Easy, relatively quick and surprisingly restful. I recently took the Caledonian Sleeper car from London to Edinburgh and on to Inverness for an overnight trip. I hadn’t slept on a train since, I believe, 1979. I was intrigued by the idea, especially since my 91-year-old father and his 92-year-old lady friend recently slept three nights on a train between California and Buffalo. I was greeted by a company employee outside the train at Euston station in London and headed to my assigned cabin, a Club Room En Suite. I had a comfortable but narrow bed with a bunk bed on Read more
Glasgow
We were lucky enough to spend 24 hours (okay, maybe 22) in Glasgow recently. We had a fine Scottish afternoon tea, enjoyed a wonderful music-themed tour, had drinks at a pub, dined at a nice restaurant and bedded down at the sleek, new Virgin Hotel. Here’s a look at our brief stay. A MARVELOUS MUSIC TOUR We met our Glasgow Music City Tour guide, local music critic Fiona Shepherd, outside the Clutha and Victoria pub in town, one of the city’s oldest. She told us she had reviewed a Shania Twain performance at The OVO Hydro, the city’s splashy arena. Read more
Time Out has just issued its annual list of the world’s 40 coolest neighborhoods. Of course, it’s entirely a judgment call; what I call cool might be considerably different from what you like. Still I enjoy these lists. So here are some highlights that include some of my fave countries and U.S. states to visit. UNITED STATES California impressed with two spots in the top 30. The vibrant and funky Arts District in Los Angeles was 13th overall and second in the U.S. only to the Mid-City district of New Orleans. Here’s a Vancouver Sun story I wrote that talks Read more
There are many reasons to make Scotland the place to be in 2023. The list below is a selection of some of the major openings, news updates and events to look forward to in the year ahead. Top Stories Celtic Connections 30th Anniversary, January 2023 Celtic Connections, the home of world-class music, one-off collaborations, and genre-defying spectacles, is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary in January 2023. The 30th Anniversary is a pinnacle moment for the festival as it recognises the advancements and achievements of the last thirty years and everything the organisers have overcome to bring people together in Read more
Visit Scotland held a fine event in Toronto on Tuesday night, with tons of great information about a destination Canadians love to visit. I’ve somehow never been to Scotland as a travel writer, but I was there after I graduated from college and had a marvellous time in Edinburgh and up around Loch Ness. There are a remarkable 13 UNESCO sites in Scotland, and they’ve created a UNESCO trail so you can enjoy all of them, or sample from the ones you think look best. Of course, there’s also amazing history, increasingly fabulous food, Scotch whisky and gin, the Edinburgh Read more
