•"Hello From Orlando - Part 5: The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour"
The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, founded in 1938 and located just 15 minutes north of downtown Orlando, is one of these lovely side trips that combine beautiful scenery, a bit of local history, some close-up exposure to local wildlife and vegetation with a relaxing outing in a slow-moving 18-passenger pontoon boat, all complete with expert (and sometimes humorous) narration provided by the boat's captain.
The tour takes you through 3 lakes: Lake Osceola, Lage Virginia and Lake Maitland. On...
•Doctors Without Borders - A Global Volunteer Organization Helping People In Crisis Regions
One of the subjects I am going to research in the near future is combining travel with volunteer opportunities all over the world. Volunteering is a great way of exploring different cultures while making a positive contribution to important causes.
Doctors Without Borders first caught my attention during the Tsunami Crisis. It is an organization that provides important medical relief to people in disaster-stricken areas. I felt compelled to find out more about this organization, about its...
•Exploring Frank Lloyd Wright In Buffalo And Serenity On Lake Ontario
My theory is a real traveler is able to discover interesting things even in the most unlikely of places. Well, Buffalo probably hasn't made the "top travel destinations" list for a while, but I have been doing some research on it and I thought it's high time to explore Buffalo, the closest American city to Toronto, just south of Niagara Falls and right across the Fort Erie border.
So my fellow travel and architecture aficionado Shauna and I headed out early yesterday morning to make the 2...
•Exploring Ontario In The Winter - Hello From Barrie
Our winter getaway over the last two days was supposed to include a couple of different activities: snow-tubing and outdoor skating. Well, our outdoor skating fell through, due to the extraordinarily warm conditions, however, we had a beautiful day yesterday on Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie, where we enjoyed some great outdoor time on frozen Lake Simcoe.
Today, after our delicious filling breakfast at Nicholyn Farms Bed and Breakfast, we headed off for another adventure: snowtubing at Horseshoe...
•Hello From Banff - Arrival In Banff And Skiing At Norquay
On Sunday, after our high-intensity day in Calgary and after stocking up on groceries in the Mount Royal Area,, we left the city to head towards the Rocky Mountains. It was an interesting drive on Highway 1, the Transcanada Highway, heading towards the mountains. There were some interesing looking clouds on the horizon that kept us entertained on the drive and it didn't take us any more than about an hour and 15 mintues to get to Banff. We checked in at the Banff Rocky Mountain condominium...
•Hello From Banff: High Altitude Skiing At Sunshine Village
We planned on an afternoon of skiing at Sunshine Village, one of the largest ski resorts in Canada. It is located just 15 minutes from Banff, going west on the TransCanada Highway. Sunshine Village is a pretty historic place and as a ski resort it dates all the way back to 1936.
With over 3,300 acres of skiable terrain Sunshine Village is one of the largest ski resorts in Canada. The top elevation is 8,954 feet (2730 m) and the base elevation is 3,514 feet (1070 m). It receives a huge amount...
•Hello From Banff: Taking The Gondola Up To Sulphur Mountain And A Last Walk Through The Village
Our skiing had come to an end and I allocated the last full day in Banff to explore some more local attractions while my husband headed into Calgary to do some shopping. We got going at about 11:30 am and Nigel dropped me off at the foot of the Banff Gondola. This historic attraction has been around since 1959 and the gondola was just recently reconstructed and reopened in 1998 and features a state-of-the-art gondola system engineered by a Swiss gondola construction company.
On the parking...
•Hello From Chicago - Part 2 - What A Fabulously Photogenic City!
Chicago, Screenz Internet Cafe, Saturday, October 21, 2005, 9:15 am
Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 am Chicago time and I figured I might as well get ahead of the crowd at the Arlington House Youth Hostel and take an early shower. At 6 am I was already on the Internet, recording my first impressions of this exciting city and by 6:30 am I had left the hostel. It was still pretty dark outside and the sun was just slowly starting to come up.
I walked through the quiet Lincoln Park neighbourhood all...
•Hello From Chicago - Part 3 - Multiple Austrian Connections
Chicago, Screenz Internet Cafe, Saturday, October 21, 2005, 10:25 am
So the two of us expatriate Austrians are staying at the Arlington House Hostel, in itself an exciting experience, to be immersed in this environment of young (and older) travellers from all over the world.
We got going early again this morning, at about 7 am. In the shower room Linda and I were talking and joking to each other in our Austrian dialect, all of a sudden a woman in her mid to late forties said, in German, "Am...
•Hello From Chicago - Part 4 - A Personal Tour Of The Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago, Arlington House, Sunday, October 23, 2005, 6:15 am
Yesterday, after our lovely Austrian breakfast we went downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center, the main downtown information hub for tourists, to ask some questions about the Pullman Historic District, a planned industrial community, built in the 1880s by industrial magnate George Pullman, creator of the famous Pullman sleeper cars. We figured this would be an interesting place to visit since it brings together architecture, social...
•Hello From Chicago - Part 4 - Chinatown And Second City
Chicago, Arlington House, Sunday October 23,2005, 6:30 am
After thoroughly exploring the Pullman Historic District, we decided to check out Chinatown, one of the many ethnic neighbourhoods that Chicago has to offer. The weather had turned from cool and grey with the occasional peek of sunshine to dark, rainy and cold, so rather than walking around we decided to have an early dinner at a Chinatown restaurant called the Lobster King.
Both my friend Linda and I had ordered vegetarian dishes,...
•Hello From Chicago - Part 5 - A Visit To The Pullman Historic District
Chicago, Arlington House, Sunday, October 23, 2005, 6:25 am
After being appropriately prepped as a result of our visit to the Chicago Cultural Center we decided to head off yesterday to visit the Pullman Historic District, a planned industrial and residential community dating back to the 1880s, on Chicago's South Side.
In order to get there we took the red line all the way to the end and then connected onto the 111 bus. What was very interesting to note was that the population on Chicago's...
•Hello From Cuba - Part 1 - First Impressions
Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 6:00 pm, Hotel Havana Libre
Thanks to a severe case of the Revenge of Montezuma (or Ricky Ricardo?..,) I am sitting here in the Hotel Havana Libre and I finally get around to create updates from my first 4.5 days here in Cuba. The Internet connection is definitely the slowest I have ever seen in my entire life, (15 minutes to access my messages at Yahoo..), but I am giving it a shot anyways.
Friday morning I arrived at the airport in Toronto at 5:30 am since my...
•Hello From Cuba - Part 3 - Hiking Vinales And Exploring Nature
Hotel Havana Libre, Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 6:54 pm
On Sunday it was gorgeous. The cold front had finally passed through, the rain was gone and we had a beautiful warm sunny day without any humidity.
My hostess is also a guide for the National Park System and Vinales is a nationally protected natural habitat. She had a tour planned through a side valley of Vinales (Valle del Ancon) with 3 participants, an older couple from Germany and me.
The tour was fabulous, we got picked up by a local...
•Hello From Cuba - Part 4 - Bureaucracy Galore - The University Of Havana
Hotel Havana Libre, Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 7:20 pm
Yesterday I had to sign up for my Spanish course at the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly beautiful collection of classical buildings and a Cuban tank graces the entrance to the library.
At 9 am all the foreign students, about 40 of them, met in the Edificio Varona and we were shepherded by various professors into a very antiquated lecture hall. (By the way, of the 5 or 6 washroom stalls in the women´s...
•Hello From Cuernavaca - Part 7 - A Conversation With Andie Grater, Local B&b Owner And President Of The Newcomers Club
I am currently staying at, "La Nuestra", a comfortable bed and breakfast with 4 guest rooms, a private swimming pool and an outdoor breakfast area complete with microwave and fridge, which has a rather interesting story. It is co-owned by two women, Andie Grater and Nancy Gray, who are both originally from the United States.
Originally from Brooklyn, Andie had lived in Atlanta for 20 years and become an expert in advertising production and management while Nancy, on the other hand, had been...
•Hello From Graz
November 2, 2004, Internet Cafe Sit´n Surf, Graz, Austria, 2:05 pm
I finally found Internet access here in Graz. Not the easiest thing I have to admit. Had to ask 3 people and finally went to the tourist info who competently directed me to an Internet Cafe.
The last few days have been interesting. The first day my sister-in-law and I took a little tour through my home town of Weiz, and in the 8 years that I haven't been here there has been a lot of change. New buildings, renovations, traffic...
•Hello From Ibiza -Part 1
September 27, 2004, 6:05 pm
I am sitting here in the front entrance hall of the Ses Fontallas Plaza timeshare resort in Sant Antoni. We arrived on Saturday at about 5:30 in Ibiza and had to hang around for the luggage. 2 of our pieces actually didn´t make it due to a technical problem with the cargo area on the plane and we had to wait an awefully long time at the baggage information area to find out that the baggage would be delivered the next day.
We finally checked out our rental car, a...
•Hello From Ibiza -Part 2
September 28, 2004, 9:45 pm
We just returned to the resort after a gorgeous evening and decent dinner in Santa Eularia del Riu. Today we spent the whole day driving from beach to beach, starting on the northwest side of the island, just north of Sant Antoni, continuing towards the north side of the island and ending up in Santa Eularia.
The first we visited was La Salada, just north of Sant Antoni, a place only reached via a very stony road. After parking the car we had to walk another 10 or...
•Hello From Mexico City - A Relaxing Evening In Coyoacán
Last night after our big first discovery of Mexico City I had a couple of hours of rest before Vanessa and her mom took me to one of the most picturesque areas in the city: Coyoacán, an area located south of the downtown core. The traffic to get there, as you can imagine, was absolutely incredible – 4 lane streets with no markings, people squeezing in and out between cars as they pleased, trucks cutting in right in front of us with just millimeters to spare…
Fortunately we made it without a...
•Hello From Mexico City - Part 5 - Exploring The Paseo De La Reforma, The Bosque De Chapultepec And A Nice Evening In San Angel
This morning another wonderful Mexican breakfast was in store: Vanessa had made "tlacoyos con nopales" (fried dough covered with fruits of the prickly pear cactus and melted cheese on top) which I really enjoyed. Around 9:30 we got going and Vanessa’s sister dropped us off, right in front of the Angel de la Independencia, a monument erected in 1910 to commemorate independence from Spain, on the Paseo de la Reforma.
The Paseo de la Reforma is an almost 4 km long tree-lined boulevard,...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 11 - A Chat With André Giroux – Owner Of Ça Roule Bicyle Rentals
July 1, 2006
had thoroughly enjoyed my guided bicycle tour with Ça Roule and Bruno, a licensed city guide from Guidatour, really introduced Montreal up close to us. And my own independent explorations of the bicyle trail along the Lachine Canal introduced me to a side of Montreal I had never been exposed to. After returning my bike after a full day of exercise I wanted to find out a bit more about who is behind this operation, Ça Roule, or Montreal on Wheels, as it is known in English....
•Hello From Montreal - Part 12 - Dinner At Galianos And Celebrating Canada Day
July 1, 2006
After my official Montreal bike tour, my individual explorations of the Lachine Canal and my chat with André from Ça Roule, I decided to go for a little stroll to explore Montreal’s Port area which was hustling and bustling with celebrations on this Canada Day. I strolled out on Jacques Cartier Pier to an outdoor concert stage where two well-known Canadian singers, Kim Richardson and Sylvie Desgroseillers were enchanting the audience with Mo-Town and R&B melodies.
I walked...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 13 - 360 Degree Views From The Tower At The Olympic Stadium, Bugs And Nature At The Insectarium And The Botanical Garden, And A Quick Visit To The Jean Talon Market In Little Italy
July 2, 2006
Appropriately rested from my action packed day yesterday I had a leisurely breakfast and headed out on the subway at 9:30 am. I love the subway system in Montreal since it’s safe, efficient and all the major sights are accessible via underground transportation. And the interesting thing is the trains run on rubber wheels - none of that metallic clanking that I am so used to from places like Toronto, New York City or Chicago...
My first destination for this morning was Montreal’s...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 2 - A Comfortable Ride In The Train And First Impressions
June 29, 2006
It was an early day today, I got up at 4:30 am, and my husband dropped me off at 5:45 am at Toronto’s historic Union Station. Several buses of young students were already unloading their luggage and ready to enter the train station. At about 6 am the Via Rail counters were opening up and since I had a first class ticket (called Via 1), I was directed to Via’s Panorama Lounge, a special section with comfortable armchairs, free newspapers and soft drinks. This was my first time on...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 3 - A Driving Tour As A Great Introduction To A Fascinating City
June 29, 2006
Shortly after my arrival in Montreal, right around 1 pm, I met Carole, a licensed professional tour guide from Guidatour in the lobby of the Holiday Inn and she was going to be my local expert on a driving tour through the centre of Montreal. I had only been in Montreal once before 10 years ago, so I really needed a quick overview of the city to familiarize myself with its layout. And although Montreal's downtown area is very compact and walkable, a driving tour would give me a...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 4 : Dining And A Bit Of Jazz At Modavie
June 29, 2006
Hello from Montreal: Dining and a Bit of Jazz at Modavie
After my initial introduction to Montreal through my driving tour, my next step was to explore the city on foot. I set out on my first walk through Old Montreal (Vieux Montreal). Literally five minutes from my hotel is the Place d’Armes, one of the most historic locations of Montreal, highlighted by the impressive Basilica of Notre Dame. I strolled eastwards on rue de Notre Dame towards Place Jacques Cartier, Montreal’s...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 7 - A Delicious Outside Lunch At The Café Du Chateau, A Major Thunderstorm And A Tour Through Musée De Ramezay
June 30, 2006
Well, as much as the walking tour through Old Montreal nourished my senses and architectural sensibilities, my stomach was in dire need of nutrition and I was debating whether I should plunk myself down at one of the enticing terrace cafés on Place Jacques Cartier. Then I literally stumbled over this beautiful small park, Place De La Dauversière off to the side of the main square. In the southeast corner of this space is a little gate that looked like the entrance to a garden...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 8 - Mexican Delights At La Iguana And A Peak At The Montreal Jazz Festival
June 30, 2006
The Plateau area is one of the trendiest areas of Montreal, so I decided to explore it a little further after my discoveries of Old Montreal. From my hotel I hopped into the subway at Place d’Armes and took the blue train north to Sherbrooke. I enjoyed a wonderful stroll through the St-Denis neighbourhood, considered by many to be the most typical of Montreal’s neighbourhoods. Hundreds of street cafés, restaurants and funky boutiques line the street.
The streets in the area are...
•Hello From Montreal - Part 9 - Exploring Montreal By Bike – The Lachine Canal
July 1, 2006
I had thoroughly enjoyed my guided tour of Montreal by bike and being the bicycling enthusiast that I am I knew this would be a highlight of my trip. The great thing was that even after the tour was finished, I would get to hold on to my bike until 8 pm tonight since a full-day bicycle rental is included with any guided tour at Ça Roule / Montreal on Wheels.
So once our little group of bicycle explorers split up, we all went on different directions on our rented bikes. I stuck...
•Hello From New York City - Part 1 - First Impressions Of The Big Apple
So yesterday morning our American Airways flight (booked for free with my Airmiles) left at 7:13 am to bring us to the Big Apple, a place I had always had a fascination with, but only had visited twice very briefly in my life,and that more than 10 years ago.
Just flying in over NYC was an experience itself, seeing all the skyscrapers of Manhattan, the various bridges linking the mainland with the island, and shortly after flying over the Rykers Island prison we landed at La Guardia Airport, a...
•Hello From New York City - Part 2 - Exploring Mid-Town Manhattan
Since our plane landed nice and early we had virtually a whole day left to explore yesterday. The weather was pretty nice, quite sunny when we started, although it clouded over a little and was a little on the cool side, it never got much above 15 degrees Celsius.
Around noon time we hopped on the Q subway line, which is literally 5 minutes from our bed and breakfast, and we made our way into Manhattan. The subway actually emerges at the Manhattan Bridge and we got a good look at the Brooklyn...
•Hello From New York City - Part 3 - Crossing The Brooklyn Bridge, Exploring Downtown Manhattan
What a full day we had yesterday. We had a delightful breakfast in our bed and breakfast at about 8:30 am and shared some nice conversations with a young couple from Sweden and an older couple from Holland, the hostess was participating as well. This is one of my favourite things about bed and breakfasts, usually they offer really tasty filling meals and a great conversation to go with it.
We got going at around noon and hopped off the subway just before the Brooklyn Bridge and ended up...
•Hello From New York City - Part 4 - Staten Island And A Random Act Of Violence
The Staten Island Ferry is a fabulous institution. It is a huge ferry that departs from a very modern, glass enclosed terminal, holds several thousand people and in just about 20 minutes whisks you over to Staten Island, very close to the Statue of Liberty, and all this for free! One thing we really noticed about New York City is that we definitely love the public transportation system. With our week long pass we have been hopping on an off subways as we please and we have found the transit...
•Hello From New York City - Part 5 - A Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens
Yesterday was a pretty interesting day, the weather was cool and overcast, with rain coming in during the latter part of the afternoon. A few weeks ago I had booked a meeting with one of the Big Apple Greeters, an organization of local NYC volunteers that takes out-of-town visitors around the city and shows them local sights and shares local information. The service is a great way to link up with a local New Yorker, and best of all, it's free of charge.
We were supposed to meet Suzanne, our...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 10 - Victorian Heritage In Yarmouth
Another long and exciting day was coming to an end: from my early morning interview with Patrick Redgrave, the owner of the Garrison House B&B in Annapolis Royal to my learning experiences at the Bear River First National Cultural and Heritage Center to my drive along the Evangeline Trail with a quick stopover in Digby, a drive through the Acadian communities in Clare County and a quick peak at the unusual Yarmouth Lighthouse, I had finally made it to my destination for the evening:...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 16 - The Town Of Lunenburg - A Unesco World Heritage Site
A delightful rest at the Lunenburg Inn after a very compressed and hectic day along the Lighthouse Trail yesterday got me ready for another day of adventures. At about 7:30 I made my downstairs in anticipation of a filling breakfast. Sure enough, a freshly baked morning glory muffin was served to quench my immediate hunger. I had two breakfasts to choose from: a hot breakfast featuring poached eggs with bacon or turkey bacon, or a cold breakfast featuring a choice of two items of either cereal...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 18 - The Lighthouse Trail From Lunenburg To Halifax Via Mahone Bay And Peggy's Cove
My brief introduction to Lunenburg was just enough to whet my appetite and to give me some ideas of what to see next time I have a chance to visit this part of Nova Scotia. After saying goodbye to the innkeepers at the Lunenburg Inn I went back on the road to connect with the Lighthouse Trail. Beautiful blue skies were greeting me, and the early autumn colours were adorning the small country roads that snake in and out of the indented shoreline of Nova Scotia’s South Shore.
My first stopover...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 19 - Arrival In Halifax And A Stunning Musical Performance - Drum!
Slowly but surely my Nova Scotia discoveries were coming to an end. I only had one evening and one full day left after discovering the South West portion of this province over the last four days, following my last stops along the South Shore in Lunenburg and Peggy’s Cove. As I rolled into town late in the afternoon I noticed the landscape: lots of lakes and waterways interspersed with low-lying hills. One of my first impressions was that many of the neighbourhoods had beautiful houses with...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 21 - Exploring The Halifax Harbourwalk And Pier 21 - Canada's Immigration Museum
My Halifax City Tour, expertly narrated by Allen Mackenzie, a passionate Haligonian in a kilt, had provided me with a great overview of this city, and my visit to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic had added to my knowledge of Halifax, particularly of its connection to the Titanic and the 1917 Explosion. Still mulling over the historic significance of this city, the largest population centre on Canada’s East Coast, I sat down close to the waterfront to finally have lunch and strengthen myself...
•Hello From Nova Scotia - Part 6 - The Annapolis Royal Graveyard Tour
After a day packed with explorations and a lovely dinner at the Garrison House I was ready for my final discovery of the day: the famous Annapolis Royal Graveyard Tour. Punctually at 9:15 pm I showed up across the road from the my bed and breakfast at the south entrance of Fort Anne where local historian and expert guide Alan Melanson was ready to give his performance. About 15 people, hailing from places such as North Carolina, California and Saskatchewan, were equipped with candle-lit...
•Hello From Nova Scotia: A Drive Along The Lighthouse Trail From Yarmouth To Shelburne
My quick one-night stopover in Yarmouth had provided me with great insight into local history and architecture. In an interview with two local hospitality entrepreneurs I also learned about the heritage tourism opportunities in southwestern Nova Scotia. Barely an hour into the drive I unintentionally orchestrated my own travel adventure by actually driving into the ditch and a few local residents immediately rescued me from my predicament.
After all this excitement I was back on the road and...
•Hello From Nova Scotia: The Lighthouse Trail From Shelburne To Lunenburg
This morning I had left Yarmouth, and after a minor accident with my rental vehicle, I had explored the Lighthouse Trail and made a stop in the historic Loyalist town of Shelburne. By about 4 pm I still had quite a drive left to Lunenburg, and I wanted to make sure I would get into town before 6:30 so I would still have some daylight left for my first impressions of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From Shelburne I went straight east on Highway 103. Had I had more time I would have explored...
•Hello From Orlando - A Walk Through St. Augustine - The Oldest Continuously Inhabited City In The United States
On our way home from Orlando, a little more than an hour into our 20+ hour road trip back to Toronto, we stopped in St. Augustine, "the nation's oldest city", just north of Jacksonville - indeed the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, having been founded by the Spanish in 1565.
St. Augustin's founder, Don Pedro Menendez, came ashore on September 8, 1565, and chose to name the settlement after the patron saint whose feast day coincided with the day of...
•Hello From Orlando - Central Florida's Parks And Gardens Offer An Abundance Of Colours, Shapes, And Textures
Florida has a great amount of biodiversity and nature lovers will enjoy the great variety of plants found in the Sunshine State. On our recent trip to Orlando we had a chance to visit several locations with a beautiful parks and gardens, such as the Harry P. Leu Gardens and the Historical Bok Sanctuary. Even my excursion on the Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park brought me up close to some of the fascinating flowers and plants found in the Orlando area.
Florida has a mix of subtropical and...
•Hello From Orlando - Central Florida's Wildlife: An Abundance Of Diversity
When you go to Florida, wildlife confronts you everywhere. Especially all the exotic birds fascinated me, often you come up close to subtropical bird species while playing golf or picnicking in a public park.
Central Florida is actually a much more interesting destination for naturalists than I would ever have expected. Both Florida's plant life and wildlife are surprisingly diverse and Florida is the 3rd most ecologically diverse state after Hawaii and California.
It is a nearly flat...
•Hello From Orlando - Part 13: Serenity At The Historic Bok Sanctuary
The Historic Bok Sanctuary is located about an hour southwest of Orlando near Lake Wales, also home to the Florida's Natural Visitor Center that I visited earlier in the day. The Sanctuary was founded by Edward W. Bok, who immigrated to America in 1869 from the Netherlands when he was 6 years old. Through determination and hard work, he became a highly successful publisher and editor of Ladies' Home Journal, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, respected humanitarian and an advocate of world peace...
•Hello From Orlando - Part 7: Yeeehaaw!!! Our High-speed Adventure At Boggy Creek Airboat Tours
After my rather quaint and leisurely scenic boat ride through Winter Park, a rather different boating experience was in store for me: a high speed airboat ride through Lake Tohopekaliga, provided by Boggy Creek Airboat Rides.
We got started early in the morning and took the first tour out. The temperature must have been about 45 degrees Fahrenheit or so, and in wise anticpation we both wore our Canadian winter jackets. Good thing, because it gets pretty darn cold zooming along at high speed...
•Hello From Orlando - Part 9: Exploring Scenic Mount Dora On The Herbie Express
In my quest to find unusual destinations to visit in the Orlando area, I stumbled over a little town by the name of Mount Dora just about 45 minutes north of Orlando. I had read that it was a very picturesque small town located on a lake, and one of its main attractions was a scenic railway.
Mount Dora is only 27 miles or 43 km northwest of Orlando. It has an elevation of 184 feet above Lake Dora, which makes it Florida's only "mountain top town". Indeed the rolling hillsides and winding...
•Hello From Orlando- Part 20: The Walking Hall Of Fame Of The PGA Father Son Challenge At ChampionsGate
After our exciting round at Mystic Dunes, it was only mid-afternoon on a gorgeous day with blue skies, so we decided to take a 10 minute drive and drop in on the Father Son Challenge at Champion's Gate, which has been held for the last 3 years at this golf course in the South part of Orlando. You can't miss Champion's Gate, when you first get off exit 58 on the I-4, the impressive main entrance gates to Champion's Gate are right there.
The Father Son Legend is truly a walking Hall of Fame of...
•Hello From Orlando- Part 3: An Evening Walk Around Lake Eola
Monday, November 28, 2005
Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola
After our interesting visits to the Orange County Regional History Center and the Well's Built Museum of African-American Culture and History, we decided to continue our explorations of downtown Orlando and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods. After driving through beautiful residential areas, framed by majestic oak trees adorned by Spanish Moss, we decided to take a stroll around beautiful Lake...
•Hello From Orlando: A Little Picnic Lunch In Kissimmee
After our exhilarating airboat ride and swamp buggy tour at Boggy Creek, we snaked our way north towards Orlando and decided to have a picnic lunch in the Orlando suburb of Kissimmee. This town is located at the doorstep of Walt Disney World complex and offers a variety of tourist class accommodations near historic downtown Kissimmee. The historic downtown districts feature walking tours, antique shops, shopping, dining, or sightseeing.
According to the City of Kissimmee's web site"local...
•Hello From Orlando: A Walk Through Winter Park - A Hint Of New England In Florida
Just a few minutes north of downtown Orlando awaits Winter Park, a charming picturesque suburb steeped in history. After my excursion on the Scenic Boat Tour, my local expert Wanda Salerno took me on a little walk through town past beautiful historic neighbourhoods.
With is origins as a citrus growing region, Winter Park became a major destination for wealthy northerners during the early 1900s, who came into town by train to reach their elegant winter retreats, seeking shelter from the cold...
•Hello From Orlando: An Orlando Jewel, The Wells Built Museum Of African American History And Culture
After I had received a general overview of the history of the Orlando area in the Orange County Regional History Center, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the social history of the Orlando area, and the Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture was going to give me a more in-depth look into Orlando's African American history.
To this day this area west of I-4 is primarily inhabited by African Americans and the difference in housing and facilities between this area and...
•Hello From Orlando: Golf In Orlando - The Links-style International Course At Championsgate
Several days after attending the Father-Son-Challenge at ChampionsGate we actually got out and played the International Course ourselves. It was an exciting experience to play a championship golf course just shortly after a major tournament, when it was still in tournament condition with just a few extra degrees of difficulty. The open wind-swept design features a multitude of bunkers and a variety of water hazards, and with a difficulty rating of 76.3, one of the highest ratings in the state,...
•Hello From Orlando: Timacuan Golf And Country Club
On our last full day in Florida we had a chance to play another beautiful golf course, this one located about half an hour north of downtown Orlando in the community of Lake Mary. Timacuan Golf and Country Club was built in 1987 and was originally designed by a Ron Garl. In 1996 the course was renovated by architect Bobby Weed and today it is ranked in the top 14 in the state of Florida. Timacuan's other accolades include having been chosen as one of the most golf-friendly courses for women by...
•Hello From Orlando:learning About The Story Of Citrus: Florida's Natural Visitor Center
One of the things that Florida is known for is, you guessed it, is orange juice! The citrus industry has been playing a big role in Central Florida for many decades, and considering its importance, I wanted to learn a bit more about it.
So with the help of the Orlando Visitors and Convention Bureau I was able to locate "Florida's Natural Growers", a citrus-processing cooperative that produces the well-known "Florida's Natural" brand of juices. The cooperative was founded in 1933 and today...
•Hello From Ottawa - Darcy Mcgee's On Sparks Street
When travelling to a new place, you might as well combine history with a unique dining experience and good food. So literally steps away from our temporary home at the Lord Elgin Hotel, we found Darcy McGee's, which refers to itself as "Ottawa's Authentic Irish Pub". Darcy McGee's is located at the intersection of Sparks and Elgin Streets, just a stone's throw away from Parliament Hill and all of Ottawa's major sights.
Actually, Thomas Darcy McGee was a prominent Ottawa politician and one of...
•Hello From Ottawa - First Impressions And An Overview
My partner in crime Theresa and I went to Ottawa 3 or 4 years ago in the winter to catch Ottawa's famous winter festival "Winterlude". Unfortunately that year the weather was too warm and the weekend was a total wash-out. Even the ice sculptures had melted.
Well, it was time to give it a second shot. So this past Friday we got in the car and once we drove through a few snow squalls past Oshawa it was smooth sailing all the way to Canada's capital. We got into town right around 4:30 pm, just...
•Hello From Ottawa - Part 11- The Canadian Museum Of Contemporary Photography Featuring Sunil Gupta And The Challenges Of Immigration
My schedule in Ottawa this past weekend was extremely compressed, but there was one place I wasn’t going to miss: the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. As a person with no formal background, yet a keen interest in the visual arts and photography, I have been wanting to visit this museum for a long time. And my Internet research revealed that the Museum is featuring a very special exhibition right now: two photographic series by Sunil Gupta, an Indian-born Canadian citizen, exploring...
•Hello From Ottawa - Part 9 - The Lord Elgin Hotel - A Historic Landmark In The Heart Of Ottawa
As far as travel to Ottawa is concerned, you’d be hard pressed to find a more central lodging location than the Lord Elgin Hotel. It is located right at the Intersection of Elgin and Laurier Streets, just steps away from Parliament Hill, the War Memorial, the Chateau Laurier, the Government Conference Centre and the National Arts Centre. Confederation Park, one of the main locations for Winterlude, is located right across the street.
We could not have found a better spot for our Ottawa...
•Hello From Ottawa - Part 6 - The 26th Annual Bedzzz Races On Dow's Lake
When I was making my travel plans to Ottawa I had a look at all the events that are part of Winterlude, Ottawa's Winter Festival, and there was one event that caught my attention right away: the 26th Annual Bed Race at Dows lake.
After a nourishing breakfast at the Lord Elgin Hotel, Theresa and I laced up our skates and made our way on the longest skating rink in the world, the 7.8 km long Rideau Canal Skateway, to Dows Lake, where the Bed Race was going to be held.
I looked for the...
•Hello From Ottawa: An Authentic Aboriginal Dining Experience At Sweetgrass Bistro
As always, I like to focus on unconventional travel ideas and experiences, and food is part of this experience. So before I left for Ottawa I called up the ByWard Market Business Improvement Association to find out about any interesting dining establishments. Sure enough, they had a creative suggestion for me: an establishment named Sweetgrass Bistro that specializes in aboriginal cuisine.
So after my arrival in Ottawa and my initial explorations I made my way to the ByWard Market, Ottawa's...
•Hello From Ottawa: Getting In Touch With Farming At The Canadian Agriculture Museum
After my very interesting introduction to sheep shearing and all sorts of wool processing techniques I had a chance to link up with David Sutin who is the Communications, Marketing and Farm Operations Manager for the Canada Agriculture Museum. In fact, Ottawa is the only world capital that has a working farm at its heart. David volunteered to give me a personal tour through the various facilities of the Museum and we started with the Dairy Barn. Right when you come in is an area for the "dry...
•Hello From Ottawa: The Historic Auberge Mcgee Inn (part I)
During my assignment here in Ottawa to cover the Tulip Festival I am staying in one of my favourite types of accommodation: a bed and breakfast. Not only will you ever see two B&B properties that are the same, the story of every bed and breakfast owner is unique as well. The historic McGee's Inn is located just steps away from the Rideau Canal, the ByWard Market, the Congress Centre, the University of Ottawa and Parliament Hill. For me it's a great location since I am able to walk to a...
•Hello From Ottawa: The Sheep Shearing Festival And Other Interesting Things To Learn About Wool
Once a year on the May long weekend, the Canada Agriculture Museum puts on its Sheep Shearing Festival. It is held on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Victoria Day weekend. After my excursion to the see the Flotilla on Dows Lake, one of the signature events of the Tulip Festival, I took a slow walk on the western shores of Dows Lake past a serene nature area towards the Canada Agriculture Museum. As you ascend up a small hill from Dows Lake towards the museum, you get a beautiful view of...
•Hello From Ottawa: The Tulip Extravaganza At The Casino De Lac Leamy
After my historic train travel experience on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train I decided to explore the surrounding neighbourhood. The Casino du Lac Leamy, located in Gatineau on the other side of the Ottawa River, is less than five minutes away from the train station and is one of the official locations for Ottawa's famous Tulip Festival and this year, it is the main location for the World Flower Summit that is being held in Ottawa.
The Casino de Lac Leamy is right next to the five-star...
•Hello From Ottawa: Tulips On Majors Hill And A Nerve-wracking Television Interview
My day today so far had been completely dedicated to exploring nature: first I visited the Fatal Attraction Exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature to learn about the art of seduction in the animal world. Then I had a chance to explore nature in a real-life setting in Ottawa's nature playground: Gatineau Park.
At about 4 pm I headed back into the city, got changed and checked my messages at the beautiful McGee's Inn and got ready to head out to my next stop: Major's Hill, one of the official...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies - Part 18 - Our Celebrity Breakfast At The Twin Gables B&b
Bed and breakfast travel is one of our favourite ways of discovering new places and the historic Twin Gables B&B is a real treat. It is a 4.5 star-rated bed and breakfast, located in the upscale Mount Royal neighbourhood in Calgary, which is about 25 minutes away by foot from downtown, and the restaurant area on 4th Street takes just a 10 minute to walk to. It was the perfect location for our Sneak Peek at Calgary and after a good night’s rest after our feast at Il Giardino’s last night,...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies - Part 26 - A Final Walk Through Calgary
Our last couple of hours before our departure had arrived. We had left Banff at about 9:30 am and got into Calgary just shortly before 11, parked our car just east of downtown and set off on foot on our final walk to explore a bit more of downtown Calgary.
The first place we passed by was Calgary City Hall, a classic sandstone building, located right opposite the Olympic Plaza. Originally constructed for the medal ceremonies for the 1988 Olympics, Olympic Plaza has become a centre of...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies - Part 2: First Impressions Of Calgary
As so many times before, I used my Airmiles to book our flights to Calgary (with the Westjet Airmiles Mastercard you get to fly out west for only 1600 Airmiles instead of having to use 3000 Airmiles in high season with other airlines). As an astute traveller you have to look at every option of cutting your travel costs and Airmiles is one of my favourite tools. A direct flight took us from Toronto to Calgary in about three and a half hours.
We arrived at the Calgary Airport at roughly 11:25...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies - Part 4: Dinner At Il Giardino & Meeting One Of Calgary's Most Successful Entrepreneurs
After catching a lovely and much needed rest at the historic Twin Gables Bed and Breakfast we set off to explore the immediate neighbourhood, the restaurant area on 4th Street. We were going to walk, but considering I had been really sick with an aweful chest cold in the last few days, venturing out into the cold evening air had me a little leery. Henry from the Twin Gables was really kind to offer us a drive a few blocks up to a restaurant called Il Giardino, one of the places that had come...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies: Our First Excursion To Calgary, Banff And Lake Louise
My husband and I try to go skiing for a week at least once a year and so far we've been to about 15 different ski resorts on the east coast, anywhere from Ontario to Quebec, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. But we had never been out west in the Rockies. Well, it was time to change that.....
So we planned a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and for both of us it was the first time for us to see this majestic mountain range. Just after we landed on March 4, 2006 we started off with a whirlwind...
•Hello From The Canadian Rockies: Skiing In Lake Louise
Lake Louise strikes you for two reasons: the absolutely stunning scenery that surrounds it, and its huge size. Lake Louise is located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in Canada's first National Park. It has more than 4200 skiable acres (1700 hectares), which makes it one of the largest ski areas in all of North America. What's nice about Lake Louise, it offers all sorts of terrain, from bunny hills and easy green runs, to manageable blue runs and more difficult single and double-black...
•Hello From The Kawarthas - Early Fall Colours, Scarecrows & Frogmen
Fall is one of the most beautiful seasons in Ontario when forests light up in hues of yellow, orange and red. It's the perfect time for drives in the countryside, to visit small villages, check out farmer's markets, attend country fairs. We've had a long hot summer this year, even as I write this we are expecting temperatures 10 degrees Celsius above average. As a result the fall colour season is a little delayed, but that did not change the fact that it was time for a country driving tour....
•Hello From Toronto - A Culinary Tour Of The St. Lawrence Market & An Exploration Of Historic St. Lawrence Hall
October 6, 2005
Life works in really strange and wonderful ways. At the beginning of this week I talked to my brother in Austria on the phone, and he said he'd been reading this German travel magazine and there was a big write-up about a Toronto-based tour guide who provides culinary tours of the St. Lawrence Market, one of my brother's favourite places that he discovered on his recent trip to Toronto.
I asked my brother what this fellow's name was and he looked it up and said "Bruce Bell"....
•Hello From Toronto - Part 1- A First Little Driving Tour -The City Viewed Through The Eyes Of First-Time Visitors
So my brother is in town, together with his wife and 2 friends from my little home town in Austria. It is everybody's first time in North America and their initiation to Toronto. Just to give you ideas of dimensions: Austria has a population of about 9 million and the country extends about 900 km from east to west while the Greater Toronto area nowadays probably has about 4 to 5 million people and Lake Ontario alone is over 300 km long. The first thing my visitors noticed was the difference in...
•Hello From Toronto - Part 2 - Exploring Toronto's Waterfront By Bicycle And Checking Out The CN Tower
Since my European visitors are quite sporty I figured that renting a bicycle would be the perfect way of exploring the city. So to join them on their first guided bicycle tour I grabbed my bike and the 5 of us headed off to the subway station to go to Bicycle Solutions near Parliament and Carlton Streets. Getting outfitted with a bike didn't take long and the cost was pretty reasonable at $70.00 for a whole week. Now all 5 of us had a bicycle.
Our tour began in Cabbagetown, one of Toronto's...
•Hello From Toronto - Part 3 - Exploring Niagara Wine Country
Two days ago I took our European visitors on a little driving tour of the Niagara Peninsula, specifically to explore some of the 50 something wineries. My brother is a chef and very interested in exploring the authentic tastes and flavours of Canada. So far my visitors have been very impressed with the quality of the Canadian vegetables, meats, spices, and even the various types of beers that they have tried from different microbreweries.
We got going around 9:30 am to avoid the brunt of rush...
•Hello From Toronto - Part 5 - Novice Golf, Driving Through The Kawarthas, A Little Off-Road Mountain-Biking & Preparing To Say Goodbye
It is unbelievable how nine days can just fly by. Today my brother, sister-in-law and our two Austrian friends are scheduled to fly back to Graz, Austria, via Vienna. There has been an increasingly palpable sense of sentimentality in the air, in light of the fact that this wonderful time is coming to an end alarmingly quickly.
It's also amazing how many activities one is able to cram into a short amount of time. I wanted to give them a really good taste of everything that I love about the...
•Hello From Toronto - Part 6 - The Toronto International Dragonboat Festival 2006
One of my favourite spots in Toronto is the Toronto Islands, that lovely patch of land right in front of downtown Toronto, separated by just a sliver of water. So close, yet so far from the city's hustle and bustle. One of the biggest events on the Islands is the Toronto Dragonboat Festival, a family event organized by the Toronto Chinese Business Association. In addition to being a great entertainment event, the Dragonboat Festival is also a big fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer...
•Hello From Toronto – Part 7 - Summer In T.O. Positively Rocks
It’s been a pretty amazing summer so far. The weather has been pretty good since as far back as April. Occasionally, we’ve had rain showers and thunderstorms, but much of the rain has actually fallen over night. The weather on the weekends has been great for the most part, perfect conditions to enjoy all the activities and festivals that the city has to offer. I decided earlier this year that I would be spending this summer in Toronto without any major travel assignments overseas. So this is...
•Hello From Vancouver - Part 5 - Gastown And My Final Explorations
Hello from Vancouver (5): Gastown and My Final Explorations
After my extremely interesting walking tour of the Downtown East Side I decided to round out my exploration of the city with another bicycling trip. In my mind, bicycling is just the perfect way to discover a city, it gives you greater range than walking, you don't need to wait around for buses, and you get exercise at the same time -bonus!
I realized that I had not even seen Gastown yet, which gave me a perfect excuse for another...
•Hello From Vancouver -Part 2 - Wheeling Around Stanley Park
Stanley Park is Vancouver's famous urban paradise and I knew weeks in advance that I would need to explore it in detail, preferably on a bike. So this afternoon at about 1:30 pm I set off from the UBC Campus, and navigated my way downtown by bus, taking 3 buses to get to the eastern edge of Stanley Park. This was my first chance to glance at the city of Vancouver. It is a relatively new city and according to some accounts, its origins date back to 1792 , the year when Captain George Vancouver...
•Hello From Vancouver- Part 1 - Arrival In Vancouver
I left beautiful Victoria early yesterday morning at 8 am and took the Pacific Coachlines bus/ferry combination back to the mainland. It was another gorgeous day and I spent the entire ferry ride on the top deck soaking in the scenery and the sunshine. At about 11:30 I exited at Broadway and Cambie as the bus driver had advised me and caught the 99B bus to the University of British Columbia campus and arrived about a half an hour later. First I found the student union building where I picked...
•Hello From Victoria- Part 1 - Reaching The West Coast
Jetlag is an amazing thing. It's barely after 5 am and I have already been reading for an hour an a half. So I figured I might as well use this bout of sleeplessness and record my first impressions of British Columbia.
My WestJet flight out of Toronto left a 7:15 am yesterday, so that meant I got up at 4:30 am, after 2.5 hours of sleep, to check all my luggage, eat a brief breakfast and get myself out to the airport. Sometimes a little travel savvy goes a long way, I had decided to use my...
•Interview Preview: Danielle Weiss - Latin America Fan And Sustainable Travel Expert
Sustainable travel has been an issue I have been interested in for a while now and through G.A.P Adventures, the sponsor of the grand prize for our soon to be launched Travel Story Contest, I was able to learn more about the topic of sustainable tourism.
Danielle Weiss, a former tour leader for G.A.P, is now the company's Sustainable Tourism Coordinator. While I was quizzing Danielle about sustainable travel issues of course I asked her a bit about herself and her connection to the adventure...
•Kensington - One Of The Main Entertainment Areas In Calgary
Calgary is currently experiencing a major boom and one of the most dynamic and fastest growing cities in Canada. It is truly the gateway to Canada's West. During a our trip this spring to Banff and Lake Louise we had a chance to get to get a sneak peek at Alberta's capital and one of the areas I explored is called Kensington, a lively neighborhood featuring a variety of restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries and specialty retailers that has received awards for its shopping opportunities over the...
•My Second Interview: Karla Darocas - Expatriate Canuck In Spain!
As you will probably know by now, I have a real fascination for everything Spanish (my article on Hispanophilia will attest to that), so I headed over to Spain twice last year. On my second trip where I visited places such as Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Montserrat and Ibiza, I also spent a couple of days on the Costa Blanca, the most easterly part of Spain that sticks out into the Mediterranean.
My friend and Internet mentor David had linked me up with one of his close friends, a very...
•Orlando - Off The Beaten Path: Discovering Central Florida Without Visiting Any Theme Parks... Can It Be Done?
One of my husband's favourite places is Florida, since he is an avid golfer and likes to get away from the cold Canadian winter for his birthday in early December.
For a while now we had planned to visit Orlando, but neither one of us are into theme parks. So there was the challenge for me: would we be able to visit Orlando without setting foot into Disney or Universal Studios? For someone as curious as me this was a suitable challenge and I had been doing weeks of searches on the Internet...
•Presenting: Pablo Chufeni - Servas Traveller And A Champion Of Cross-border Youth Exchanges
I met Pablo at the Canada-US Servas Conference that was held at the beginning of August in Vancouver where I had a chance to spend about an hour and a half with him to find out more about his involvement as a volunteer for Servas, an organization with hosts and travellers in more than 130 countries whose motto is "Travel for peace" to promote greater inter-cultural understanding and tolerance. Pablo is one of those people who always has a smile on his face and he is filled with an incredible...
•Presenting: Toronto's Distillery District - A Unique Vision And 13 Acres Of Historic Victorian Industrial Architecture (part I)
As a European immigrant, historical districts always hold a great fascination to me. Over the last few years, Toronto has been enriched by the revitalization of an entire district: the Distillery District, a complex of 13 acres composed of 44 buildings, made a stunning transformation from outdated industrial relics to becoming one of Toronto's hottest entertainment areas. I have visited the Distillery District several times over the last year, but I realized a more indepth introduction to this...
•Preview: Susanne Schleyer - A German Photographer Confronts German History
My brother continues to be a great source for new story ideas. Just like he recently linked me up with Bruce Bell, one of Toronto's most well known experts and historians, he recently read about a German photographer by the name of Susanne Schleyer who had just published a new book, "Unterwegs" ("On the Road") with 100 photos and stories from 12 different cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, London, Paris, Prague, Rom, San Francisco, Saint Petersburg, Venice and Vienna.
I...
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