It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and that means it’s time for romance. The folks at Ubuy.com looked at TripAdvisor data to score each European capital city for romance. The criteria included the number of fine dining restaurants, 5-star hotels, and romantic tours. A romantic tour only gets one point, which I don’t understand. I also would put more emphasis on a five-star hotel than an expensive restaurant, if only because you’re likely to have more time to enjoy a hotel than a restaurant. It’s a tad arbitrary, and it doesn’t take the look or feel of a city into account. But Read more
Las Vegas
I had some wonderful visits in the U.S. and Canada this year, including a monumental train trip from Colorado to Utah, a wonderful six days in Prince Edward Island and great stays in Los Angeles, southwest Ontario, southern Florida and northern California. I also got to visit one of my fave islands, Molokai, and spent four nice but sobering days on Maui to see how they’re recovering from the devastating and still unfathomable wildfires. It wasn’t all pretty, but I had many a remarkable experience and more than a few great meals along the way. Thanks to everyone who helped Read more
One of the world’s favourite foods is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary in January, 2024. And a weary, hungry world says thank you. The story goes that Lionel Sternberger, a 16-year-old worker at a restaurant in Pasadena, California, was making up some hamburgers at a place called The Rite Spot in the first month of 1924. Apparently one of the patties started to fall apart. Rather than serve a good customer a fragmented burger, he is said to have found a slice of cheese and placed it on top to cover up his poor patty work. Voila! A star was born. Read more
Canadians have a new way to fly between Toronto and Halifax. Porter Airlines is introducing the newest route with its Embraer jets, with multiple daily, non-stop, roundtrip flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ). Porter has been serving the Halifax community since 2007. Passengers can now choose to travel with Porter using two Toronto airports on this popular route, including the downtown convenience of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Pearson service begins February 23, 2023. Porter recently announced it would fly its new jets between Toronto Pearson and Calgary, as well as Pearson to Read more
Swoop, Canada’s leading ultra-low fare airline, today announced it will expand its presence in the United States by adding non-stop flights to five new destinations this summer: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Nashville. In addition to serving five new destinations, the fast-growing Canadian airline will also extend its current seasonal services to San Diego, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, St. Pete-Clearwater, Orlando (Sanford) and Phoenix (Mesa) into the summer season. In total Swoop will serve 11 U.S. destinations “with ultra-not-expensive flights” from its three main Canadian bases in Toronto, Hamilton, and Edmonton, officials said. “As part of our Read more