Eastern Canadians are about to get vastly improved service to Europe, while Western Canadians are gaining an easy flight to Iceland. WestJet today said it is bringing back some of its Europe flights from Eastern Canada for next year, including Toronto-Dublin and Halifax to Edinburgh, Dublin and London Gatwick. They’re also instituting flights from Calgary to Reykjavik, Iceland and from St. John’s, Newfoundland to London Gatwick. As WestJet continues to strengthen its presence in Western Canada, the airline said it is also enhancing its 787 Dreamliner hub, increasing frequencies for international routes and adding daily exclusive service to Japan. “Today’s Read more
Scotland
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
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
We’re on the first hole of the quirky, delightful, 12-hole Shiskine Golf Course on Scotland’s Isle of Arran. I’ve been set up to play a round with three members of this fiery green links course on the west side of the island, and I hit a slow putt that has absolutely zero chance of making it to the hole. “When we hit a putt that’s short of the hole, Canadians yell, ‘Skate, skate,” I tell them. “That’s great” one of my partners, Alice Anderson, says with a laugh. “When we hit a putt like that we yell, “Taxi!” For the Read more
