD, ONTARIO – It’s a gorgeous spring day in southern Ontario, one of those days when the entire world seems to have woken up from its winter slumber and taken to the streets; discovering flowers in bloom and new smells and the feeling of sunshine on its collective faces. I’m standing near the Queen’s Jubilee Statue in the centre of town when a young woman in fashionably torn jeans (think Meghan Markle) and a black t-shirt decorated with a white skeleton on the front comes skipping along the sidewalk, looking for all the world as if she’s eight years old Read more
