I arrived in Marseille, the atmospheric port in southern France, on a sleek high-speed train from Paris, covering a distance of some 600 kilometres in three hours. Paris in late autumn was typically cloudy and cold. But in Marseille, the weather was gloriously temperate, sunny and almost balmy. As I strolled around the Old Port, […]
There is a nip in the air as autumn arrives incrementally in Toronto. The days are shorter and cooler and the nights are chilly. The sun shines less strongly, but you can feel its pleasant warmth on your skin. This is the time of the year when the green leaves on deciduous trees gradually turn […]
As I strolled along Ocean Drive, in the heart of Miami Beach’s gentrified Art Deco Historic District, I was struck by the sheer beauty of its pastel-colored buildings. They’re in South Beach, the first neighborhood in Miami Beach to be developed. Stretching for 18 blocks, the district is listed in the U.S. National Register of […]
Tommy Thompson Park, a narrow peninsula jutting five kilometres into the chilly waters of Lake Ontario, lies within plain view of the gleaming skyscrapers of Toronto. But once you’ve set foot on it, you’re transported to a soothing world of sylvan splendour far from the noise and grit of the city. Visible from certain vantage […]
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, straddling the border of northeast Arizona and southeast Utah, conjures up an aura of deja vu in the best sense of the word. As soon as I arrived here on my first visit, I felt an immediate and personal connection. The iconic red sandstone mesas, buttes, pinnacles and spires held me […]
Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, both in the state of Utah, stir the soul with their incandescent beauty. The rock formations and mountains in these parks north of the Grand Canyon, part of the 130,000 square-mile Colorado Plateau, speak eloquently of the power and glory of nature. My daughter and I travelled a long […]
A few years ago, en route to Los Angeles, I flew over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, transfixed by its ruggedness, starkness, immensity and otherworldliness. As I gazed upon it from a height of 37,000 feet, I promised to return, but by land. I fulfilled that pledge recently, spending nearly a full day at this […]
My introduction to the exotic flora of Saguaro National Park, in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, was inauspicious, to say the least. My daughter, Lauren, my occasional travelling companion, had convinced me that a visit to this immense, unspoiled park would be a worthwhile experience due to its signature attraction — the majestic saguaro […]
The chicken was nowhere to be seen, but it didn’t matter. Even without it, I was on the cusp of experiencing a different and exhilarating kind of bus ride. Something to be remembered long after it’s ended, a trip on a Guatemalan chicken bus is a giddy dip into local color. Chicken buses, gaudily painted […]
It’s finally here. Spring, I mean. After another brutal and seemingly endless Canadian winter, the second one in a row to hammer Toronto, the harbingers of fine weather are finally beckoning. The sun is stronger and warmer, its blissful rays intensely yellow. Dormant lawns have turned bright green. Blue bells, as well as a profusion […]